Is scuba gear life support?

[lizardland]

So it's weird to hear hard core SCUBA divers, who do truly amazing things in exploring the under water world, talk about their gear like it's life support in the recreational context. But, some of those barely-swimming SCUBA divers are a lot better than me at SCUBA diving, so while I think it's weird, I don't judge.

I see both sides of what folks are saying above.

Speaking of judging, this entire thread reminds me of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg's greatest legal opinion: "tell me your definition of a sandwich and I'll tell you if a hot dog is a sandwich". It sounds flippant but it really is the key to the dying (dead?) art of critical thinking in social media discussions.

Everyone has an opinion on whether scuba equipment is life support but the argument is worthless until you agree on what "life support" actually means. Some people are arguing it based on a more medical/critical care definition, my own views come from working in dangerous environments where life support has a totally different meaning, others have their different definitions again. Every one of them is right. But assuming that everyone is talking about the same definition of "life support" makes the entire thread fairly pointless (and just feeds into the pretty crap video's original vacuous intent of fuelling social media engagement, but that's another discussion).

The other thing is "hard core SCUBA divers" don't represent the wider world of diving. Just based on my (subjective) experience and observation most divers dive a dozen times a year, they aren't particularly interested in regular training, they probably have never drilled an emergency procedure in a long time and they really don't have a particularly great level of fitness. Sadly recreational diving is an industry that doesn't just service that customer base, it helps to create it and shape it that way because it is convenient and profitable. I'm fairly cynical and I think one of the aims of the recreational dive industry is to create disempowered divers and the "just point yourself at the surface and everything will be fine" mentality is part of that happy clappy cult.

I probably fall into the "hard core SCUBA diver" category and the reason people like me do define our equipment as life support is because it's hard to progress in diving and continue to think of the surface as the answer to your problems. If your first instinct is not fix your issues where you are then that will eventually hurt you badly.

My last one more thing is that the word "system" has been left off "life support". Nothing exists in a vacuum and diving should really be thought of in terms of systems. Your air supply failing is only one piece of the picture and thinking of it in isolation just compounds that failure. As I've said previously, getting to the point of needing to do a CESA is the result of a lot of pieces in the chain failing. Sure, the last ditch option in any situation is "run away" but it should be a very remote option. It should never be the first choice underwater in my opinion.

 

[hammet]

This strikes me as a repackaged version of the periodic watermenship debate. To what degree should SCUBA divers be at home in the water? The debate is always good fun, but never seems to reach resolution.

I swam competitively and played water polo in school. In addition to SCUBA, I swim open water and freedive to this day. I can't help but find it a bit odd that so many SCUBA divers can barely swim and aren't at home in the water. I know a lot of surfers, triathletes and other watermen agree.

In most of the developed world one can walk into any youth swim practice and find that most every kid over 10 can knock out 25 meters without a breath at a moment's notice, even if coach tells them to do it immediately following a brutal set while they're all panting to recover. Catch them relaxed, as most SCUBA divers are throughout a dive, and many can do 50 meters (full length of a long-course competition pool). Visit a high-end competitive club team and that will be true of 8 year olds. They don't need fins. They don't need notice. They can do it traveling under or over the water, with a push off or without. It's not a challenge.

Move along to the teens and a good number will argue that one shouldn't breathe at all during a 50 meter swim because breathing isn't hydrodynamic. It's not a "can they" question, its a question of whether they should when they're going for the win, and good number will say "no." How far can they go if they relax the way a trained SCUBA diver does? I'd wager quite a distance, but I don't claim to know because I didn't spend much of my time in the water relaxed in those days.

Some of the surfers I know? Geez. They think nothing of forgoing air after a wipeout, when there is a decent chance the wave knock a good chunk of the air out of them before the breath-hold even started.

So it's weird to hear hard core SCUBA divers, who do truly amazing things in exploring the under water world, talk about their gear like it's life support in the recreational context. But, some of those barely-swimming SCUBA divers are a lot better than me at SCUBA diving, so while I think it's weird, I don't judge.

I see both sides of what folks are saying above.

Have you seen the physical condition of the typical SW florida charter boat diver? Yes... I'm judging.

 

[lizardland]

Have you seen the physical condition of the typical SW florida charter boat diver? Yes... I'm judging.

Not just confined to Florida or even places known for tourist diving. I live in the UK and it is just as bad here. The primary piece of life support in diving is the lump of flesh you are riding around in. We're arguing about running out of air when the most likely thing to kill a diver is a heart attack.

 

[hammet]

Not just confined to Florida or even places known for tourist diving. I live in the UK and it is just as bad here. The primary piece of life support in diving is the lump of flesh you are riding around in. We're arguing about running out of air when the most likely thing to kill a diver is a heart attack.

yep.

 

[AsherN]

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?

I'll posit that it's not even about holding your breath. In the event of failure leading to OOA, it is more likely you will know the condition after an exhale, trying to inhale. By that time, you don't really have a breath to hold.

 

[ImpotentSeaSnake]

Are swim fins a Halloween costume?

 

[Subcooled]

In EU we are very good at regulation
Hence, we have an aswer. The answer, unfortunately, is only valid in Europe.

Both regulators and diving suits are classified as personal protective equipment.

PPE Regulation (EU) 2016/425

ANNEX II
ESSENTIAL HEALTH AND SAFETY REQUIREMENTS

3.11. Diving equipment

The breathing equipment must make it possible to supply the user with a breathable gaseous mixture, under foreseeable conditions of use and taking account in particular of the maximum depth of immersion.
Where the foreseeable conditions of use so require, the diving equipment must comprise the following:

(a)	a suit which protects the user against cold (see point 3.7) and/or pressure resulting from the depth of immersion (see point 3.2);

(b)	an alarm designed to give the user prompt warning of an approaching failure in the supply of breathable gaseous mixture (see point 2.8);

(c)	a lifesaving device enabling the user to return to the surface (see point 3.4.1).

ANNEX I
RISK CATEGORIES OF PPE

Category I
Category I includes exclusively the following minimal risks:

(b)	contact with cleaning materials of weak action or prolonged contact with water;

Category II
Category II includes risks other than those listed in Categories I and III;

Category III
Category III includes exclusively the risks that may cause very serious consequences such as death or irreversible damage to health relating to the following:

(i)

drowning;

Now, because it is explicitly stated that the breathing apparatus protects against death, it can be considered as life support equipment.

 

[happy-diver]

Is a boat life support, well one was for a few days in 1912 and then it didn't support life anymore

Or 1997 for other generations