New Diver - Dumb Regulator Question (Maybe)

[DaleC]

I don't consider diving to be a safe activity.

Some people want to dive I guess. One person who just recently posted had epilepsy, I also recall someone who said they were prone to occasional fainting. Some disabled divers are quads or amputees (not LOC related but still unable to manipulate a reg effectively). All of them probably consult with a physician first and have some provisions/caveats to diving like the use of a FFM.

 

[Davidstealey3]

if some of you that are saying that it would be hare to get to your octo aor put air in a bc must not of read my post. it has to be removable. the store bought ones are made of a strechable material. if you give a pull on the reg it will come out of the necklace. this is so if a diver were to go for the reg in yourt mouth they could have it. if the diver is paniced, they most likely give you the signals, just go for the first air source they see. hopefuly you have the frame of mind to grap the backup at that point.

so if it is bungeed to your face you will still be able to do all the things mentioned. pull the reg down to manualy inflate your bc, pull the reg out of the bungee to donate in an OOA situation. they are not ment to keep it as a permenate fixture to your face.

as oxyhacker stated they use to have something like this back in the day i am clueless as to the design. i have no idea if it was a bungee type or if acted as a firm strap that kept it in place. but the design of todays are made for instances like the OOA and serve the purpose well. true you dont want it to be stuck to the face, but you can move the necklace to a place that would hold it up with no effort on your part, but a least if you pull on it, it would no longer be there

 

[Hoomi]

An amusing story one of the co-owners of our LDS told recently.

One of the guys in his first dive class fell asleep on one of the OW cert dives. They were waiting while the instructor went through the exercise with other students, and this guy nodded off. He somehow kept his reg in his mouth, and apparently didn't wake up disoriented or panicked.

I'm not sure how anyone could have managed that, but it's funny to think about...

 

[captain]

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as oxyhacker stated they use to have something like this back in the day i am clueless as to the design. i have no idea if it was a bungee type or if acted as a firm strap that kept it in place. but the design of todays are made for instances like the OOA and serve the purpose well. true you dont want it to be stuck to the face, but you can move the necklace to a place that would hold it up with no effort on your part, but a least if you pull on it, it would no longer be there

The mouthpiece had tabs on each side with a snap fastner on it. The strap was snapped onto the mouthpiece. It was more of the design of the current bunge rather than to retain the mouthpiece in the mouth. Most divers considered having the regulator strapped around their neck a hazard if buddy breathing was needed, if the tank slipped out of the pack or if a quick removal of gear was needed. This was in pre octo days.
I have one or two of them laying around in the stash.

 

[it_mike]

An amusing story one of the co-owners of our LDS told recently.

One of the guys in his first dive class fell asleep on one of the OW cert dives. They were waiting while the instructor went through the exercise with other students, and this guy nodded off. He somehow kept his reg in his mouth, and apparently didn't wake up disoriented or panicked.

I'm not sure how anyone could have managed that, but it's funny to think about...

Done it, and seen it done, several times. Annual charity 24hr dive, 'Dive for a Cure', leads to napping. Lot's of fun when you eventually/inadvertently lose your reg and continue breathing...

 

[Bronson]

there are no dumb questions. So thanks for this post. Maybe you could think up a new idea and buill that "better mousetrap" so to speak. Thre are plenty of people that would probably but it. As for me, I do not see the need but i remember the days before PCs and saw no need for them also. So, maybe new ideas would be good.

 

[DaleC]

Here is a pic of an older reg. In the background you can see the rubber strap. There is a section of the strap with a hole in it that slips over the mouth piece of the reg and two snaps that the adjustable portion attaches to. Sorry for the poor image but my camera is not working at the moment and this is the only one on file.

We are discussing two different functions or uses of the regulator bungy. The common current use is to keep the reg close to the mouth, under the chin, where it can be quickly located and deployed (to you) in an OOA (because you donate the longer primary in your mouth). To fashion a device that would keep a reg in the mouth of an unconscious diver the bungy would have to be much tighter. The current model could not be relied upon for this purpose.

On a side note. Retail versions of the regulator bungy or "necklace" are sub optimal usually because they are a bit too long. The reg hangs too low and will often free flow as a result.

An easy and cheap bungy can be made by using "bungy cord" knotted on each end and secured under the mouthpiece zip tie. The length should be such that the reg rests up under the chin near the adams apple. The bungy cord should be thick enough to hold but thin enough to break if pulled strongly.

A necklace can also be made by using surgical tubing. I'll try to edit in a diagram to describe how it's done.

 

[TMHeimer]

I tend to agree with most of the reasons not to have it strapped on. Not sure about water getting your mouth, as I would assume one would clamp down on the mouthpiece same as if it weren't strapped on you, no?? Something to ponder if solo diving, I guess, but then again if you had a heart attack or something else happened and you were unconscious you may not survive anyway.

 

[muddiver]

Another reason, and a problem with some full face masks, is that on the surface you will still be breathing from your regulator until you could disconnect/remove the strap that has been proposed. This wastes air if you are at the beganing of the dive and you are swimming to the anchor/down line. After the dive you might want to switch to a snorkle to swim back to dry land and/or most divers prefer teh freedom of being able to spit the darn thing out as soon as they reach the surface.

Those old ScubaPro regulators with the strap, had a hard non-streaching strap that was to keep the regulator from dangeling much like the moderen regulator necklace.

 

[jerry1818]

Wow, I never thought this thread would go anywhere! :cool3: A lot of interesting responses here, but a lot of us seem to be focused on details of the design and whether it would be convenient to use a device to hold your reg in.

I think something could be designed to accommodate all of the concerns for it's use, but the main question I have is, would it prevent or even delay drowning? If the concept is good, I would then move on to design.