Drinking underwater (SCUDA??)

[Shaka Doug]

CapriSuns work well. I freeze them first and keep them in a koozie in my BC. About halfway into the dive if I need a drink I break it out. The ice turns into liquid and is colder than the ocean temperature so it's refreshing. You can remove the straw and fold over the top if you can't finish it in one session. Remember to purge the straw of salt water though or the first sip is salty!

Here's another take on a good way to hydrate underwater. This is also a good way to get your daily supply of anti-oxidants and phytonutrients:

 

[Damselfish]

I don't believe dry mouth is necessarily a sign of dehydration, may affect or bother some people more than others but I'd say it's a pretty unsurprising result of breathing dry air through your mouth for an hour, which you weren't meant to do any more than you were meant to breath underwater. So my all means stay hydrated, but some people need other solutions.

My solution is a spray called Oasis that you can get in the dental section at the drugstore. The ingredients are basically glycerin and water, so I refilled the little spray bottle with that and a few drops of mint extract and it works almost as well. There's also gums/toothpastes/mouthwashes for preventing dry mouth, don't recall the brand I tried but my mom got some samples she didn't want. Those helped too. (I should go see what the ingredients are on that stufff if I have any left.)

 

[traumadiver]

Dry mouth a problem eh? I have that problem from time to time as well. I drink alot of water but my reg seems to dry my mouth out some.
My solution is jolly ranchers, hard candy. I pop one in my mouth as I am gearing up and if its not finished as I am about to make entry I spit it out. I would not reccomend diving with food in your mouth for obvious reasons.
I believe it works by stimulating my salivary glands, also, the sugar in the candy thickens up my saliva, coating my mouth. More time to dry time.
Oh yeah and Jolly Ranchers are a great way to make friends on the boat too!

I saw this in another related post awhile back..so I am not the genius, someone else was!

 

[Timoblue]

Shaka,

Just curious.

Acai berry juice blend - Local concoction?

 

[wreckless1]

I don't know about SCUDA, but I'll make millions when I invent Self Contained Underwater Smoking Apparatus. No more nicotine fits at 100'!

 

[cincidiver]

I thought hydration was the problem at first after consulting with many dive masters. On my last trip i stayed hydrated at a constant intake level of about 2 and a half letres per day. as for peeing in the water yes i went many times on each tank and the first thing i HAD to do when i got back onboard was to chug a btl of water. I have come to the conclusion that it is not lack of water. but i have heard that your body will adapt to breathing off the tank and the thuroughly dried air that comes with it but, with as infrequently as i dive im affraid that my body just doesnt like the dry air.

 

[RJP]

I've had buddies whip out a Capri-sun during a dive. They compress way easier than a juice box, apparently, and then by drinking during the dive, you don't have to pee during the dive but still maintain a decent hydration level.

If you're not drinking until ON the dive, it's too late to maintain proper hydration. ie having water in your stomach is not the same as being hydrated. Proper hydration is state of equilibrium at the plasma and cellular level and it takes quite a while from "ingestion" to "hydration."

Maintaining proper hydration - especially if you're doing longer, deeper dives - needs to start a few DAYS before diving.

 

[I Dive]

It looks like you are a somewhat new diver. If so, the solution to your problem may be much simpler and cheaper than you think. When I first started diving, I had serious cotton mouth on every dive. It was driving me nuts. Just like you, I started researching ways to to take a drink while diving. I have no idea why, but during a dive, the problem suddenly dawned on me. The reason I was getting cotton mouth was because I was a total air hog. I was basically giving myself cotton mouth because I was puffing on that rug way too long on each breath. Now that I have my breathing under control, I rarely experience any cotton mouth, and when I do it is a very minor case of it. And, I get much longer bottom time as well!

 

[Rhone Man]

Never used one personally, but it might help.

Apollo Bio Filter

I have one of these. It certainly helps with dry mouth, although obviously not with dehydration.

 

[Doc]

Dehydration we understand and agree.

But dry mouth?

Swish some sea water in there and spit. You can't taste it.