bruce123
Guest
Wanted to start this thread to hear from people who have done an emergency swimming ascent or an emergency buoyant ascent. Would like to hear your stories on what happened to cause you to do it, how you managed it, from what depths, and what your experience was, and if you were successful (not injured).
I would especially like to hear from people who have practiced this and learn how they were trained to safely do this. From what depth have they practiced this and what techniques they use to vent air from their lungs?
As part of my continuing education in diving, I want to learn how to do ascents without an air supply. I figure this would be a most important skill to have learned. If I can learn how to do this safely and can practice this until it becomes second nature, then an out of air emergency in open water during a no decompression dive, would not be a big deal. Knowing I can get comfortably to the surface from any depth without feeling starved for air and taking my time would be a wonderful feeling of confidence and security to have.
The standard technique I have been taught is to look up and constantly blow out air. Some have said to whistle or say eeeeeeeeeee. When I have tried this I always blow too much and run out of air very quickly. Having read about this, I have seen some people describe the technique of simply keeping your airway open, and air will naturally just bubble out as it expands, keeping the volume of air in your lungs constant. This technique appears to allow you to ascend from virtually any depth without running out of air. It seems to allow you to take your time and make a reasonably slow and safe assent, reducing the possibility of getting bent. Some people have describe submariners doing this from over 120 feet and taking as long as five minutes to reach the surface without running out of air or feeling starved for air. I was wondering if this is true, and would like very much to hear from people who have practiced this. I can understand why this is not taught; because it would be time consuming, very risky for the instructors liability, and a lot of people would just misunderstand and hold their breath. Its just simpler to teach constantly blow and you know their airway is open, even though they are going to run out of air and then panic.
I recently tried this technique in an 8-foot deep pool with scuba. I figured I was only going from 1.3 ATM. to 1 ATM., so if I started off with a half a lung of air, there was no way I could hurt myself. It seemed to work, but the depth was so shallow, I couldnt get much of a feel for it. But it seemed like I could get to the surface and have the same amount of air in my lungs as when I started. It also felt like I was breathing the whole time (letting the air naturally bubble out) and I didnt feel like I was running out of air at all. I would like to know if I am on the right track and I will start to practice this from progressively deeper depths. Or perhaps a safer way to practice this would be to say start at 60 feet and go to 40 feet, then gradually go to shallower depths as I develop the feel for the technique. The expansion of air would be much less, from 60 to 40 27% expansion vs. the same 20 feet from 20 to surface, 60% expansion.
So, any advice or experience with this I would very much appreciate hearing about.
I would especially like to hear from people who have practiced this and learn how they were trained to safely do this. From what depth have they practiced this and what techniques they use to vent air from their lungs?
As part of my continuing education in diving, I want to learn how to do ascents without an air supply. I figure this would be a most important skill to have learned. If I can learn how to do this safely and can practice this until it becomes second nature, then an out of air emergency in open water during a no decompression dive, would not be a big deal. Knowing I can get comfortably to the surface from any depth without feeling starved for air and taking my time would be a wonderful feeling of confidence and security to have.
The standard technique I have been taught is to look up and constantly blow out air. Some have said to whistle or say eeeeeeeeeee. When I have tried this I always blow too much and run out of air very quickly. Having read about this, I have seen some people describe the technique of simply keeping your airway open, and air will naturally just bubble out as it expands, keeping the volume of air in your lungs constant. This technique appears to allow you to ascend from virtually any depth without running out of air. It seems to allow you to take your time and make a reasonably slow and safe assent, reducing the possibility of getting bent. Some people have describe submariners doing this from over 120 feet and taking as long as five minutes to reach the surface without running out of air or feeling starved for air. I was wondering if this is true, and would like very much to hear from people who have practiced this. I can understand why this is not taught; because it would be time consuming, very risky for the instructors liability, and a lot of people would just misunderstand and hold their breath. Its just simpler to teach constantly blow and you know their airway is open, even though they are going to run out of air and then panic.
I recently tried this technique in an 8-foot deep pool with scuba. I figured I was only going from 1.3 ATM. to 1 ATM., so if I started off with a half a lung of air, there was no way I could hurt myself. It seemed to work, but the depth was so shallow, I couldnt get much of a feel for it. But it seemed like I could get to the surface and have the same amount of air in my lungs as when I started. It also felt like I was breathing the whole time (letting the air naturally bubble out) and I didnt feel like I was running out of air at all. I would like to know if I am on the right track and I will start to practice this from progressively deeper depths. Or perhaps a safer way to practice this would be to say start at 60 feet and go to 40 feet, then gradually go to shallower depths as I develop the feel for the technique. The expansion of air would be much less, from 60 to 40 27% expansion vs. the same 20 feet from 20 to surface, 60% expansion.
So, any advice or experience with this I would very much appreciate hearing about.