P-Valve, care & use

[Oldbear]

The first time I dove with one I made the mistake of not opening it...I will never make that mistake again.

 

[Kevrumbo]

The first time I dove with one I made the mistake of not opening it...I will never make that mistake again.

Yeah . . .that's right there with forgetting to plug-in your drysuit inflator hose: you try not to ever make that omission again.

 

[Oldbear]

Yeah . . .that's right there with forgetting to plug-in your drysuit inflator hose: you try not to ever make that omission again.

If you EVER make it to Kwaj then you don't have to worry about either

 

[tbone1004]

you can route it however you want, some route down then out a hole punched in the leg of their undergarments, others route up and over the waist band. When you pee it will stay in the tube until you disconnect, so it doesn't matter how long it is or where it routes, it will be easier to pee when you're on land if you don't run it too high up, but the waist band is not going to be a problem.

 

[large_diver]

Perhaps most important of all.....you may want to trim the forest.....getting the condoms off can be tough....you can fill in the rest with your imagination. The good condoms stay on.....and even with lots of soap and water can be a real pain to get off


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mouthbreather1]

+1 what Large_Diver said, one can only look back and laugh ...

 

[large_diver]

If you want a good laugh, take a look at this old thread from the Deco Stop. Some great tips…but some priceless comments. I used to use the Rochester wide bands when I was still using a p-valve…..they stay on really well….but hard really hard to get off. The key for me was to cut into the "hose"" end of the cath before getting in the shower…and slowly pull back with liberal use of hot water and soap. Note that the cath companies have sizing guides on their web sites that you can print out

The Deco Stop

 

[SparticleBrane]

bamafan, vinegar is about the worst thing to use since it is similarly acidic to urine so it doesn't kill much. I flush with lots of water, then steramine, then water again. Rubbing alcohol *methanol* is a bad antiseptic, but ethanol is pretty darn good so lots of people use listerine.

Depending on the valve, it should come with instructions for use. I much prefer QD's because I don't have to jiggle around trying to connect and disconnect a barbed fitting, but it's not required.

Generally speaking, most people's urine hovers around a pH of 7, varying throughout the day. The 5% white vinegar you buy in the store has a pH of ~2.4. Don't forget that pH is logarithmic, so vinegar is approximately 40,000x as acidic as most people's urine. (10^[7-2.4]) = 39,810)


Just to add to what TSandM posted:
Pseudomonas aeruginosa apparently has a minimum pH of 5.6, so that vinegar will definitely work great against it. Might I suggest that you use a vinegar/alcohol solution for at least a minute or two, since according to this paper, a bactericidal effect took approximately 60-seconds.

Using some Hibiclens on a regular basis might also be a good idea. That stuff kills just about everything. Looks like it kills 99.9999% of Pseudomonas aeruginosa within 15 seconds, and e. coli (another popular UTI infection) also within 15 seconds. After doing some quick research on popular bacteria that cause UTIs, it looks like Hibiclens kills essentially all of it. Maybe swish it around for a few minutes to be sure.

 

[kathydee]

I could swear that using an alcohol solution to clean shortens the life of the duck bill valve. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[TTPaws]

Just so it doesn't get lost in the flush comments, TBone pointed that he use a QD or Quick Disconnect setup. There are a couple of older threads on these (I've included one). I highly recommend these, as it makes the connection a whole lot easier. I have both the self sealing and non-sealing male end. The only drawback I can see with the self sealing is you have to have a spare female side if you need to pee on the surface. Trying to get the barb into the end of the catheter was not my best moments Going the QD route makes things much smoother.


http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/exposure-suits/448626-mcmaster-quick-disconnect-p-valve.html