OUT OF AIR - Last ditch effort breath from you BCD

[Packhorse]

You and your buddy get tangled in fishind line towards the end of the dive. As you are stuggling to cut yourself free you find it harder to breath from your reg so you start "rebreathing" off your BC as you finnish cutting yourself and buddy free before assending to the surface.

 

[Diver Dennis]

If you are with a buddy, chances are he has air left so you take his octo while you finish cutting yourselves free.

 

[Kim]

C'mon - I already said that I wasn't meaning to be nasty....and the attack isn't on you as much as some of the things that have been said....inability to do a CESA, reserving too little air etc. All kinds of people read these forums so it's very important that we support safe practices and not let people get the idea that some things might be OK to do when they really aren't. Like I said in my first reply - I personally think that it's one of those ideas that sounds reasonable in theory, but in practice could be rather dangerous. If it was really a good idea I suppose someone would be teaching it, no?
There's nothing wrong with you asking the question, but sometimes the answers you get might not be quite what you were hoping for or expect. I am not 'attacking' you though - I did get quite worried by some of the comments. I think that's rather different.

 

[ItsBruce]

In my view, the time it would take to try to get air from a BCD would be better spent kicking hard for the surface and/or dumping weights and kicking hard for the surface. And, if there is no air in your lungs such that you can't exhale, then you don't need to worry about lung expansion. Finally, I always remembered that you want to reach the surface with 500 pounds of air and that your dive plan should incorporate that.

 

[Diver Dennis]

You were not being nasty Kim. Your answers were well suited to the type of questions...

 

[Packhorse]

and if he didnt? Sure the chances of being in the situation where you would need to breath off your BC are slim but its a good idea to be aware that you can if you need to. And as everyone has pointed out it is better to avoid the chances of it happening. But it could

 

[Kim]

You and your buddy get tangled in fishind line towards the end of the dive. As you are stuggling to cut yourself free you find it harder to breath from your reg so you start "rebreathing" off your BC as you finnish cutting yourself and buddy free before assending to the surface.

What Dennis said really. I have to ask though - how long do you seriously think you could breath from an empty wing? Presumably you are at the end of the dive right? That means your tank is the most bouyant that it can possibly be. If you are weighted correctly then you should be just heavy enough to maintain your depth (a full lung will start you moving up), without ANY air in your wing. You HAVE to be shallow because it's the end of the dive, right?

 

[Packhorse]

What Dennis said really. I have to ask though - how long do you seriously think you could breath from an empty wing?

Thats easy to answer. you could breath off a BC for longer than you could beath of water.
Thats it for me got to get up early tommorow for a day of diving. And by the way I will be surfacing with 50 bar as per normal.
This thread reminds me of a saying. " Sex is like air, Its only important when your not getting any."

 

[Diver Dennis]

Depending on the depth you are at there are about 4 breaths of air in the hose when your tank is empty. So even if you are not watching your SPG you would know that you are getting low on air when you really have to suck on your reg. That said, unless you were tangled you could have empty lungs and make an accent from 100' and not pass out. Yes you could try to get a few breaths from your BC but you better be on the way up when you try it.
As Kim says, you learn to do a CESA in your OW class. The reason they don't teach you to breath from your BC is that it is not an effective solution to running out of air.

 

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

This thread is wild! I can't believe there's really a group representing the "Teach the Breathe-your-wing" method POV! Scubaboard never fails. It's a crazy blend of the theoretical and fantastical with diving mixed in! Just great stuff.

diveroflove, no offense intended, but just out of curiosity since your profile isn't filled out, how many dives have you made and how long have you been diving?