Buddy breathing and not holding breath?

[kat.hayes]

How do you safely ascend while buddy breathing without holding your breath? Is the idea to take gas from the regulator and then blow out bubbles while the buddy is using it until you get the regulator back from your buddy so you are not holding your breath?

 

[Notso_Ken]

How do you safely ascend while buddy breathing without holding your breath? Is the idea to take gas from the regulator and then blow out bubbles while the buddy is using it until you get the regulator back from your buddy so you are not holding your breath?

Yep, you want to keep the air path open, so you slowly bubble out while ascending, and that will help you keep the throat open so the expanding air doesn't do you bad.


Ken

 

[msg]

That is exactly what you do. Never hold your breath while doing an ascent.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

How do you safely ascend while buddy breathing without holding your breath? Is the idea to take gas from the regulator and then blow out bubbles while the buddy is using it until you get the regulator back from your buddy so you are not holding your breath?

As others have said, yes you exhale SLOWLY while waiting for the reg to be passed back to you. Not hard to do, each diver has the reg for 2 breaths then passes it over. So you should only have to be exhaling for <10 seconds before getting your next 2 breaths. When buddy breathing you are breathing at a faster-than-normal pace so that neither diver will have to wait that long for their turn to breath.

Buddy breathing works quite well as long as both divers remain reasonably calm and under control.

You have an infinitely better chance of an uneventful buddy breathing ascent if both divers have practiced buddy breathing regularly, but even if it has been awhile but both divers did learn how to buddy breath it can still be "ok", as long as they stay in control.

The problem is that today most divers are no longer trained how to buddy breathe in basic OW training, and a real-life out of air situation is not the time to learn.

Best wishes.

 

[Teamcasa]

How do you safely ascend while buddy breathing without holding your breath? Is the idea to take gas from the regulator and then blow out bubbles while the buddy is using it until you get the regulator back from your buddy so you are not holding your breath?

Hum while your buddy breathes. Go up slower than you would normaly.
Or, use an Octo of some sort.

 

[mullen1200]

I wouldnt feel comfortable diving with someone if they didnt have an octo.

 

[eponym]

Kat, your profile says "not certified." Are you starting the open water course? I know NAUI still teaches buddy breathing and drills it in open water checkouts--or at least one NAUI instructor (seen this past weekend in Hood Canal) does.

As Dave (Teamcasa) said, you can hum. I prefer to pretend to whistle, so just a little air is coming out. A complete exhale, as the reg is handed to you, actually helps reduce your stress level as it gets the CO2 out.

-Bryan

 

[don Francisco]

If you're slowly blowing out bubbles, then you are not holding your breath, which is the point. When buddy breathing during an ascent, treat the sections between inhalations as you would a CESA. Your buddy should do likewise.

You'd also be wise not to take a full lung inhale while you have the reg, leaving some expansion room for ascent.

I wish that instead of saying "never hold your breath" They'd say, "never close your airway" which is more to the point. You want expanded air to vent freely from your lungs so that lung pressure stays roughly equal to the ambient pressure.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I wouldnt feel comfortable diving with someone if they didnt have an octo.

And you probably never will have to. But the point is being able to buddy breath if necessary.... which hopefully will never be necessary, but....

Here is a scenario: You (or your buddy) has a sudden OOA situation. You go for the octo as you've been trained, but sadly the octo is low quality, has not been serviced recently (or more likely was JUST serviced but not tested in water), and when the OOA diver goes for that first breath, they get a mouth full of water instead ..... :shocked2: .... This actually does happen. Now what?

It is buddy breathing time, or a CESA.

Best wishes.

 

[diver 85]

How do you safely ascend while buddy breathing without holding your breath? Is the idea to take gas from the regulator and then blow out bubbles while the buddy is using it until you get the regulator back from your buddy so you are not holding your breath?

Get certified & you'll learn how---the correct way......