First Drysuit

[Gelirfella]

What's better? A shot glas worth (if even) of water 1 min into the dive of the dive (which still give you the change to get back otu and fix it) or a full bladder worth of piss soaking into your undergarment later in the dive?

A strong argument.

What reports? Lot's of people don't say that. The internet is full of idiots claiming all kinds of stuff about what they 'heard' or what their uncle's neighbour did once 20 years ago.

Lots may be an inaccurate statement. There are multiple posts is more accurate, but the authority of said posts is definitely not vetted. However, this is second hand, but a friend said he had a buddy he dives with who forgot to open his unbalanced valved until he was at depth and he had pneumaturia for the rest of the day from the air trapped in his bladder. My friend personally witnessed the pneumaturia which, unless the guy got spontaneous colovesicular fistula at depth is most likely accounted for by the unbalanced valve opening. That said, the error was obvious.

It sounds like the balanced valve solves a single problem, namely, forgetting to open the valve before getting to depth, but it comes at the cost of a failure point.

 

[JoeTPhilly]

Gotta love Scubaboard; where else can you get such a heated discussion on how to take a piss...

 

[Gelirfella]

Gotta love Scubaboard; where else can you get such a heated discussion on how to take a piss...

Urology Conferences.

 

[berndo]

Lots may be an inaccurate statement. There are multiple posts is more accurate, but the authority of said posts is definitely not vetted.

I'm calling BS. Where are all these stories about squeezes you claim to have seen? And how did your 'friend' personally witnessed his buddy's pneumaturia. Also, explain how this not-made-up person supposedly didn't notice how his dick was getting squeezed while deceding to a depth deep enough to push gas into his bladder?

On second thought, nevermind what I have said. Buy a balanced valve... and ankle weights.

I'm starting to realise that people here never actually ask a question, they just looking for validation for whatever their theories are.

 

[Alekseolsen]

You can't have a unbalanced valve with a check valve.

That's what I asked, thanks for the reply

 

[Gelirfella]

I'm calling BS. Where are all these stories about squeezes you claim to have seen? And how did your 'friend' personally witnessed his buddy's pneumaturia. Also, explain how this not-made-up person supposedly didn't notice how his dick was getting squeezed while deceding to a depth deep enough to push gas into his bladder?

On second thought, nevermind what I have said. Buy a balanced valve... and ankle weights.

I'm starting to realise that people here never actually ask a question, they just looking for validation for whatever their theories are.

Kind of an angry guy eh? I was actually leaning towards unbalanced. Offering counterpoints and examples with full clarification that the information was secondhand is just an example of discourse. As far as witnessed pneumaturia he saw and heard air come out of the guys penis. I’ve witnessed it with colovesical fistulas. It’s unmistakable. No one expects air to come out of a urethra. When it happens, it’s memorable.

But your emotional lability undermines most of your points. Perhaps unbalanced is a good term. Will have to research further.

 

[berndo]

Offering counterpoints and examples with full clarification that the information was secondhand is just an example of discourse. As far as witnessed pneumaturia he saw and heard air come out of the guys penis.

Your friend was watching air comming out of his buddies dick... right. Did it whistle?

Sorry, nevermind. It's my fault, I have no patience for this and I keep forgetting I'm talking to a people half of which think Trumps is a genius business man.

 

[Lorenzoid]

The people who think balanced p-valves are great are usually people who never used anything else.

I can only speak from my own experience. My first p-valve was a balanced Halcyon, and it soon started leaking. I am not sure if it was the duckbill at fault, but replacing the duckbill didn't seem to help, or at least not for long. Eventually, I removed the duckbill from the balance orifice and plugged it. Voila--conversion to unbalanced p-valve. That did the trick in stopping the leaking. I do not have an opinion on any potential "squeeze" with the resulting unbalanced p-valve because I always primed it before descending (almost always need to, thanks to the coffee I drank that morning). I didn't do any experimentation with not priming, descending, and then trying to pee at depth.

You DO NOT need to prime. As I've said, I keep hearing this nonsense over and over from people that have never in their lives used a unbalanced p-valves. I have never primed a p-valve.

Wouldn't the backpressure experienced when trying to pee through an unbalanced p-valve that you did not prime depend in part on the depth at which you first try to pee? By not priming, the tubing is left full of air. As you descend (or upon reaching depth, opening the valve/bolt), the air in the tubing is squeezed by the ambient water pressure, and the squeeze will work against the force of the pee trying to enter the hose. So, wouldn't that backpressure, and therefore the need for priming, depend on the depth at which you first try to pee?

Also, wouldn't the backpressure depend on the length of the tubing? The air in a long run of tubing from the catheter to the p-valve would be squeezed more than the air in a shorter run of tubing. We don't all choose to route the tubing exactly the same way, I think.

 

[Gelirfella]

because I always primed it before descending (almost always need to, thanks to the coffee I drank that morning).

It does seem like the unbalanced valve has a lower likelihood of leaking based on reports. Although some people seem to have good fortune with theirs. Even if you didn’t have to pee, if you have a quick disconnect couldn’t you prime it with water? Just use the same whatever you use to flush it afterward? There could even gently backfill the catheter tubing.

But also, wouldn’t opening the valve at the surface accomplish the same thing?

 

[Lorenzoid]

Even if you didn’t have to pee, if you have a quick disconnect couldn’t you prime it with water? Just use the same whatever you use to flush it afterward? There could even gently backfill the catheter tubing.

But also, wouldn’t opening the valve at the surface accomplish the same thing?

I suppose you could prime it with water using a funnel or the same squeeze bottle you use to flush it afterward or something like that, and then remove the QD, leaving the tubing full of water until you plug in again with your cath on, but that seems like a lot of trouble.

I'm not sure what you mean by opening the valve on the surface accomplishing the same thing. When you are floating on the surface and you open the valve, the water at the depth of the valve on your leg exerts pressure on the air in the tubing. That backpressure will be low, so you can almost certainly pee then, before you descend. That's usually where I do my priming--while floating on the surface doing pre-dive checks. One of the checks is to make sure I'm able to pee.