Redundant air with a drysuit

[doctormike]

Incorrect. The question related to providing redundancy for dry suit inflation, hence the reference to the lack of an oral inflator.

Oh, OK. I thought that when you said:

do people put an inflator hose on their redundant air for their drysuit

you were referring to people using their redundant air for something other than an OOG emergency. Like their drysuit.

 

[Darcimus]

This may be a stupid question, but do people put an inflator hose on their redundant air for their drysuit since there is no oral inflator? I suspect not, but you never know.

Incorrect. The question related to providing redundancy for dry suit inflation, hence the reference to the lack of an oral inflator.

The post about the pony bottle was based on best (and safest) practices ....the pony bottle is a source of air that you should only be using in an emergency and shouldn't be factored into your breathing gas calculations. You addressed this, so you've obviously done your own risk assessment and acknowledge the risk in using your pony gas as a redundant air source for your dry suit. Agree to disagree. Shall we move on?

I addressed your original question also, after I attempted to remind you of the safest way to use a pony (again, you've obviously calculated the risk involved in using that as actual breathing gas on your dives, so let's just move on, shall we?) and said that I've never actually thought of that as an option. I've also never heard of it being done. I am fairly new to diving (two years) but I do read quite a bit, so maybe I've missed something. I guess it's easy enough to accomplish, just add a hose of the correct length to the pony reg and tie it off like an SPG hose, or stow it alongside the bottle itself using the hose keepers. Obviously you'll want to practice switching tanks so it comes natural in an emergency. And you'll obviously want to pay attention to the fitting as it will be constantly exposed to water, so cleaning it often will likely be necessary. As far as redundancy goes, most people just buy an argon bottle if they want to use a different air source. Not super cheap, but deals can be found. Your LDS or instructor should be able to point you in the right direction.

Is there a scuba police? No. Every piece of kit you buy you can use as you see fit. Just be prepared for people to say "hey dude, that's not safe....here's some advice on how not to die." If you want to fill your drysuit and have to wear 100 lbs of lead to to submerge, you're free to do whatever you want. You're also free to get mad at the people that question the logic in what you're doing. Just realize that the "normal" way of doing things is usually based on some kind of research and may be related to diving accidents that have happened in the past, and that we're offering our advice because we don't want to have you added to a column on a spreadsheet. The poor attitude you displayed does make me want to ignore any further questions from you, but I won't, because I don't think that risky behaviour should be ignored in scuba diving and it needs to be addressed. Good day, sir.

 

[gcarter]

Oh, OK. I thought that when you said:



you were referring to people using their redundant air for something other than an OOG emergency. Like their drysuit.

Out of gas is out of gas.

If I am out of gas I can inflate my wing orally while breathing off of a secondary source. I could not do that with a dry suit as there is no oral inflator. In other words, if I am out of gas I have no means of inflating my drysuit.

As someone not yet familiar with drysuit diving, I asked the question because I did not know if there could be a situation where this would pose a problem.

If there were, I would have expected a response that an inflator hose attached to the redundant source would be prudent as part of a response to an out of gas situation.

That question had been handily answered several times.

At not point did I suggest or ask about using it for other than an out of gas situation. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous at best.

 

[doctormike]

Out of gas is out of gas.

If I am out of gas I can inflate my wing orally while breathing off of a secondary source. I could not do that with a dry suit as there is no oral inflator. In other words, if I am out of gas I have no means of inflating my drysuit.

As someone not yet familiar with drysuit diving, I asked the question because I did not know if there could be a situation where this would pose a problem.

If there were, I would have expected a response that an inflator hose attached to the redundant source would be prudent as part of a response to an out of gas situation.

That question had been handily answered several times.

At not point did I suggest or ask about using it for other than an out of gas situation. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous at best.

Thanks for clarifying. I didn't get this reading your original post.

But still, no reason to be snarky. Not sure why you think I'm being "disingenuous". Everybody who responded to your request for help, did so for no other reason than to try to help you. I won't bother you again.

 

[Darcimus]

Out of gas is out of gas.

If I am out of gas I can inflate my wing orally while breathing off of a secondary source. I could not do that with a dry suit as there is no oral inflator. In other words, if I am out of gas I have no means of inflating my drysuit.

As someone not yet familiar with drysuit diving, I asked the question because I did not know if there could be a situation where this would pose a problem.

If there were, I would have expected a response that an inflator hose attached to the redundant source would be prudent as part of a response to an out of gas situation.

That question had been handily answered several times.

At not point did I suggest or ask about using it for other than an out of gas situation. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous at best.

If you're out of gas, you're probably wanting to get the the surface. As your drysuit is a bag of air, it's subject to expanding as you ascend, so you will normally want to vent expanding air instead of adding air to the suit. No different than venting gas from your BC as you ascend. Thus, having a redundant option is unnecessary.

You should be taught that your dry suit is for comfort, and not for lift, unless you absolutely need to rocket to the surface, as with some suits--including mine-that's exactly what you'll do if you fill the suit. (Think Free Willy.)

 

[NAM001]

I use a second lp hose for the dry suit.

 

[Darcimus]

I use a second lp hose for the dry suit.

What's your usual gear config for your dives? (Doubles/Sidemount/Single large tank)

 

[TrimixToo]

Right. And I agree that people should be comfortable with manipulating LP hoses, so practicing that in general is a good idea.

Being able to disconnect an LP hose is a critical skill to prevent a runaway ascent in cases of a stuck open inflator valve (dry suit or BC). I believe that one of the recent Doria deaths was related to that. It was one of my CCR training skills; not always stressed in OC training, in my experience.

A "like" isn't enough for this point. In my view, everyone should practice this at depth, with a buddy (the dry suit hose, in particular, can be difficult to reconnect if you have a swivel valve). I want to be able to disconnect both LP hoses one-handed, and quickly. I might need the other hand to, for example, stay on the line for a deco stop.