Two (relative) newbie q's: ears and gear

Howdy, just got back from 7 days in Bonaire, whee!

anyway,
this first question comes from my mountaineering background: Is there a
list of recommended "10 essentials" for diving? After BC, regulator and
mask of course. There are so many gadgets, add ons, safety gear and so on...
what are the basics? I'm sure this is up for debate....

second, our dive guide alluded to not using AC at night to help with ear
problems, but he did not go into detail. Any thoughts?

And yes, I did google these, didn't find much.

tia~

Penny

"Penny S" <none> wrote in message news:evdofj01t8v@news3.newsguy.com...
> Howdy, just got back from 7 days in Bonaire, whee!
>
> anyway,
> this first question comes from my mountaineering background: Is there a
> list of recommended "10 essentials" for diving? After BC, regulator and
> mask of course. There are so many gadgets, add ons, safety gear and so
on...
> what are the basics? I'm sure this is up for debate....
>
> second, our dive guide alluded to not using AC at night to help with ear
> problems, but he did not go into detail. Any thoughts?
>
> And yes, I did google these, didn't find much.
>
> tia~
>
> Penny

1st and most important choice in gear is your dive buddy. Can literally be
the difference between life and death.

In no particular order would be primary light,

http://www.uwkinetics.com/products/d...uctID=25&cat=6

Or if you really get into it;

http://www.oxycheq.com/Oxycheq/torch...A420875F8.html

backup light,

http://www.uwkinetics.com/products/d...ductID=9&cat=6

spool,

http://www.oxycheq.com/Oxycheq/reels...73DCBB189.html

surface marker buoy,

http://www.oxycheq.com/Oxycheq/safet...7726FC1CD.html

And a cutting device. In this area we prefer trauma shears to knives because
of the number of fishing nets and fishing line that can be encountered.
Trying to cut fishing line and nets with a knife most always only makes it
tighter.

And a set of wet notes gets to be really handy;

http://www.oxycheq.com/Oxycheq/wetno...96050ADE8.html

Penny S wrote:
> Howdy, just got back from 7 days in Bonaire, whee!
>
> anyway,
> this first question comes from my mountaineering background: Is there a
> list of recommended "10 essentials" for diving? After BC, regulator and
> mask of course. There are so many gadgets, add ons, safety gear and so on...
> what are the basics? I'm sure this is up for debate....


There are very few "essentials" for diving, I would not even include a
BC in that list. The diver that gets on the boat looking like a walking
dive shop better be ready for a lot of snickering.

For any given dive, there are essentials, niceties, and excess baggage.
Planning the dive includes sorting these out and the lists are quite
different for a fun talk to the tunicates dive, a wreck dive, a night
dive, a cave dive, a hunting dive, a tech dive, etc.

Avoid the urge to load up on gadgets and "safety" gimmicks; keep yer rig
clean, simple, streamlined, and appropriate to the dive and conditions
you will be doing; if you are unsure what is appropriate, that means you
are inexperienced in that type of diving and should consult someone who
is experienced.


>
> second, our dive guide alluded to not using AC at night to help with ear
> problems, but he did not go into detail. Any thoughts?
>
> And yes, I did google these, didn't find much.
>
> tia~
>
> Penny
>
>
>

El Stroko Guapo wrote

> There are very few "essentials" for diving, I would not even include a
> BC in that list. The diver that gets on the boat looking like a walking
> dive shop better be ready for a lot of snickering.

I would consider both a BC of some kind and an octopus as essential, but
only because every dive boat I now of requires them.

> For any given dive, there are essentials, niceties, and excess baggage.
> Planning the dive includes sorting these out and the lists are
> quite different for a fun talk to the tunicates dive, a wreck dive, a
> night dive, a cave dive, a hunting dive, a tech dive, etc.
> Avoid the urge to load up on gadgets and "safety" gimmicks; keep yer rig
> clean, simple, streamlined, and appropriate to the dive
> and conditions you will be doing. If you are unsure what is appropriate,
> that means you are inexperienced in that type of diving
> and should consult someone who is experienced.

Good advice communicated efficiently.

>> second, our dive guide alluded to not using AC at night to help with ear
>> problems, but he did not go into detail. Any thoughts?

There's no one way on this one. If AC increases your congestion the next
day, there may be some merit to the suggestion. If, on the other hand, you
have allergies, chances are AC improves things for you. You just have to
learn what works for you. You do that by diving under different conditions.

You didn't share what your ear problems are, so it's hard to be specific
regarding what will help. Everybody has to equalize the pressure in their
ears. Some do it almost without thinking about it, others have to work at
it a bit. You'll learn what is right for you as your diving experience
increases too. A couple of suggestions to get you started:
1. Start equalizing early, before you actually feel pressure and, for sure,
before you feel pain. Many equalize the first time while they are still on
the surface.
2. Avoid diving when you are congested if you can. If you can't, consider
taking some kind of decongestant before you dive. It's best to check with
an ENT that has diving experience. Some work better than others and some
have side affects you'd rather not experience while diving.

Lee

On Apr 9, 9:49 am, "Lee Bell" <pleeb...@bellsouth.net> wrote:

> There's no one way on this one. If AC increases your congestion the next
> day, there may be some merit to the suggestion. If, on the other hand, you
> have allergies, chances are AC improves things for you. You just have to
> learn what works for you. You do that by diving under different conditions.

If there's no ceiling fan, there are plenty of places where lack of A/
C could be extremely uncomfortable if not deadly. In a cramped
liveaboard cabin it's very necessary. Unfortunately I've been on
several boats where the A/C is positioned to blast directly in one's
ears while sleeping, and that can definitely make at least one diver
congested. I've squirted plenty of Afrin up my nose in direct
response to too much overnight A/C.

But other things can mess up your head too. I read somewhere that
eating dairy products increases mucus formation, so I swore off dairy
on dive trips, ordering my post-dive cheeseburgers without cheese, and
drinking my coffee black. Didn't seem to make enough of a difference,
thank god, so I threw that idea out.

Boat exhaust can be a killer, and sometimes hard to avoid if you're
seated by the engine.

The worst for me now is plane travel. I've ended up with a cold a
couple days into a trip that can only be timed with my flight there.
Lately, I've been fine, but now Janna gets the cold first and then
sure enough, a couple days later so do I. My next flight, we're gonna
wear masks, I swear.

> 2. Avoid diving when you are congested if you can. If you can't, consider
> taking some kind of decongestant before you dive. It's best to check with
> an ENT that has diving experience. Some work better than others and some
> have side affects you'd rather not experience while diving.

The codeine cough syrup is out?

For the average person without any contraindications, a diving ENT may
suggest one or both OTC remedies: pseudoefedrine (i.e. Sudafed) and/or
oxymetazoline (i.e. Afrin spray). Both work, great in combination,
but both have side effects as well.

Sudafed can make you wired (bad if you need your beauty sleep in order
to catch an early a.m. dive boat, but nice for a fiesta night) and it
can wreak havoc with blood pressure. The latter effect is
particularly of note for scuba divers where the major cause of death
is heart attack or stroke from over-exertion.

Afrin has a "rebound effect" which means that when it wears off,
you're back where you started, or actually a slight bit worse than
where you started. That means you have to squirt it again the next
day, and the next, and so on. To some, this leads to addiction; to
others, it means you at least have to squirt it every single morning
of the rest of your dive trip. Unlike easily popping a pill like
Sudafed, the nasal spray makes you cough and gag as the bitter fluid
runs down your throat, and it's best not done in mixed company at the
breakfast table, and preferably with lots of Kleenex at hand.

There are likely other side effects of both drugs, which is why the
cautious may wish to get the advice of a doctor, but these are OTC
solutions and therefore self-prescribable. AFAIK, in the normal case
of diver congestion, the ENT won't recommend any more than the above.
At least that's what my ENT recommended.

(Murray Grossan, a diving ENT who happens to be based out of the
hospital where I was born, makes a product called Clear-eze. He used
to spam them here, so I was forced to boycott it and hence haven't
tried it, but it's a natural enzyme-based product that he swears
works. I don't know if he and his product are still around, but
that's yet another choice.)

A final warning about the decongestant drugs: one side effect that
pretty much affects divers alone (but it can happen on an airplane as
well) is the reverse block. That is, the decongestants can wear off
mid-dive, and make it near impossible for your tubes to equalize back
in the other direction as you ascend. This can be a major PITA (or
PITE to be precise) because it's a bit too late to abort the dive at
that point.

Also, any ear trauma you suffer during a dive trip may haunt you on
the plane ride home. If you need meds to dive, it might be a good
idea to use them before take off and landing.

On Apr 9, 12:32 pm, El Stroko Guapo <omg...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Penny S wrote:
> > Howdy, just got back from 7 days in Bonaire, whee!
>
> > anyway,
> > this first question comes from my mountaineering background: Is there a
> > list of recommended "10 essentials" for diving? After BC, regulator and
> > mask of course. There are so many gadgets, add ons, safety gear and so on...
> > what are the basics? I'm sure this is up for debate....
>
> There are very few "essentials" for diving, I would not even include a
> BC in that list. The diver that gets on the boat looking like a walking
> dive shop better be ready for a lot of snickering.

I encountered a diver on the reef in Grand Cayman wearing only shorts,
a teeshirt, an al80 mounted on one of the old plastic/fibreglass
backplates, fins, mask and a reg setup. (no wetsuit, no lead, no
snorkle, no gizmoes), It happened very fast but I don't think he even
had a secondary reg (we were only at 40 or 50' anyway). I forget if he
wore a watch or computer but I remember something on his wrist.

I remember him clearly because I was setting up a photo of a Grouper
cleaning station as this guy came smoking through the crevice below me
spoiling my shot. He had the courtesy to radio our boat after we
surfaced to apologize for wrecking the shot. This was only a couple of
years ago.

As Lee says later you probably won't get away with the minimalist
approach with most dive ops and in fact I'm pretty sure this guy was
working for the dive op.

JF

"Penny S" <none> wrote in message news:evdofj01t8v@news3.newsguy.com...
> Howdy, just got back from 7 days in Bonaire, whee!
>
> anyway,
> this first question comes from my mountaineering background: Is there a
> list of recommended "10 essentials" for diving? After BC, regulator and
> mask of course. There are so many gadgets, add ons, safety gear and so
on...
> what are the basics? I'm sure this is up for debate....
>
> second, our dive guide alluded to not using AC at night to help with ear
> problems, but he did not go into detail. Any thoughts?

Did you actually have any ear problems?

In any event, I've never heard that AC has anything specific to do with ear
problems, other than ear problems can arise if you are congested. In that
regard, I've heard people claim that AC can cause congestion. This has
never been the case for me and sleeping without AC has caused me more
discomfort more often, than not having it on.

As for your ears, assuming you did have some equalization problems, then my
advice is to start equalizing early. You know how to equalize on a plane,
yes? Start gentle equalizations in your room, again at the dock, again on
the boat, again at the surface, again within a foot of the surface and so
on. Equalize early, equalize often . . it should not be necessary to
equalize 'hard' and if you find yourself doing that to unblock, you've
already left it too late. Rise a little (a foot or so) in the water column
and try again, gently).

Greg Mossman wrote

> The codeine cough syrup is out?

Probably. Considering, however, your experience with diving, and doing
everything else, under the influence of mind altering chemicals, you'd
probably be fine. Then again, you already know about as much as you ever
will about things that affect your ears while diving.

> For the average person without any contraindications, a diving ENT may
> suggest one or both OTC remedies: pseudoefedrine (i.e. Sudafed) and/or
> oxymetazoline (i.e. Afrin spray). Both work, great in combination,
> but both have side effects as well.

Jayna's ENT perscribed Zephrex, which is a time release pseudoefedrine pill.
They well without complications, but the generic version wires you too. I
don't normally react strongly to any drugs, but one hit of the generic
Zephrex kept me up and bright eyed for the best part of 24 hours. We'll
stick with the more expensive version in the future.

Lee

On Apr 9, 1:07 pm, "Lee Bell" <pleeb...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> Greg Mossman wrote
>
> > The codeine cough syrup is out?
>
> Probably. Considering, however, your experience with diving, and doing
> everything else, under the influence of mind altering chemicals, you'd
> probably be fine. Then again, you already know about as much as you ever
> will about things that affect your ears while diving.

Simulated narcosis research using available human subject, purely in
the interest of advancing science. Nothing too mind-altering since
that would be dangerous.

> > For the average person without any contraindications, a diving ENT may
> > suggest one or both OTC remedies: pseudoefedrine (i.e. Sudafed) and/or
> > oxymetazoline (i.e. Afrin spray). Both work, great in combination,
> > but both have side effects as well.
>
> Jayna's ENT perscribed Zephrex, which is a time release pseudoefedrine pill.
> They well without complications, but the generic version wires you too. I
> don't normally react strongly to any drugs, but one hit of the generic
> Zephrex kept me up and bright eyed for the best part of 24 hours. We'll
> stick with the more expensive version in the future.

I use 24-hour Sudafed to ward off a reverse block. It sounds like
it's the same as Zephrex LA, but lacking guaifenisin (the same
expectorant used in Nyquil) and the higher price tag. I almost made
it through my last trip without touching the stuff until I finally
succumbed Janna's cold on the last day. Suffering through the Town
Pier night dive, with its constant ups-and-downs in the 0-20' range
was murder; even all that beer I drank prior didn't make me feel any
better.

On Mon, 9 Apr 2007 09:09:10 -0700, "Penny S" <none> wrote:

>Howdy, just got back from 7 days in Bonaire, whee!
>
>anyway,
>this first question comes from my mountaineering background: Is there a
>list of recommended "10 essentials" for diving? After BC, regulator and
>mask of course. There are so many gadgets, add ons, safety gear and so on...
>what are the basics? I'm sure this is up for debate....
>
>second, our dive guide alluded to not using AC at night to help with ear
>problems, but he did not go into detail. Any thoughts?
>
>And yes, I did google these, didn't find much.
>
>tia~
>
>Penny
>
>
Where did you stay ? Where did you Dive ?
I would reccomend an orange safety susage, a name tag with a mirror
back, and a whistle of some nature. You don't need a spool or a tow
flag on that type of dive and the dive alert type things I feel just
add another point of failure.