The forces of Darwin held at bay

[Hank49]

For the most part hookah divers are shallow divers so the bends arent as big of an issue but i am suprised there are not more hookah divers with embolisms.

Not all are shallow divers. Hooka
I read a while back about some areas up on Luzon where a lot of guys are crippled for life from severe dcs. A good friend of mine told me that near Iloilo, some fishermen were going to 180 feet on huka and spearing fish.

 

[b1gcountry]

Not all are shallow divers. Hooka
I read a while back about some areas up on Luzon where a lot of guys are crippled for life from severe dcs. A good friend of mine told me that near Iloilo, some fishermen were going to 180 feet on huka and spearing fish.

You would need a considerable amount of pressure in order to get enough air down there. At that point, the compressor is too big to float around on the surface, and I consider it commercial diving. And there is nothing inherently dangerous with Surface supplied air. Commercial divers use it because they consider it safer than SCUBA for their purposes.

Tom

 

[mbwilliamn]

Good call! You know teen's brains are only partially functional (especially when you add the stress of impressing the girls!). I hate to count my own attempts at the Darwin award (of course they sounded like good ideas at the time!).

 

[El Jefe]

This pressurized snorkel... Is this the same thing as SNUBA that is being pushed at many resorts? I had a friend that was encouraged to go on a SNUBA excursion because he was not certified & afraid of the dangers of diving. The tour operator told them that there were absolutely none of the risks associated with diving in SNUBA and that it was as safer than breathing through a snorkel at the surface because no water could get in the SNUBA (unlike a snorkel).

Now that's scary -- Viva Mexico!

 

[Graeme Tolton]

This pressurized snorkel... Is this the same thing as SNUBA that is being pushed at many resorts? I had a friend that was encouraged to go on a SNUBA excursion because he was not certified & afraid of the dangers of diving. The tour operator told them that there were absolutely none of the risks associated with diving in SNUBA and that it was as safer than breathing through a snorkel at the surface because no water could get in the SNUBA (unlike a snorkel).

Now that's scary -- Viva Mexico!

Anything for a Peso. Does anyone else wonder about the risk of CO poisoning from these gas engine driven compressors? Small engines always run very rich, in order to allow easy starting. This excess fuel creates signifigantly high CO levels in the exhaust. I have never used one and really don't know a whole lot about them, but they seem quite simple.

 

[Web Monkey]

Yesterday while waiting for the others in my stress and rescue class to show up. I had a chance to sit and chill on the dock. As the others were a bit late, I had to chance to watch 2 late teen males on the adjacent dock. They had grabbed 40-50 pound stones and their plan was to plunge sponge diver style with the rocks and a small balloon inflated with air from a 12-volt compressor.

That's an interesting idea, since both the balloon and the victim would be at ambient pressure, they should be able to breath a couple of times before they pass out and die.

It's like a rebreather without the scrubber or O2 or training.

Maybe you should bring some of those pre-dive body recovery forms. I haven't seen them in a while, but they should be around the board somewhere.

Terry

 

[mwilding]

I'd of grabbed my camera...

 

[CraigAClark]

This pressurized snorkel... Is this the same thing as SNUBA that is being pushed at many resorts? I had a friend that was encouraged to go on a SNUBA excursion because he was not certified & afraid of the dangers of diving. The tour operator told them that there were absolutely none of the risks associated with diving in SNUBA and that it was as safer than breathing through a snorkel at the surface because no water could get in the SNUBA (unlike a snorkel).

Now that's scary -- Viva Mexico!

Snuba is a tank floating in a tube. The first stage is on the tank and the diver has the second stage. In between is a long hose. BTW, Both Brownies and The Airline standard units allow 60' dives.

Craig

 

[petronius]

It's like a rebreather without the scrubber or O2 or training.

Isn't it more like open circuit without the regulator? I would assume they'd take a breath from the balloon, and breath out into the water - surfacing when the balloon is empty. As long as they breathed out while ascending, it should work just fine (using "just fine" in the loosest possible way, of course). Actually, I'm a bit surprised that I never tried this as a teenager...