My first double hose dive

[Paladin]

I notice that divers who were trained on single hose and who have never been taught otherwise tend to "pant" whereas old schoolers tend to take long, slow inhalations and exhalations. N

I must be an "old schooler."

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I notice that divers who were trained on single hose and who have never been taught otherwise tend to "pant" whereas old schoolers tend to take long, slow inhalations and exhalations. N

I'm not sure about this, as most of my diving has been solo and I haven't had the opportunity to see many newer divers in the water. But I do have some observations about breathing techniques that may be relevant. Most divers these days do not come from a snorkeling or breath-holding background. Most have not done much, if any, free diving and/or spearfishing without scuba. Most people, if they know anything about breathing dynamics, it comes academically from our texts on scuba, and is never practiced. Because of this, most people in general (in my opinion) breathe only from the mid-range of their vital capacity down, and don't really inhale. It kinda looks like this diagrammed out:

|<-------|--------|
MEV.....mid..........MIV

|<------VC------>|

MEV = Maximum Expiratory Volume
mid = mid-range of the vital capacity
MIV = Maximum Inspiratory Volume

Most people, my wife included (and she's a runner) breath from their mid-range down, and is scuba diving it probably goes down to their maximum expiratory volume. But in the "old days" where most of us came from a free diving or competitive swimming background, we breathed in our whole range. We continued to do this when we started scuba diving. The older regulators, with a somewhat greater inhalation resistance, required that we use most of our vital capacity to do much work down there. When newer regulators came along (such as the DX Overpresure Breathing Regulator by USD), some divers did not like it because it "breathed too easily" or "gushed air," which messed up their breathing cycle. We also used that breathing cycle to conserve air, by breathing deeply and keeping the breathing throughout our vital capacity. That leads to more efficient breathing, and better use of our air.

At least, that's my take on the breathing cycle. The "panting" you see is due to either excitement or not applying the knowledge of breathing to their scuba diving--which is saying inexperience.

SeaRat

 

[Nemrod]

I'm not sure about this, as most of my diving has been solo and I haven't had the opportunity to see many newer divers in the water.

SeaRat

I am.

N

 

[juanNC]

that is an awesome picture of the 3 of you with DH regs!

 

[KY_BOB]

I've gota dive one of those one of these days!

 

[herman]

that is an awesome picture of the 3 of you with DH regs!

Juan, I am headed to Rolesville on Sat to play around, I have a spare DH if you want to give one a test dive (same one ScottyD has in the photo actually) .......same goes for you Bob but it's a little more of a drive for you.

 

[juanNC]

Juan, I am headed to Rolesville on Sat to play around, I have a spare DH if you want to give one a test dive (same one ScottyD has in the photo actually) .......same goes for you Bob but it's a little more of a drive for you.

Thanks Herman, that sounds like fun, but I can't this weekend. BTW, on another subject, I am loving my Olympus C-5050!

 

[herman]

Maybe in a few weeks then. Down Under is having it's July club outing at Yancyville Quarry on July 31, I plan to be there.
The 5050 is hard to beat, it is still capable of better photos than I am.

 

[elmer fudd]

Did my own first double hose dive today, (round label RAM). I knew things were different before I even went under the water. For someone who has never used a double hose, it's surprising how much of a tendency to free flow they have on the surface. It makes perfect sense of course, being that if you roll on your back the regulator might be a foot lower than the mouthpiece, but you don't really realize it until you experience it. Single hoses just don't free flow in this situation. Hmmm, maybe that's why divers always used to carry snorkels.

Then when I first descended in my usual head somewhat downward position, I thought, "man this thing breathes like s---!" When I hit the bottom, (only about 8' as I was trying things out for the first time close to shore), I was thinking of thumbing the dive. This thing just wasn't breathing right... until I leveled out that is. Then it got a little better and when I got a bit more heads up it was breathing as easily as my Mk25/G250v, (inhaling anyway). As I came back up I decided I might continue the dive after all.

I went to a maximum depth of about 60' and didn't notice any change in breathing with depth. Latter on, on my safety stop I switched off to a spare air and back again a few times. I did OK, but sometimes it seemed hard to clear. I'm guessing that was body position again, but that didn't dawn on me while I was underwater.

So overall I'd say the experience was OK. I'm going to take it out again soon and play with it some more and maybe after another 10 dives or so I can give a more informed opinion.

 

[herman]

Like Scotty learned, looooonnggg slow breaths both in and out. Also, has the RAM been rebuilt with silicone parts (and for that matter by someone who knows DH regs)? The parts will make a difference and tuning one is more of an art form than it might first appear.