PEE valve dress routine?

[Tom Winters]

The QD is THE way to rig up. Just be careful not to lose that little piece when you're peeling everything off and stowing away. It's pretty small, and once it's off the cath, it's real small.
The markup on the Oxycheq unit is kinda steep but it's a great QD.
I don't the gal in the medical supply store would blink an eye if you walked in and bought some catheters. They are pretty much geared to the wheelchair crowd so she'd probably think you were a CNA until you told her that you tagged great white sharks for medical research.
It's like the old "Married With Children" show when Al was going out and Peg would go. "Oh Al, I need some Tampons. Pick some up on your way home from the nudie bar!"
And Al would always get that great scrunched up look of total disgust at once again having to buy Tampons for the umpteenth episode.
I never figured that out. What was the clerk going to assume - that Al was a heterosexual man living in a house with females in it? That ~gasp!~ he was going to use them himself? How would that work anyway?
So get that QD and religiously keep track of it. The alternative to not using one is to have to do some interesting self-plumbing work on a dive boat full of all sorts of observant people with at least one of them having to ask, "Hey, is that a p-valve in your drysuit you're hooking up or are you just happy to see me?"
Have fun...stay dry.

 

[slackercruster]

Thanks for the replies.

I was thinking about adding a pee valve in a new drysuit order, so trying to decide on one. Do you have to get used to peeing in them or is it pretty natural feel?

Does the diving condom have a long tube attached that can be rolled up in your shorts?

I've only seen photos of the OMS pee valve but know nothing about the other items. I've looked at the links for the condoms but see no attachment tube?

Has anyone ever had leaks or problems with their valve?

 

[slackercruster]

I've learned to recognize the slightly hunched over, back to me posture that indicates tubing being hooked up. I had to laugh at myself in Mexico, when I discovered I was doing exactly the same thing with my She-P tubing!

Do they make she/ pee setups for ladies? I never thought they had them.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Thanks for the replies.

I was thinking about adding a pee valve in a new drysuit order, so trying to decide on one. Do you have to get used to peeing in them or is it pretty natural feel?

Does the diving condom have a long tube attached that can be rolled up in your shorts?

I've only seen photos of the OMS pee valve but know nothing about the other items. I've looked at the links for the condoms but see no attachment tube?

Has anyone ever had leaks or problems with their valve?

It is pretty normal - just remember you are peeing through a tube and possible a one way mushroom or check valve, so there is a bit of back pressure - but not much.

The catherter itself has a tube maybe 1" long. Some pee valves come with fairly heavy black ruibber fuel line tubing. It is still and heavy and if it gets out of position it can potentially put a kink in the end of the much softer latex tubing on the condom itself. Other pee valves use a small diameter clear plastic tubing much like aquarium tubing but a size larger. It is more flexible and less likely to pinch off the condom tubing.

My approach is to attach a 4 to 5" piece of plastic tubing on the condom before I put it one (insert it in the end and roll two o-rings over the overlapped section). I then put the condom on and it stays happily in the underwear. When I don the suit I just attach that tubing to the 12-18" section of tubing leading to the valve with a brass double ended barbed hose fitting.

That approach works much better than trying to insert a larger barbed fitting into the condom catheter itself.

Problems that can result:

1. The above mentioned kinking if the heavier hose and a barb in the condom fitting are used.

2. Shrinkage. If your willy gets cold it can tend to retract a bit, creating excess space in the end (the gunsmith in me want to call this "excessive headspace"). This excess space can allow the condom to get twisted shut or folded over. This is primarily a problem with narrow band adhesive catheters. The risk here is that any twist or fold/crimp could block the flow with the result that the pressure build up and blows out the back of the condom. Think what would happen if you peed with a regular condom on. Not really good. So start the "flow" slowly and make sure you have positive flow and do not feel anything ballooning where it should not be.

3. Shrinkage part 2. Wide band catheters are much less prone to this, but be sure to strategically apply the catheter so that the adhesive starts far enough back to ensure things are still going to be well inside the end of the catheter if you get cold. If not, the adhesive close to the end of the catheter can have the opportunity to stick to itself and basically glue the catherter shut with the same result as in #2 above. Basically whether you have a helmet or an ant eater, begin to roll the sticky part of the condem on the loose skin behind the business end, not on the underlying skin right behind the business end. Hard to explain so plan on some learning by experience unless some brave soul wants to take a shot at explaining it better.

This is also where it is essential to have a large enough cath as you need one large enough to get far enough into the end.

Get the Rochester sample kit and try them out in normal active everyday long term wear for a day to work out most of the bugs before your first dive and to determine what size really works best. One size really does not fit all.

4. If in the process of going, you find flow is not established. Stop. Or at least proceed at your own peril. Usually you can adjust the plumbing under your suit to get things flowing and if not, you can still complete the process using a low flow rate. If diving without gloves, I will be feeling for a positive flow out the end of the valve. If diving with gloves, I will look to check for the mini halycline that shoudl be developing.

Almost everyone has pee valve failures, but they get very infrequent once you get it figured out and refine the skills.

If you plan on doing any deep or deco diving with a dry suit, I'd suggest that a pee valve should be manadatory. If you don't have one you will shy away from the amount of hydration you need to reduce the risk of DCS.

Do they make she/ pee setups for ladies? I never thought they had them.

They are a recent invention. They work pretty well but the learning curve is a bit longer (figure 5 dives minimum ot get one working more or less properly and it requires some adhesive and some lawn mowing.

In terms of trimming, a little judicious yard work will make removal of a condom cath a lot more pleasant for guys as well.

 

[skdvr]

Thanks for the replies.

I was thinking about adding a pee valve in a new drysuit order, so trying to decide on one. Do you have to get used to peeing in them or is it pretty natural feel?

Does the diving condom have a long tube attached that can be rolled up in your shorts?

I've only seen photos of the OMS pee valve but know nothing about the other items. I've looked at the links for the condoms but see no attachment tube?

Has anyone ever had leaks or problems with their valve?

I just installed the Dive Rite p-valve (same as the OMS) in my Whites Fusion and you can see the install here.

The tube is seperate from the condom. You just put the condom on in the morning and then install the tube when you get geared up. If you have the QD's installed you can have a small piece of hose attached to the condom already and then when you put your DS on all you have to do is click the two pieces of tube together


I did not think it was very natural to pee through my valve the first time. I have spent most of my life trying not to pee in my pants, so it was a bit of a strugle to tell my body that it was OK. Plus there is the fear of the valve, condom, or line failing and peeing all over myself...

Phil

 

[Anti-Hero]

I started my dive rite pee valve install last night. I'll let you know how it goes.