Hello everyone. I am a college design student working on a sports related project. For my project I was thinking about developing a product that is in between snorkeling and scuba diving. You see I have been scuba diving a couple of times when i was in Boy Scouts and absolutely loved it. The problem is that it was alittle complicated for beginners. I would dive all the time if I had the money, knowledge and training to do so. Instead when Iam on vacation I opt for snorkeling, its cheap, easy, not gear intensive, and allows for more flexibility and individual freedom. The one thing that i dislike about snorkeling is that you can only explore below the surface for how long you can hold your breath. So what I was thinking for my product (mind you I just got this assignment so i haven't thought out everything) was to have the typical mask with a modified snorkel with a long tube around 15 feet long. This tube would lead to a small floatation device on the surface of the water. There would be a fan that would blow air down the tube to the diver below, and supply him with oxygen. I was wondering if this is feasable design. I of course will be making prototypes to see if it will actually work, but for now i just want to get some people's imput. Thanks in advance.
New diving concept, your input please?
- Thread starter gunther23
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Scubaroo
Contributor
If the fan died, the suction created would probably rip your tongue out!
Even if you could come up with a working design that forced air to that depth, it would still be dangerous for beginners - you're know dealing with a full lung of air at ambient pressure - at 15', thats about 1.5 atmospheres. Surfacing while holding your breath would result in a lung overexpansion injury.
A merely longer snorkel without forced air would result in CO2 buildup issues. People passing out underwater, etc.
Even if you could come up with a working design that forced air to that depth, it would still be dangerous for beginners - you're know dealing with a full lung of air at ambient pressure - at 15', thats about 1.5 atmospheres. Surfacing while holding your breath would result in a lung overexpansion injury.
A merely longer snorkel without forced air would result in CO2 buildup issues. People passing out underwater, etc.
Don Burke
Contributor
http://www.browniedive.com/
There are a couple of other hookah rigs out there
There are long LP hoses on the market. An 80 cubic foot tank will last a heck of a long time at 15 feet.
You're not getting around the training issue. Breathing compressed air at depth is built-in danger.
There are a couple of other hookah rigs out there
There are long LP hoses on the market. An 80 cubic foot tank will last a heck of a long time at 15 feet.
You're not getting around the training issue. Breathing compressed air at depth is built-in danger.
Bob3
Contributor
You wouldn't be able to go any more than a couple feet down before conditions are set up for possible lung overexpansion injuries.
Need training & practice to get around that part.
Need training & practice to get around that part.
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:idea: It's good to be a thinking student, but... For my project I was thinking about developing a product that is in between snorkeling and scuba diving. Reaidly avaialble already. You see I have been scuba diving a couple of times when i was in Boy Scouts and absolutely loved it. The problem is that it was alittle complicated for beginners. I would dive all the time if I had the money, knowledge and training to do so. If it wasn't challenging, it wouldn't be as good. Instead when Iam on vacation I opt for snorkeling, its cheap, easy, not gear intensive, and allows for more flexibility and individual freedom. That's what I said when I didn't have the :$: The one thing that i dislike about snorkeling is that you can only explore below the surface for how long you can hold your breath. Have you heard of shallow water black out? So what I was thinking for my product (mind you I just got this assignment so i haven't thought out everything) was to have the typical mask with a modified snorkel with a long tube around 15 feet long. This tube would lead to a small floatation device on the surface of the water. There would be a fan that would blow air down the tube to the diver below, and supply him with oxygen. I was wondering if this is feasable design. I of course will be making prototypes to see if it will actually work, but for now i just want to get some people's imput. Thanks in advance. Anybody seen the newest fatality reports? Lots of untrained beginners. Well, it wouldn't be a sport if you could get killed; it'd be a hobby like golf. But we have better ways to push the envelope.
Ah, it's okay Gunther - you'd need an expensive compressor, expensive regulators, and much more. (See sites the others furnished.) If you simply extend the snorkel you have by six inches and try going a few inches deeper, you'll soon realize the obstacle.
Suggest you learn about shallow water black out :nod: then keep free diving safely until you can afford the training and toys.
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No!
Don Burke
Contributor
The worst part of the water column for overexpansion is the top. Most agencies are teaching something like two or three feet.
This comes up pretty often here. Breathing compressed air is dangerous.
What you are talking about is not deep snorkeling or simulating diving. It is diving and includes the dangers.
What was that fan going to be doing if not compressing air? Very few people can breathe as deep as a regular snorkel will let them go. The air will need to be compressed somehow to let the diver breathe below a few inches depth.
Water pressure is about .43 PSI per foot for fresh water. You need to overcome that somehow. That's when the trouble starts.
You can easily see the problem without compressing the air by using duct tape to put two snorkles together (or any other similar tube) and try to go down a couple feet in a pool and breath.. you just can't draw the air that far underwater. Air compression is needed, so it is necessarily very complicated.
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