Is is possible to breathe from your BCD?

[SnorkelLA]

I was having a conversation with a buddy of mine and he was telling me about a "friend" of his that supposedly had regulator issues at depth, but his BCD would still inflate. He told me his friend said that he was able to make a swimming ascent by adding air into his BCD, then immediately putting his oral inflator into his mouth, pressing the deflate button, and breathing, but with some minor difficulties due to water. My friend told me that he "called his bull****", but I personally think that it may be *possible*, assuming you could crane your head around to get the hose in an upright position to breathe

Thoughts?

[electrix]

Only as a last resort I would think, bad germs in the BC.

[TSandM]

It is theoretically possible, assuming you had simultaneous malfunctions that rendered both second stages unable to deliver gas (which requires very unusual failures, and here you're positing two of them). Somebody recently posted, asking about failure modes that leave regulators unable to deliver gas -- they exist, but they are very unusual. If you can deliver air into the BC, you can theoretically breath it back out. There may be quite a bit of biologic crud in the bladder, though; this is truly a last ditch strategy.

I prefer receiving a nice, clean working reg from my buddy, myself.

[SnorkelLA]

Yeah, the whole buddy air sharing thing is why he said he called his BS, but I guess what I was asking is how "possible" it is :)

[Teamcasa]

Yeah, the whole buddy air sharing thing is why he said he called his BS, but I guess what I was asking is how "possible" it is :)One breath, maybe. Safe? Not in my view. Realistic? I doubt it. Have I tried it? Nope. Would I try it as the very last resort? Yes.

[ScubaSteve]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bpeI67OS7nA/SdRJoIrJqdI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/a0W_V2wODlk/s320/fish-story.gif

I think I found a picture of your buddy's friend telling another story. I think if I had been listening to that story, I would have had a couple more questions as to the "Why". Based on the little you've said, I expect this was a recreational dive within NDL's so there should be several options that are better choices than breathing the air from a BC/Wing. I am curious why they all got passed over for the BC.

[SnorkelLA]

I know about as much as you do... :confused:

[g1138]

Hold down your inflator and deflator button and you get a mixture of fresh air and what ever air deflates out of your BC. If you're completely deflated already you just get fresh air.
A different method from the story but if you're asking if you can continuously breathe out of an inflator the answer is yes you can.
Can you get enough air? That is a question I've never tested. I just starred at the bubbles and went "meh, not worth it."

I personally would ditch weight (if I had to) fully deflate then cram on both buttons if I had to breath out of my inflator. I've heard lung infections aren't the biggest craze.

[arthurmnev]

Not really.
If your regulator is done with (presumably stage 1, since if it is stage 2 both of your regulators would need to be dead for this event to occur), your BCD inflation would not work since it connects to the same low pressure ports as your regulator does.

Assuming that by some weird alignment of stars, a lottery ticket and a lightening strike BOTH (primary / secondary regulator) low pressure ports on stage 1 went bad but BCD port remained functional consider the physics:
You would need to inflate and breathe in at the same rate else you will go up and very quick. You could do inflate / deflate at the same time, but I doubt it would work as your defoliator port needs to be above your BC bladder and if you are breathing from it it is about the same level, this means you would get positive buoyancy before you would get any air sucked out ...

I think your friend's BS comment is spot on.

If you are in open water -- you can

1) Grab air from your buddy
2) Emergency ascend from as low as about 100' simply by continuously exhaling (remember compressed air in your lungs expands as you go up, so if you exhale at the rate that it expands you are OK, and this should have been covered in the open water class)
3) Pull out your quick release or belt weights, exhale, dump them and kick, you will be up on the surface VERY quickly (try this on land and you will be see that if needed you can move quite a bit after full exhale before you have to put some air back in)
4) If you are in an overhead environment -- well, you are screwed, but again, that is what buddy system or pony bottle is for...

[Superlyte27]

Lets re-think this....
His questions is, is it possible to breathe off of a working inflator, and the answer is yes, it is possible.

Now, lets take it a little bit further. Lets say you and your dive buddy really screw up on a cave dive. You've gotten severely lost, and by the time you find your way, you KNOW for a fact that you don't have enough air to make it back to land using the traditional method SCUBA intended. Is it possible to use your wing as a rebreather with the remaining air in your tanks? You inhale from the reg, exhale into the wing. Recycle the gas in the wing 3 times, then discard that gas, and again Inhale through your REG, exhaling through your wing.

Just FYI for those that don't know, we breathe in 21%, we exhale 16% Oxygen. Granted the CO2 levels are growing, but if the crap hit the fan, this is a better alternative than dying.

[SnorkelLA]

That's a pretty excellent point, Superlyte

[DevonDiver]

Personally, this sounds like an implausible urban myth to me... I don't see what failure would impact both regs, but still leave the LPI fully functional.

That said, as a hypothetical discussion;

1. You could breath directly from your BCD, via the LPI, but might want some extremely strong anti-biotics afterwards.

2. Breathing from the BCD would mean you lost buoyancy - ultimately under-mining your emergency ascent to the surface.

3. You could 're'-breath via the BCD (inhale and exhale through the LPI), as Superlyte states - CO2 would be the significant issue, followed by depleted O2... if more than a couple of breaths were taken. Your buoyancy would remain however.

4. You could breath tank-air directly via the LPI - depress the deflate and inflate buttons simultaneously and breath from that. If the corrugated hose was u-bent/crimped, you shouldn't get much BCD air in that mix.

[theduckguru]

A little Dawn detergent in the BC every once and a while might not be a bad plan.

[flots am]

I was having a conversation with a buddy of mine and he was telling me about a "friend" of his that supposedly had regulator issues at depth, but his BCD would still inflate. He told me his friend said that he was able to make a swimming ascent by adding air into his BCD, then immediately putting his oral inflator into his mouth, pressing the deflate button, and breathing, but with some minor difficulties due to water. My friend told me that he "called his bull****", but I personally think that it may be *possible*, assuming you could crane your head around to get the hose in an upright position to breathe


It sounds like crap to me. You would need two simultaneous second stages that failed closed, which is less likely that winning the lottery.

While it is possible to move air from your BC to your lungs and back again if you want, it accomplishes nothing except giving you an opportunity for an astonishingly nasty lung infection.

If you don't have anything to breathe, share with your buddy. If you lost your air and your buddy, do an Out of Air Ascent

Just follow training. You'll live longer.

flots

[WoodyLompoc]

and he didn't use his octo because,,,,,?

[SnorkelLA]

I only heard it "friend of a friend", so I can't answer any questions

[Superlyte27]

It sounds like crap to me. You would need two simultaneous second stages that failed closed, which is less likely that winning the lottery.

While it is possible to move air from your BC to your lungs and back again if you want, it accomplishes nothing except giving you an opportunity for an astonishingly nasty lung infection.

If you don't have anything to breathe, share with your buddy. If you lost your air and your buddy, do an Out of Air Ascent


Just follow training. You'll live longer.

flots

In my scenario, i'd choose lung infection over death everytime. Knowing that these avenues do exist, should the unthinkable happen, is ammo in fighting off that bastard called Death.

[tadawson]

The question was clearly not "Would you want to breathe from your BCD" but was "*CAN* you breathe from your BCD" to which the answer is an unquestioned *YES*.

I certified in 1978 before the octo was that common, and I recall this being mentioned in training . . .

Since the air in the BCD is at ambient pressure, it will breathe just like a reg. No need to hold down anything on the inflator as long as the BCD already has air in it . . .

The biggest issue I have heard is not bacteria in the BCD, but fungus . . . I recall a recent report of a guy who did this (and saved himself) but then a fungus got into his lungs, and he later died from that . .

If I was SOL at depth, would I do it? Probably . . . I'd rather take a maybe with dirty air than a drowning . . . But only if all else failed, which, as others have stated, is highly unlikely.

- Tim

[freewillie]

Sounds like something we should submit to Mythbusters.

[idive2]

I don't know the dangers of this from an unclean air perspective. I don't believe the inflator hose would have
to be in any particular position if you were attempting to suck air from the BC. By pushing in on the deflate button
with your mouth over the mouthpiece you would be hooked up to whatever is in the bc. Same as when you orally inflate
only in reverse. The chances of reg failure pretty low but a totally out of air at depth would definitely have me thinking
where my next breathe is coming from. I have always kept this in the back of my mind as something that MIGHT be a
very last resort type thing and no guarantee how much air would be in the BC. I believe the deflate button would have to be
depressed otherwise air would not be contained in BC during normal use. I would test this theory but that fungus story has me
a little concerned !

[Superlyte27]

rinse your bcd with a healthy dose of vinegar. It's what my parapalegic brother was told to soak his catheters in because his insurance sucks and they wouldn't pay for new catheters. It's also what alot of people are cleaning their counterlungs with on rebreathers. At any rate... kills bacteria/fungus and is not harmful to ingest.

[flots am]

In my scenario, i'd choose lung infection over death everytime. Knowing that these avenues do exist, should the unthinkable happen, is ammo in fighting off that bastard called Death.

For an Open Water diver, the choice has nothing to do with "death" except possibly from a lung infection.

There are no Open Water conditions that would require breathing from your BC, since the surface is always available from any depth within the OW limits.

flots.

[ScubaSteve1962]

don't know about breathing from your BC but I since I use an air2 as my alternate source, no problem. But allot of new divers don't think of using their spare regulator for themselves, they think of it as being there for their buddy if he gets in trouble. I've seen the question posed here about what to do if your regulator goes out. In OW training you're taught how to use your regulator in most situations, but you're not taught that you can also use your backup, it just means you have to end the dive. Where as with the air2 system you're taught to give your regulator to your buddy and breath through your inflater hose.

[SC_Hoaty]

Sounds like something we should submit to Mythbusters.

Are those the guys that explode tanks?

[SkimFisher]

For an Open Water diver, the choice has nothing to do with "death" except possibly from a lung infection.

There are no Open Water conditions that would require breathing from your BC, since the surface is always available from any depth within the OW limits.

flots.

That's like saying you don't need a seatbelt if you're only going 3 miles up the road.

I don't understand all the debate. Yes, it's possible.

[decompression]

Yes, not only is it possible, you could even consider it a skill, check out Bil Phillips video on you tube (his company is called Speleotec). Bil is pretty amazing.

[Firefyter]

Lets re-think this....
His questions is, is it possible to breathe off of a working inflator, and the answer is yes, it is possible.

Now, lets take it a little bit further. Lets say you and your dive buddy really screw up on a cave dive. You've gotten severely lost, and by the time you find your way, you KNOW for a fact that you don't have enough air to make it back to land using the traditional method SCUBA intended. Is it possible to use your wing as a rebreather with the remaining air in your tanks? You inhale from the reg, exhale into the wing. Recycle the gas in the wing 3 times, then discard that gas, and again Inhale through your REG, exhaling through your wing.

Just FYI for those that don't know, we breathe in 21%, we exhale 16% Oxygen. Granted the CO2 levels are growing, but if the crap hit the fan, this is a better alternative than dying.

Emphasis mine. This in my opinion is spot on.



I certified in 1978 before the octo was that common, and I recall this being mentioned in training . . .

Since the air in the BCD is at ambient pressure, it will breathe just like a reg. No need to hold down anything on the inflator as long as the BCD already has air in it . . .



I was taught this in training in 1986 as well. We were told it was only to be used as a last resort, but I know for a fact it works.


Yes, not only is it possible, you could even consider it a skill, check out Bil Phillips video on you tube (his company is called Speleotec). Bil is pretty amazing.

It was a skill I was required to pass as part of my training.

[NC myerssl]

If you were in an OOA situation with no buddy, (I know shame on you if this happens), then breathing one or two cycles out of your BC can be done. One thing you have to realize is that you will need to raise your inflator hose higher than your BC to drain the water into the BC from the hose prior to taking the first breadth. If not, you will be inhaling some water on the first breadth. This is something you should practice once or twice with a clean BC if you ever decide your willing to do this.

As far as crud in your BC, always rinse it out after your dives and once a month if you use Listerine in the rinse cycle it helps get rid of the crud.

As I said, this is a last resort and as others have mentioned, it can be done.

[NJDiver_Chris]

In theory yes, it would work, you inflate it with air from your tank, the same air that you would be breathing, you are just going through a different source to get the air, would be about the same as cutting an air hose and putting it in your mouth to breathe.

[flots am]

That's like saying you don't need a seatbelt if you're only going 3 miles up the road.

That's an invalid analogy. A properly performed OOA ascent from recreational depths is always a reasonably safe option. Driving into a tree two miles from your house with no seatbelt is nearly always unsafe.


I don't understand all the debate. Yes, it's possible.

FWIW, the OP was about not being OOA, but having two malfunctioning second stages that failed closed. I'd prepare for a Bigfoot abduction before learning a skill to be used in the case of two simultaneous second stage failures while not being OOA.

flots.

[oldschool]

I first learned to scuba in the late 70's in Germany. We used horsecollar BCs with a small bottle attached directly to the BC. The bottle was filled from the main tank prior to the dive. One of the skills we learned was popping a bit of air from the bottle into the bc and breathing out of the inflator. It actually worked extremely well. The trick was only putting a little air at a time into the bc so as not to become too bouyant.

[DevonDiver]

A.P.Valves still make the Buddy Commando (http://www.apvalves.com/uk/products/bc/commando/) BCD - that features a mini-cylinder for "emergency breathing and buoyancy". You would access the air via the LPI. I owned two of those BCDs when I first started diving - they're synonymous with UK diving, you see them everywhere.. a nice piece of kit. I always used to remove the mini-cylinder though, as it added bulk.

[RonFrank]

Rather than discussing this absurd idea let's take a survey.

Have you ever breathed from your BC?

For me the answer is..... NO.

You have to be rather foolish to:


run out of air
be unable to share air/buddy breath
loose your buddy
have no redundancy if diving solo
be unable to breath off the reg (primary or octo), but the inflater has air? :confused:
be unable to perform a CESA



Just because you can light a fire with dynamite does not make it a good idea.

No training agency advocates this that I am aware.

This entire discussion is rather foolish. Lets not bring Cave into the mix as this is the Basic Forum. ;)

[supergaijin]

A summation then:

Yes, it is possible.
No, it is not advisable.

Diver Magazine? UK Diver Magazine? ran a story 2 years or so back with a diver who did this, survived but spent months in hospital battling a fungal infection. It took a while for them to realise where the fungus had come from, but finally cut his BCD up, and found the origin. The diver died about a year ago from the lung infection.

[DevonDiver]

Diver Magazine? UK Diver Magazine? ran a story 2 years or so back with a diver who did this, survived but spent months in hospital battling a fungal infection. It took a while for them to realise where the fungus had come from, but finally cut his BCD up, and found the origin. The diver died about a year ago from the lung infection.

I remember reading a similar report (the same?) that provided the results of a bacteria test on the inside of the BCD bladder. In a nutshell - it'd be more healthy to lick your toilet clean.

[idive2]

I remember reading a similar report (the same?) that provided the results of a bacteria test on the inside of the BCD bladder. In a nutshell - it'd be more healthy to lick your toilet clean.

If my first stage locked up ( I know how rare but just for an example) at 120 feet and I found myself without a buddy and without a pony (would not happen with me but just an example) I would certainly be entertaining the idea of sucking whatever breathable air is left in bc on the way up. This might only be maybe one or two breathes but maybe just enough to head off the state of panic that would certainly set in with no air to breathe at 120 feet. The best advice is don't get yourself in this situation but nice to know every last option one has if they find themselves there.

[flots am]

If my first stage locked up ( I know how rare but just for an example) at 120 feet and I found myself without a buddy and without a pony (would not happen with me but just an example) I would certainly be entertaining the idea of sucking whatever breathable air is left in bc on the way up.

So what you're saying is that you would rather perform a non-recommended procedure that's known dangerous and possibly fatal, instead of a recommended procedure that's been tested by thousands of divers and found to be safe?

flots.

[divin'dog]

If for some strange reason I needed a couple breaths of air to survive, I'm sure I would opt for taking a puff or two off the ol' BC. I think the will to survive trumps fear of fungus!

As to being in a situation where you would need to do that... Who knows? Life is stranger than fiction but it would be an absolute last resort. I just think it would be a really bad situation...

[Tjack]

I have often wondered about breathing from your BC in an emergency. I like the idea of using the BC as a re-breather, maintains buoyancy as opposed to just taking air from the BC and exhaling it. I might just go and disinfect my BC right now. Good discussion.

[windapp]

Even if I didn't have airtrim (The air only goes one way through the inflator hose), I think I would spend my time and energy trying to surface rather than trying to get the one or two breaths I could out of my BCD. Also, given that I might have one breath left in my tank as the ambient pressure drops, I would want to keep my regulator in my mouth.

Edit- Just re-read the original post again.

You are talking about a situation where the first stage is still working, and the second stage and octo are both not delivering any air. The lever arm would essentially have to break on both for this to happen.

[Slamfire]

4. You could breath tank-air directly via the LPI - depress the deflate and inflate buttons simultaneously and breath from that. If the corrugated hose was u-bent/crimped, you shouldn't get much BCD air in that mix.And it wouldn't affect your buoyancy.


Have you ever breathed from your BC?Yes, I have. No emergency. Pure practicing. I'll do 2 to 3 mins breathing out of the inflator. As previously stated, you press both buttons at the same time and you get mostly fresh tank air. Exhale through the nose to avoid putting extra gas in your BC and reduce the likelihood rebreathing higher CO2 content. I've never tried the kinking of the corrugated hose to isolate BC gas. Also, at the surface I can recall having sucked out all the air from my wing a few times. I'm still alive and as far as I know I've never had a fungal lung infection. I do rinse the insides of my BCs with fresh water after every dive and I unscrew the OPV valve and inflator hose to let it "breath" while it's off duty.

[arthurmnev]

Lets re-think this....
His questions is, is it possible to breathe off of a working inflator, and the answer is yes, it is possible.

Now, lets take it a little bit further. Lets say you and your dive buddy really screw up on a cave dive. You've gotten severely lost, and by the time you find your way, you KNOW for a fact that you don't have enough air to make it back to land using the traditional method SCUBA intended. Is it possible to use your wing as a rebreather with the remaining air in your tanks? You inhale from the reg, exhale into the wing. Recycle the gas in the wing 3 times, then discard that gas, and again Inhale through your REG, exhaling through your wing.

Just FYI for those that don't know, we breathe in 21%, we exhale 16% Oxygen. Granted the CO2 levels are growing, but if the crap hit the fan, this is a better alternative than dying.

But how are you going to deal with inflated bc underwater other than tie yourself to something?
And while we are building a scenario what are you doing down there breathing in and out of your bc are you waiting for your buddy are you trying to make your way out?

[flots am]

Pure practicing. I'll do 2 to 3 mins breathing out of the inflator. As previously stated, you press both buttons at the same time and you get mostly fresh tank air.

I hate to bring this up, but you know they make a device that does exactly that, but lets you breathe without adding air to the BC (http://www.scubapro.com/en-US/USA/regulators/products/air2.aspx).

flots.

[SkimFisher]

So what you're saying is that you would rather perform a non-recommended procedure that's known dangerous and possibly fatal, instead of a recommended procedure that's been tested by thousands of divers and found to be safe?

flots.

What procedure? You keep referencing a procedure, but which one? Based on the topic, I think we are all assuming that you have no buddy with which to share air. I think we all view breathing off the BC and/or LPI as an absolute last resort. So at 120', what is this procedure you speak of?

[PfcAJ]

120' and no buddy AND you run out of air? Hmm..

[decompression]

I hate to bring this up, but you know they make a device that does exactly that, but lets you breathe without adding air to the BC (http://www.scubapro.com/en-US/USA/regulators/products/air2.aspx).

flots.

Not really DIR, is it though?

[flots am]

> Not really DIR, is it though?

This is the "Basic SCUBA" forum, not the "DIR" forum.

flots.

---------- Post added ----------


What procedure? You keep referencing a procedure, but which one? Based on the topic, I think we are all assuming that you have no buddy with which to share air. I think we all view breathing off the BC and/or LPI as an absolute last resort. So at 120', what is this procedure you speak of?

Ummm... The one referenced in the subject line for this thread?

flots.

[XS-NRG]

I asked this same question in OW class. If your regs fail then your LPI may have failed too. If you choose to rebreathe your BC then you're only option at this point is to exhale your breath into your BC and start upwards. You may have air in your BC already. Fresh air from inside it plus air your breathed out would mix and there would still be O2. As you ascend the air would then expand and you would then at this point breath in from BC and exhale into the water. Your BC would run the risk of bursting if you just breathed in an out of it due to expansion as you ascended. Depending on the volume of air you could theoretically breathe 16-17% O2 all the way up because you are exhaling into the water. I would only breathe in about half your lung volume though because that breath would also be expanding in your lungs as you ascend and if you took a full breath you could run a risk of A.G.E. especially if your BC was now providing a runaway ascent. The physics of the operation would be quite tricky especially if you've never done it before and you are panicking.

I wouldn't practice this but if it was my only resort I would consider it. The grunge in the bladder would certainly lead to lung problems if it was dirty inside. You really take a risk either way. Better to practice safe diving techniques and stick with your buddy.

I know this next comment may receive criticism but I'll say it anyway: this is another good reason to consider a pony bottle. Safe diving always trumps all but having a backup certainly isn't the worst idea ever. We do wear seat belts "just in case" ;)

[SkimFisher]

> Not really DIR, is it though?

This is the "Basic SCUBA" forum, not the "DIR" forum.

flots.

Ummm... The one referenced in the subject line for this thread?

flots.

All I see is, "Is it possible to breathe from your BCD?". :dontknow: I don't see anything about a procedure...

[arthurmnev]

I asked this same question in OW class. If your regs fail then your LPI may have failed too. If you choose to rebreathe your BC then you're only option at this point is to exhale your breath into your BC and start upwards. You may have air in your BC already. Fresh air from inside it plus air your breathed out would mix and there would still be O2. As you ascend the air would then expand and you would then at this point breath in from BC and exhale into the water. Your BC would run the risk of bursting if you just breathed in an out of it due to expansion as you ascended. Depending on the volume of air you could theoretically breathe 16-17% O2 all the way up because you are exhaling into the water. I would only breathe in about half your lung volume though because that breath would also be expanding in your lungs as you ascend and if you took a full breath you could run a risk of A.G.E. especially if your BC was now providing a runaway ascent. The physics of the operation would be quite tricky especially if you've never done it before and you are panicking.

I wouldn't practice this but if it was my only resort I would consider it. The grunge in the bladder would certainly lead to lung problems if it was dirty inside. You really take a risk either way. Better to practice safe diving techniques and stick with your buddy.

I know this next comment may receive criticism but I'll say it anyway: this is another good reason to consider a pony bottle. Safe diving always trumps all but having a backup certainly isn't the worst idea ever. We do wear seat belts "just in case" ;)

Well, if you are going into %% of oxygen needed (which is far out of scope of the original question) consider that due to increased depth, PPO will go up, I think the minimal surface PPO is .18, which is 18% oxygen, that will go up with depth. The problem is that CO2 levels (in case of BC breathing will go up as well) which will tell your body that "you are running out of air" which will cause you to breathe more. (this is a reverse of hyperventilating to get rid of CO2 and fool your body into "I dont need to breathe" mode)

[Superlyte27]

But how are you going to deal with inflated bc underwater other than tie yourself to something?
And while we are building a scenario what are you doing down there breathing in and out of your bc are you waiting for your buddy are you trying to make your way out?

If the gas in your lungs is shifted to the gas in your wing, do you go up, down or stay neutral?
And HELL NO, I'm not waiting for my buddy. I'm swimming out.

---------- Post added ----------


Well, if you are going into %% of oxygen needed (which is far out of scope of the original question) consider that due to increased depth, PPO will go up, I think the minimal surface PPO is .18, which is 18% oxygen, that will go up with depth. The problem is that CO2 levels (in case of BC breathing will go up as well) which will tell your body that "you are running out of air" which will cause you to breathe more. (this is a reverse of hyperventilating to get rid of CO2 and fool your body into "I dont need to breathe" mode)

.16 is acceptable.... less than .16 and you start running into issues.
I believe if you do 3 breaths, then dump, you won't have too much CO2 to function. But it's just a guess.

[JOHNNY ROCKET]

Very interesting conversation. I've always wondered this myself. Has anybody had any experience actually practicing this technique?

[Soggy_Diver]

Hi,

I tried breathing from the BC a couple of years ago in a deep pool, after cleaning out the inside of the BC with listerine. I tried breathing on the bottom, then doing an ascent. It was doable for a maximum of about 6 breaths, but there were several kinds of complications that have already been mentioned in this thread. Here is a link to the earlier discussion: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/373634-breathing-bcd-5.html#post5786460 (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/373634-breathing-bcd-5.html#post5786460).

I think that probably, as a last resort in an OOA emergency, a CESA with regulator in would be a more practical choice. In a CESA, as ambient pressure drops, more air would become available through the reg.

[faze]

Breathing from your BC has to be an absolute last chance saloon as you may well be simply delaying the inevitable. If you look up the story of a diver called Mike Firth you'll find he took two breaths from his BC and ended up with a micro-organism that literally colonised his entire lung. The interior of a BC offers an almost perfect environment for all manner of organisms that you really don't want in your lungs!!!

[jmneill]

Breathing from your BC has to be an absolute last chance saloon as you may well be simply delaying the inevitable. If you look up the story of a diver called Mike Firth you'll find he took two breaths from his BC and ended up with a micro-organism that literally colonised his entire lung. The interior of a BC offers an almost perfect environment for all manner of organisms that you really don't want in your lungs!!!

Mike Firth was an isolated fluke.

[ScubaSteve]

Mike Firth was an isolated fluke.


I have not read the Mike Firth story so I cannot comment directly on it, but fluke or not, it does not change the fact that some ugly things can start to grow in your BC. Things that I would not want in my lungs unless I had exhausted every other option. But as an absolute last resort, I would not hesitate to take a breath or two off my wing. Wookie's Donkey's ass, as a point of reference, comes before the Wing.

[jmneill]

I have not read the Mike Firth story so I cannot comment directly on it, but fluke or not, it does not change the fact that some ugly things can start to grow in your BC. Things that I would not want in my lungs unless I had exhausted every other option. But as an absolute last resort, I would not hesitate to take a breath or two off my wing. Wookie's Donkey's ass, as a point of reference, comes before the Wing.

Agreed. While serious ingury or death are extremely unlikely, I too would consider it ill advised to practice on a regular basis. :D

[arthurmnev]

That's like saying you don't need a seatbelt if you're only going 3 miles up the road.

I don't understand all the debate. Yes, it's possible.

Drawing equivalency to seatbelt, this is more like wrapping seatbelt around your neck. Why in the world would you need to breathe from your BC in an OW dive within NDL?

---------- Post added ----------


And HELL NO, I'm not waiting for my buddy. I'm swimming out.

I would probably bust out as well, though this definitely highlights how much of a 'team' effort diving really is. Yes, we dive with buddies, but, in the end, how many of us would actually trust another person to do what is right when the penalty for their wrong doing is you breathing water? How many times an OOA situation actually played itself out in a 'training like fashion' where an OOA diver politely asks 'could I have some air please' ... seems like face grab / regulator pull has a much higher chance :)

[Boiler_81]

Yes, believe it or not this was taught as a skill in my SSI class in 1984. I have no idea if it was part of the standard then or not. I did practive it at the time. It would be something I would do as a last resort.


Very interesting conversation. I've always wondered this myself. Has anybody had any experience actually practicing this technique?

[jcfahy]

There was a case in the UK about a year ago of a diver who breathed air from his BC and inhaled spores that eventually killed him. He wrote about his experience in an article of the UK edition of either Diver or Sport Diver about Nov 2010 or 2011

[jmneill]

There was a case in the UK about a year ago of a diver who breathed air from his BC and inhaled spores that eventually killed him. He wrote about his experience in an article of the UK edition of either Diver or Sport Diver about Nov 2010 or 2011

As mentioned six posts above, this was a fluke...


---------- Post added ----------

[faze]

Fluke or outbreak of common sense...? As I said in my original post, breathing from you BC must be an absolute last resort as it carries an unacceptably high risk. I would also concur with the comments regarding what must have gone monumentally wrong to leave a diver in a position of having to breath from the BC.

Consider that if you are caught in a down current you will need every ounce of air possible in your BC.

As for reaction under water from an OOA covered in some of the above posts, I have been faced with one and have dived with my left hand on my alternate ever since (which is strangely comfortable and reassuring) as the "mask off, reg out" reaction is exactly what you're faced with... thankfully my Rescue Course Instructor had subjected me to the same indignity twice during the course!!!

[JOHNNY ROCKET]

There was a case in the UK about a year ago of a diver who breathed air from his BC and inhaled spores that eventually killed him. He wrote about his experience in an article of the UK edition of either Diver or Sport Diver about Nov 2010 or 2011
:dropmouth: