"P" Valves
- Thread starter coldwaterdufus
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Sas
Contributor
coldwaterdufus:
If you have ever felt the urge to pee underwater in your drysuit and/or you dehydrate yourself in order not to need to go, definitely get one.
They're awesome really and took a huge stress off me when diving (I used to have to end dives always at around 80mins because I'd need to go, now I can stay in the water as long as I like
). Also it helps on boats with no heads, you can just jump off the side and pee in the water (or stick your leg over the side but I get stage fright so this doesn't work for me!). I've never had any problems with my quick disconnect. I have never been without one so can't compare though.
Peter_C
Contributor
Slamfire
Contributor
Not a single mention of the other alternative to p-valves? Hey, if they're good enough for crazy-fatal-attraction-astronaut-lady, they should be good enough for at least some of us.
Ok, fine, I'm self confident and secure enough to confess that I use them on long dives, or in situations where it's not socially adequate to just take it out and relieve the bladder overboard. It started with a comment I made to a friend about me planning on getting a p-valve, punching a hole in my drysuit and installing it. He mentioned that before I actually punch holes in my suit I may actually want to try the alternatives. He pointed out that there's really nothing to lose because if I find out I don't like them I can always go back to punching the hole. And if I found I can live with them, then I can avoid adding one more failure point to the suit.
I went to a health supplies store and a very attentive lady listened to what I was looking for and for what activity and guided me to the options in terms of ergonomics, size, and liquid holding capacity. I tried them out in several dives and found them tolerable enough to avoid punching a hole in my suit.
Ok, fine, I'm self confident and secure enough to confess that I use them on long dives, or in situations where it's not socially adequate to just take it out and relieve the bladder overboard. It started with a comment I made to a friend about me planning on getting a p-valve, punching a hole in my drysuit and installing it. He mentioned that before I actually punch holes in my suit I may actually want to try the alternatives. He pointed out that there's really nothing to lose because if I find out I don't like them I can always go back to punching the hole. And if I found I can live with them, then I can avoid adding one more failure point to the suit.
I went to a health supplies store and a very attentive lady listened to what I was looking for and for what activity and guided me to the options in terms of ergonomics, size, and liquid holding capacity. I tried them out in several dives and found them tolerable enough to avoid punching a hole in my suit.
Sas
Contributor
I've never tried nappies. The reason I went for a p-valve is because:
-I don't have to sit around in my pee (absorbed well or not, the idea is still gross to me)
-I don't have to go and buy nappies
-I don't have to store nappies in my house that other people might find and think 'wtf'
-don't have to take lots of nappies with me when I go on a dive trip. I take my cath and a tube of glue, which fit in a small makeup bag
-I don't have to find some way of disposing of used nappies
-when I pee the pee goes out my suit, never to be seen again and I think this is a good thing
-I have a reusable cath that I just have to soak in disinfectant between dives so there is no ongoing cost (well there's the glue but you don't need much at a time)
-I'm not secure and confident enough to wear a nappy
-don't find punching a hole in my suit to be a worry at all
Anyway, that's my reasons for not going to a nappy, just can't see any advantages over a p-valve. Interested to hear of any? As I have never used them.
BabyDuck
Contributor
for those thinking of trying diapers, get the ones for babies, not adults. the adult ones just have fluff & suit squeeze will squish the pee back out. baby ones have gel beads that won't release the pee.
just fold the edges back & center over your peeing area.
sas, i use one as she-p backup. i often have an edge come up from stepping up or down rocks, and though the edge will restick, this way i don't have damp undies.
just fold the edges back & center over your peeing area.
sas, i use one as she-p backup. i often have an edge come up from stepping up or down rocks, and though the edge will restick, this way i don't have damp undies.
Slamfire
Contributor
The technology has advanced far beyond the days of simple pieces of cloth. You really don't feel it that much. It does feel like your carrying something heavy around, but not as damp as you'd imagine. Dampness promotes rashes, which can develop into infections. So the better dampness control you have, the better it'll be for the patient. That's one key feature that got a lot of focus while developing the technology currently available.
The one time I went I was the only one in the store. And it seemed that the lady did believe my diver story.
I'm sure there's plenty of suitable hiding places in your dwelling. And if they find them, you can always tell them, "wtf, why are you snooping around my things"
I always carry a spare change of clothes in case I get flooded. I carry the "nappies" in the bottom of the small clothes bag. I carry the bag with me when I go take the last peeing before suiting up. After the last peeing I install the "nappies". I only use one per dive trip day -- usually two dives per day.
You dispose of them in the same place where bathroom paper waste goes. Just bunch them into a tight ball (no liquid will squeeze out) and use the adhesive strips to keep the ball in shape. Because it's heavier it usually goes to the bottom of the waste basket. I don't know much about this, but I suspect it's not any more complicated than disposing of womanly period absorbing devices.
What can I say?
The one's the store lady sold me where very low cost. I can't remember how much, but low enough not to sweat it.
You're a smart, successful young woman with nothing to be ashamed of.
It's not just the hole punching. In the men's version, if you get an unbalanced one you may end up suffering painful squeezing. If you get a balanced one, the balancing chamber could become a bacterial haven and end up causing infections. Then, there are the hoses that can disconnect without the diver knowing about it and result in a wet surprise. There's even "public relations" challenges: a friend of mine was adjusting his P-valve while facing some bushes. To the untrained eye, it appeared he was committing a public urination "crime". The site just happened to be in the middle of a controversy because a few local residents wanted to ban diving activities due to the alleged public urination divers were doing...
If you get a squeeze strong enough to make the liquid come out, then you have bigger problems, particularly men. Such a squeeze would be VERY painful. You can get adult gel bead ones, can't you?
I like my p-valve. No need to carry diapers home, or dispose of them. I already have holes in my suit for my inlet and dump valves; a well-installed p-valve is no worse. Even my husband is a reluctant convert.
Slamfire
Contributor
To be fair, because I haven't actually tried P-valves myself I can't give an impartial opinion of one against the other. I may well end up a reluctant convert if I were to try it. The significance of the hole punching is more a commitment issue. You punch the hole, you're committed to using it. I guess that if you don't like it, you just leave the valve on and not use it, but it then would just seem like a lot of useless convolution. On the other hand diapers are totally non-commitment. If you don't like them just don't use them anymore. No remaining repercussions left behind. It's the difference between giving a lady an engagement ring or engaging some NCL (Non-Commital-Lip) activity with a lady.
Also, one of my statistics professors would point out that the most parsimonious model was usually the one that worked best (similar to hogarthian thinking). In this case, the valve does not seem to be the most parsimonious model.
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