Is scuba gear life support?

[CG43]

A diver drowned in a 3-meter-deep golf pond after he had completely emptied his scuba tank.
Without the missing function of the scuba, he would not have ended his life at that time.
In this case, the scuba was undoubtedly a life support equipment .

However, the scuba can also be a work tool. On my first scuba dive, I had to stop the search when the function of the scuba was no longer given. My life or health was not affected by this. So, in this case, the scuba was a tool. I have done dives where the scuba was just a tool, but also dives where it was necessary for life or at least for health.

 

[Centrals]

S elf-
C ontained
U nderwater
B reathing
A pparatus

Whether it is life supporting is irrelevant. Without the gear you are NOT scuba diving.
How long can one hold his/her breath if the gear fails?

 

[Waterwulf]

Back in the late seventies, a train derailed in North Florida. Several tanker cars carrying Chlorine ruptured and a deadly cloud started spreading. It was the middle of the night and no wind so the cloud stayed strong and spread slowly. It drifted across Hiway 267. Back then, there was nothing out there but swamp. ...and Hiway 267 which was a popular shortcut. I ran it often.

A man was traveling from South Florida to Pensacola and took Hiway 267. He drove into a strange fog bank and his van started running rough. The it quit. He pulled to the side and stepped out but quickly jumped back in and closed the door. He crawled to the back of his van and started dumping out gear bags until he found what he was looking for.

Meantime, the Police and Sheriff's Department set up roadblocks well back but in sight of the cloud. I spoke with several of them about that night. They said it was creepy because there was noise all around except from the fog bank. Everything inside it was dead so it was totally quiet. They said they were all scared and keeping a really close eye on the fog bank. Then they heard the first noises from inside the fog bank.

Meantime back at the van: It turned out that the man was a pro diver from Miami going to a special school in Pensacola and he had all of his gear with him in the van. He got some air going and then his mask on and cleared from fumes. Then he put one tank on his back and picked up one in each hand and took off back down the road. He said he had everything he needed except for a flashlight so he just stayed to the middle of the road.

Back at the Police barricade, they all heard the first noises from inside the fog bank. Thump thump clink hissss hissss thump thump clink hisss hissss. In defense of the assorted Cops standing there: You have to remember: It was the middle of the night, in the deep South in the middle of the swamp. In the words of one of the Cops. "We all heard it and knew exactly what it was and it was coming for us". He said it was chaos. Everybody took off at once for their cruisers to grab whatever heavy weaponry they had. People were getting knocked over and somebody was praying. None of that made the papers but it's what I was told by a "survivor'.

Then it walked out of the fog bank and stopped, looking at them thru it's one huge eyeball. It had a humped back and one hand ended in a huge round hammer looking thing. (He had already dumped one empty tank but was still carrying an extra full one) They could hear it breathing with a hissing noise like a huge snake. Then it started walking towards them.

Fortunately, somebody recognized SCUBA gear and he was not shot as the Swamp Monster but he was in the hospital for a day for skin rashes. His diving gear had saved his life. I'd be willing to bet that he considered his SCUBA gear life support equipment.

 

[Beyondthehills]

The guy in the video dives in a hoodie and beanie, and drags his fins all over the bottom - just ignore whatever is said in his videos.

 

[The Chairman]

Out there, you'll die if you screw it up

Meh. I simply swam up. I think it beats dying.

 

[CG43]

The guy in the video dives in a hoodie and beanie, and drags his fins all over the bottom - just ignore whatever is said in his videos.

What kind of comment is that supposed to be?

If an ESA or SESA is necessary or is to be practiced or demonstrated, it is normal for the fins to go a bit deeper and for a little sand to be stirred up. This is not a trimm exercise.
The man clearly states what he considers to be the limits of recreational diving and which exercises should be done to dive and practice safely within these limits. And from the way he does it, I get the impression that this is also his long practice, and that he knows exactly what he is talking about.

When I do exercises, it has two advantages.
1) I learn what I cannot do or what is difficult for me and what I should still work on.
2) I learn what I can do and now I can perform it better, more relaxed, or with less fear and saver in a real situation.

 

[The Chairman]

My first instructor, Master Chief Williams never taught me how to do a CESA. The first time my J valve had inadvertently been turned on, I figured how to do that on my own. It's an atavistic skill set, in my opinion. When you can't breathe, you swim to the surface.

 

[Waterwulf]

Yeah, I've bumped my J valve to On accidentally several times but I've never gotten to the point of needing to switch it over and discovered that it was already on. That's because I check it every few minutes like I was trained to do.

I have been SCUBA diving since I was about ten years old when I scammed the charter boat Captains at Johns Pass into believing that I was the "tagalong" diver to make sure the tourist divers didn't get lost. That was in 1968. I have never had to do a CESA except in training. There have been a few times though, when I ended a dive early because I discovered a problem during routine equipment checks. (I do regular equipment checks along with J valve checks) The weirdest was when I was checking my gear, got to my weight belt buckle and it fell apart in my hands. I almost lost the belt and had to hold it in my hand until I got to the surface.

The thing to remember about doing a CESA, is that when you practice it you can take a full breath of air before taking off for the surface. In real life, you discover the need for a CESA right after you've just exhaled everything you had and there ain't no more!

 

[ImpotentSeaSnake]

S elf-
C ontained
U nderwater
B reathing
A pparatus

Whether it is life supporting is irrelevant. Without the gear you are NOT scuba diving.
How long can one hold his/her breath if the gear fails?

Yeah, the answer to the posed question is completely irrelevant to my diving practice.