Keeping reg out of mouth longer

[jepuskar]

Some people can keep their regs out of their mouth for a longer period than others....so is this a reflection of what?

Lung capacity? Does exercising help this? What can be done to improve the ability to 'zzzzzzzzz' longer without having the urge to breath.

I'm not interested in voluntary hyperventilation in this case....

Thanks,

 

[redacted]

Confidence in your reg tech and equipment.

 

[Laser]

I think it's more of a comfort in the water issue.

....in my DIRF class a couple years ago we were doing S-drills and I had the reg out of my mouth, a hose got hooked or something and it took about 30-40 seconds to sort it out and I could see MHK's eyes getting bigger like " put the reg back in your mouth dude!!" but I new where it was and was determined to complete the drill, so no big deal. I would have never had that attitude without quite a few dives and some comfort underwater. YMMV.

 

[Charlie99]

What can be done to improve the ability to 'zzzzzzzzz' longer without having the urge to breath.,

What do you mean by 'zzzzzzzzz' ? If you mean continuously exhaling or humming, the trick is to simply keep your airway open without continuously exhaling.

If by 'zzzzzzzzzz' you mean sleeping, then you are already TOO relaxed, and it's time to stop emulating a turtle.

 

[Spectre]

Some people can keep their regs out of their mouth for a longer period than others....so is this a reflection of what?

A lot of it has to do with comfort

Lung capacity? Does exercising help this? What can be done to improve the ability to 'zzzzzzzzz' longer without having the urge to breath.

At the risk of accidentally giving people that shouldn't hear this information that could end up getting them injured:

If you have excellent buoyancy control, you do not need to "always blow bubbles". That whole "always blow bubbles" is a cheat to keep your airway open if you inadvertantly begin ascending. However if you are neutral, and you blow bubbles while you don't have the reg in your mouth, you will end up negative and thus you end up not being where you need to be.

I generally get a breath before I remove my reg, and then blow until I get neutral and then stop blowing [you can keep your airway open, just in case, without actually releasing gas from your lungs]. There has been times I've donated a reg in a drill, got everything settled, started moving with my buddy and they just stare... because I forgot the step of actually going to my backup reg.

 

[jepuskar]

Thanks for the input everyone.

Spectre, I usually don't tell my students that unless someone is bright enough to question it. I do it all the time when picture taking, but for my students....reg out of mouth means they blow bubbles.....keeps it simple.

J

 

[CameronMartz]

Some people can keep their regs out of their mouth for a longer period than others....so is this a reflection of what?

Lung capacity? Does exercising help this? What can be done to improve the ability to 'zzzzzzzzz' longer without having the urge to breath.

I'm not interested in voluntary hyperventilation in this case....

Thanks,

Another thing you must consider is answering the question "why?". Yes, it seems cool to have the reg out of your mouth for a long time, and this certainly demonstrates comfort in the water, etc., but the whole time, you're loading CO2. That is bad if you are about to switch to a deco gas with higher PO2, for instance. At best, it will increase your breathing rate after you get a reg back in your mouth to the point that you end up using *more* gas in your body's effort to blow off the extra CO2.

There are times where having a reg out of your mouth longer than usual might happen, but you should not incorporate this "skill" into your normal procedures.

Cameron

 

[Gidds]

"zzzzzzzzzzzz" is a mental noise you make while exhaling continously as taught to some of us in out OW classes. It helps you remember to exhale and helps you control the rate at which you do it. I happen to think "zzzzzzzzzzing" is rather fun

 

[The Kraken]

My question would be, "What's the point?"
I prefer to keep my regulator IN my mouth. It facilitates breathing as I know it.

the K

 

[jepuskar]

Let me clarify.....I don't create games for my students on who can keep the reg out longest...thats pointless....nor do I condone the reg being out any longer than necessary.

The question was posed to me as what they could do to increase their 'zzzzz'ing time if they had a situation where they couldnt recover their reg right away. Without going into the details of why they thought that I didnt want to answer their question incorrectly, so I told them I would get back to them.

I wasnt sure if it was comfort related, being in shape, or what.....