Something frightening: five feet of water....

[Vinga]

I was just zipping through a discussion of 12 yr olds diving, and someone said they'd taken a child in a pool to five feet of depth. If that child had held his breath, as is our normal reaction, he'd have embolized. You can burst the alveoli in your lungs at only four feet of depth, by taking a deep breath and popping to the surface, four feet isn't very far.
Please, never give a regulator(octopus) to someone in a pool!
Cheers,
Melissa

 

[k4sdi]

I saw some people doing this recently at 20 feet. THey would give snorklers a breath so they could spend more time down. I found out later that the snorklers were certified, and they were sure to exhale on the way up. Still kinda sounded danerous to me though.

 

[Se7en]

Snorkling down to divers...

I've done quite a bit of this, and while I don't want to be seen to be promoting it, I do not think it is too dangerous. The only area that really worries me is the ascent rate (which can be higher than I'd do on Scuba).

The again, on shallow reefs, I prefer free diving due to the lack of encumbering gear - so being able to free dive off friends with SCUBA gear gives me the best of all worlds.

Mike

 

[Rick Murchison]

I am not infrequently offered air from Scuba divers while free diving. I make it a point to smile "thank you, but no" and decline.
I'm fairly comfortable with my personal routine of Scuba diving and mild free diving; I'm not quite sure what a few lungsfull of compressed air at depth while freediving would do to my deco status - And since I might feel obligated to miss a dive after having done so, I just avoid it altogether.
Rick

 

[Se7en]

Originally posted by Rick Murchison
I am not infrequently offered air from Scuba divers while free diving. And since I might feel obligated to miss a dive after having done so, I just avoid it altogether.
Rick

To expand on what I said before - I don't do it as a casual activity - ie offered air by a passing diver. It has always been a planned event - the divers are expecting me, and I (or whoever is free diving) am a part of the whole dive team.

I'd also not do it as part of a series of dives - it's always been the whole of the days diving activity. I've also meant to wear my 'puter as well, to see what it comes up with, just never got around to it.

Mike

 

[ScubaJorgen]

Vinga's right.

These kind of accidents do not happen at 100 feet/30 meter but in last few feet/meters under the surface.

The relative pressure drop per feet/meter is maximum just below the surface. Going up from 1 meter depth to the surface means going from an ambient pressure of 1.1 bar to 1 bar. A drop of 10%. Going from 31 meter to 30 meter means ambient pressure going from 4.1 bar to 4.0 bar. A drop of 2.5%. Volume in the lungs expands accordingly when breathholding and lungs cannot take much overpressure. The change for lung barotrauma is the largest in shallow water!
:thinkingo:.

A friend of my (not a diver) went diving with a friend of his (a fireman) in the pool. My friend did not know he had to clear his ears. Apparently he thought the pain comes with the diving.... He had ear-aches for quite some time....

So, do not take a unexperienced person for a dive :nono:, unless you know what you're dealing with (=if you are an instructor)....

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Years ago a friend told me that while diving in Okinawa he saw a snorkeler free dive to his buddies who were scuba diving and take an octopus. The snorkeler swam with the divers for a while then waved off and surfaced holding his breath all the way up (evidently he was not trained for scuba but my friend was not sure). My friend said the snorkeler was spewing red foam from his mouth and nose when he hit the surface and died soon after.

 

[ScubaJorgen]

Ber Rabit,

That is a typical sign of lung barotrauma. Rupturing of the alveoli causes blood to enter the lungs, causing caughing up frothy blood. Too bad it ended this way....

In such cases applying pure oxygen is the best thing to do. Immediate medical attention is needed (dial 911) :nurse:.

 

[Ari]

I would rule out both trying to breath from a compressed source while free diving, or letting someone else use your air source while he/she is free diving.

It is just dangerous. Why take the risk?

Ari

 

[Se7en]

Originally posted by Ari

It is just dangerous. Why take the risk?

Ari

Because it's fun - and with experience and common sense, a damm sight safer than driving to the dive location.

Most things have some sort of risk vs reward equation. It's up to each of us to understand the risk, and work out if it's worth the reward.

Mike