Cotton Mouth

[chappy]

Hi All,
Any tips on how to minimize cotton mouth while diving? I find that after a few dives, the inside of my mouth gets so dry it starts to hamper my dive enjoyment.

Thanks
~ Chappy

 

[Zagnut]

http://www.apollosportsusa.com/biofilter-info.html

I've never used one of these. On the rare occasion when that happens to me, I've always just swished a little water in my mouth and spit it back out...although it depends on how nasty the water is I'm diving in and how desperate I am for a little relief.
I've always liked the taste of the saltwater, so if I'm bluewater diving I don't mind doing this. I just try not to think about all the fish that crap in there and all the medical waste that's dumped into the seas and what not...

..saline..it's the primordial soup of life!

 

[DocVikingo]

You might find this thread from last week informative-->

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29332&highlight=biofilter

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[double125's]

Drinking lots of water helps me but then that creates a new problem.

 

[Amber]

I stay hydrated before my dives and between them. I also now take a camle bak down with me between my bc and my back. I either partially fill it with water or gatoraid. If I don't bring it with me, I just take out my reg, swish water around in my mouth and put my reg back in.

 

[landlocked]

Dive alot. You get used to it just like when you start a running program.

 

[Northeastwrecks]

Many regulators have moisture vanes in the second stage. Moisture collects on them during normal use.

If you inhale once sharply, you will suck the moisture into your mouth. It helps alleviate dry mouth.

 

[wheezy]

Saw a very interesting solution to this on a dive boat in Kauai last summer.

Right before a dive this lady would rig up a sucker... like a cheapo dentist office sucker... I had to ask about it... she said that she had a terrible problem with cotton mouth as well. So she'd take the sucker and give it a quick lick underwater.


I don't know though.. I thought she was kinda strange

 

[rugbydiver]

wheezy once bubbled...
I don't know though.. I thought she was kinda strange

This, coming from a guy with a dancing banana in his autosig... alrighty then.

 

[Charlie99]

If a simple rinse and spit periodically during the dive doesn't do the trick, then another soluton is to bring along one of those little foil juice pouches often seen in kids' lunchboxes.

I take the straw out of the cellophane while still on the boat and rubber band it to the pouch. Then just insert the straw and sip midway in the dive. The foil pouch collapses nicely and you don't get in any saltwater. Works just like the camelback that some else recommended, but a lot smaller and lighter.

Small boxes of juice also work, but it's hard to get more than 2/3 or so before it sucks back in a bit of saltwater.

The half liter plastic water bottles are virtually useless as it's difficult to get more than a couple of sips before getting saltwater into the bottle.