new breathing apparatus

[ClevelandDiver]

See post number 57. http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=98389&page=6

Discussion goes on for some time afterward.

 

[Nemrod]

I had been hired by an Israeli mad sicentist to test a new kind of breathing device, da, da,da duhhhhhmmmm. (Insert opening credits) The scientist was like so many, not completely there but his young assistant was very pretty so I went along with the gig. I needed the money to pay for a new kanoodle valve for my boat motor. The cash would come in handy. Strange but the asissitant was not using the strange device which appeared to glow in the dark, no she had an Aqua Master but her pretty smile was reassuring. She told me to take a deep breath and submerge and with a flip of her Voit Vikings she was gone into the blue--I followed. (Insert commercial here).

There I was, now twenty feet deep in pursuit of the lovely assistant, like a siren leading me deeper and deeper. I tried for a breath, nothing----ehhhhhh----what ----I had been down for a couple of minutes now and was beginning to gray out. Nothing in my UDT days had prepared me for this. I was sure this was some sort of gag, was my number up? (insert commercial here).

Nope it was April Fools and quickly the lovely assistant, who was also a great diver appeared to assist me. We buddy breathed to the surface--ehhhhhh--I said--what's the gag--she only laughed. The mad sicnetist was just that, mad but a nice old man who was her unlce. They just wanted to test my breath holding abilities for a Frito Lay contest. We had a lovely dinner and the two were find hosts. (Insert commerical)

Boys and girls, scuba diving is a great sport and lot's of fun but be safe out there. (Insert end credits)

N

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

This is what I hate about this forum. The guy asks a simple question.. Have you heard of it, does it work.. A simple answer, Yes or No woulds suffice. But no, everyone tries to nail the guy, I'm assuming, because it doesn't sound feasible.. Not everyone is as knowledgeable about scuba as YOU.

Lighten up, Francis. Sheesh...

I've been watching this item, myself. I can't wait until it's available. Very cool idea. Kudos to the guy who's developing it! What's really interesting is, without breathing compressed air, I'm guessing that this would prevent nitrogen loading. (Or would it?) I wonder what the ramifications will be on things like bottom times, NDL's, and other facets of dive physiology.

 

[Blitz]

about 6.324 seconds. . .

Typical red leg

 

[chrispete]

I wonder what the ramifications will be on things like bottom times, NDL's, and other facets of dive physiology.

You will still be breathing air compressed to match the surrounding water pressure, so it won't get rid of NDL's. The same rules will apply, just the source of gas will be different.

 

[letterboy]

Typical red leg

Yuppers. . .

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

You will still be breathing air compressed to match the surrounding water pressure, so it won't get rid of NDL's. The same rules will apply, just the source of gas will be different.

Well, I was wondering, because the last sentence in the article states that there's a special vest that will allow divers to stay down for hours. I kind of scratched my head when I read that. The only divers I know that stay down for hours, are commercial divers who live in a pressurized environment, either while working, or else in their deco chamber quarters. That's what prompted my questions. Thanks!

 

[CompuDude]

Well, I was wondering, because the last sentence in the article states that there's a special vest that will allow divers to stay down for hours. I kind of scratched my head when I read that. The only divers I know that stay down for hours, are commercial divers who live in a pressurized environment, either while working, or else in their deco chamber quarters. That's what prompted my questions. Thanks!

Actually, lots of divers stay down for hours. It requires a complicated setup with doubles and a bunch of stage bottles, though... or a rebreather. The rebreather guys stay down for hours on end no problem. Of course, if you stay down deep for a long time, you have to decompress for a looooong time, too. That's why it's essential to have that much extra gas available. The people that set record-breaking deep dives stay on the bottom for minutes or seconds... and then spend the next 12 hours decompressing. Yikes!

If the inventor every gets the kinks out of the system, it will certainly revolutionize diving. There are significant hurdles, however, so I'm not optimistic... as much as I hope to be 100% wrong.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

I can't wait. I suspect it will happen within the next few years, and man.... It's going to be incredible!

 

[chrispete]

The big problem that I see is that for this type of technology to be usable at all it will have to have a huge number of safeguards in place. You would probably need 2x extraction units running with multiple sensors on each unit to verify operation to guard against one failing. You would need a way to operate one or both of the units by hand (or other means) in the event of a power failure. You will need sensors watching the amount of O2 going to you and a computer to adjust this value depending on depth. You would need a _lot_ more power than he is estimating to operate the whole system. What if you hit a "dead area" in the water with little to no dissolved O2?

I do hope that a technology like this does come into existence at some point but the road to acceptance is going to be a long one.