Mailing List Archive Mailing List Archive
At 11:44 AM 10/25/95 -1000, Richard Pyle wrote: > >> I wonder if any of the people on this list currently or plan to make solo >> rebreather dives. Or would you not want to be caught dead, alone with a >> rebreather underwater :)? > >Excellent question (seriously). Two things to consider: > >1) Rebreathers are not as conducive to buddy-breathing (redicing one >of the only real benefits of having a buddy for OC scuba). I'd say you CANNOT buddy-breathe with a rebreather. - What do you do with the exhalation when you don't have the mouthpiece? - Throw it out, like you do on OC? - Of course, this will deplete the rebreather gas supply in a jiffy. Then, to avoid gas depletion, do you keep it in your lungs until you have the mouthpiece back? - If you keep it, what do you do if you are ascending, which is perhaps the likeliest thing to do when one rebreather goes on the fritz? >2) Probably the biggest risk of rebreather diving (at least for >fully-closed systems) is hypoxia-induced blackout, followed closely by >hyperoxia-induced convulsions. Both of these are non-fatal per se if >rectified quickly; so having an attentive buddy could save a life (if the >buddy corrects the O2 managament problem quickly, and the afflicted >diver hasn't already drowned). Since convulsion is a likely thing to happen, how about using a FFM? This way, in case of convulsions, the diver does not risk losing the mouthpiece. In addition, a FFM would likely to reduce the amount of accidental gas venting (I think). Then, I'd say that if you dive a rebreather, whether solo or with someone else, you get yourself a good bailout system, whether an independant OC or something integrated with the rebreather. Questions: - When you plan your dive, do you ABSOLUTELY have to plan it around your bail-out system capacities? - If you buddy-dive with rebreathers, could you conceivably plan your dive SAFELY around the COMBINED bailout sytem capacities? ---------------------------------------------------------------- No .sig, account the blues. ------ Marc Dufour -- [\] -- http://www.cam.org/~mdufour ------- OUIouiOUIouiOUIouiOUIouiOUIouiOUIouiOUIouiOUIouiOUIouiOUIouiOUI
Navigate by Author:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Subject Search Index]
[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]
[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]