Indigestion induced buoyancy shift

[northernone]

Well I've finally experienced evidence for a theory I've had for a while.

Having digestive issues related to a flu.

Did some freediving to see if I could equalize. I'm 3-5lbs buoyant now when I'm normal neutral with unpacked lungs.

Can't have gained that much fat in 3 days nor lost that much muscle...

I'd suggest I've got a case of floaty gut.

Is this a known thing?

Regards,
Cameron

 

[tbone1004]

it's something I've seen before with buddies/students, thankfully never experienced.

 

[RainPilot]

Byproduct of bacteria etc will be various gases, hence the bloated feeling. I can imagine that would be good for a bit of extra float, I am surprised by how much though.

 

[flyboy08]

Beano to the rescue!

 

[tbone1004]

per quick googling. Humans produce 500-1500ml of gas per day on average with individual fart volumes up to about 400ml. That equates to up to about 1lb of buoyancy per fart, and 1-3lbs of buoyancy in farts per 24hr period.
If that is what is considered "normal" if you're feeling particularly gassy, I can certainly see that being significant when freediving. Less so in scuba where you start pretty negative due to the gas in the tank being pretty negatively buoyant and then the volumetric reduction of gas as a function of depth. We all know we fart and burp on ascent, so obviously not significant in normal events, but definitely could be signifiant if you're bloated

learn something new that you would never have thought to look up

 

[RainPilot]

Tbone. Delete your search history, now.

 

[cneal]

It's an old joke...

How do you tell an old diver? Bubbles from both ends.

 

[RayfromTX]

Who you callin’ Old?

 

[tbzep]

Who needs a BCD? I control my buoyancy with beans and farts.

 

[Scuba-Blue-13]

Bean Controlled Depth??