Does anyone still practice buddy breathing?

"Rage" wrote

> > > > Practise away, just not in stoney.... you're asking for trouble
doing
> > > > that drill in fresh water at wintertime.

> > I'm not a cold water diver, but this sounds a bit odd to me. You mean
> > that you can't recover, clear and breathe from a regulator in the winter
in
> > Stoney? That is, after all, all that's required for buddy breathing.

> Its not that straight forward when its freeflowing.

So, your answer is that you can't recover, clear and breathe from a
regulator in the winter in Stoney without a freeflow, right?

Keeping in mind my original context, i.e. I'm not a cold water diver, this
still does not seem to make a lot of sense. I was under the impression that
a temperature induced freeflow would be most likely to occur because of the
temperature drop due to a higher flow rate, one that might be associated
with using the purge button. The answer seems obvious, don't use the purge
button. While it may be a bit harder for the OOA diver to clear the
regulator the first time, doing it effectively is one of the reasons for
practicing the skill. After the first breath, there should be no problem .
.. . unless you really can't recover, clear and breathe from a regulator in
teh winter in Soney.

Lee

Lee Bell wrote:
> After
> the first breath, there should be no problem . . . unless you really
> can't recover, clear and breathe from a regulator in teh winter in
> Soney.

You're right Lee. I've swapped regs about in Stoney in the winter.
You don't touch the purge button as you say as that's just looking
for trouble.

Last year's Icebreakers was about 7C under the water, although
very nearly 0C on the surface film, so not really too bad.
It goes down to about 4C later on in the year and that does
begin to feel like somebody smacked you in the face with an
ice cream when you step in.

nigelH

Rage wrote:
> Lee wrote:
> > I'm not a cold water diver, but this sounds a bit odd to me. You mean
> > that you can't recover, clear and breathe from a regulator in the winter
> > in Stoney? That is, after all, all that's required for buddy breathing.
>
> Its not that straight forward when its freeflowing.

*scratch head*

Breathing off a freeflowing regulator is pretty trvial. Its not fun, but
I've done 20 minutes of deco with a reg stuck open and controlling the gas
flow my cranking the cylinder valve on an off. I know other people that
have done this as well, Zak springs to mind.

AL.

Lee Bell <leebell@ix.remove.netcom.com> writes:

>So, your answer is that you can't recover, clear and breathe from a
>regulator in the winter in Stoney without a freeflow, right?

You can do it. The trouble is that, for whatever reason, maybe a
combination of bad gear, purge buttons, high air consumption due to
panic or the J. Edgar factor, and trying to make the drill more
extreme by doing it from the hot-box in 37m, enough people have got
into trouble practising out-of-air drills in cold places like Stoney
Cove that people are being advised not to do it until the water is
a bit warmer.

Pete

--
__________________________________________________ __________________
Pete Young pete@antipope.org Remove dot. to reply
"Just another crouton, floating on the bouillabaisse of life"

"Alasdair Allan" <aa@ukrecscuba.org.uk> wrote in message
news:bs6mkm$a2jpq$2@ID-188041.news.uni-berlin.de...
> Rage wrote:
> > Lee wrote:
> > > I'm not a cold water diver, but this sounds a bit odd to me. You mean
> > > that you can't recover, clear and breathe from a regulator in the
winter
> > > in Stoney? That is, after all, all that's required for buddy
breathing.
> >
> > Its not that straight forward when its freeflowing.
>
> *scratch head*
>
> Breathing off a freeflowing regulator is pretty trvial. Its not fun, but
> I've done 20 minutes of deco with a reg stuck open and controlling the gas
> flow my cranking the cylinder valve on an off. I know other people that
> have done this as well, Zak springs to mind.
>
> AL.

Did you have to remind me? Its harder than I thought too, added about 50% to
my normal gas consumption....... suddenly I was glad of the gas reserves I
carry!

Anyway, the point on the whole "dont do this in stoney in winter" is simply,
why run the risk of free-flows. If all you want is practise, use a pool.

/Zak

"Clie" <Clive@spam.net> schreef in bericht
news:zq6Eb.34236$5F2.28056@news-binary.blueyonder.co.uk...
> Does anyone actually still practice buddy breathing? Does it still have a
> use?

A good reason to practise it, is to remember why it was that you didn't like
this option.

"Nigel Hewitt" wrote

> You're right Lee. I've swapped regs about in Stoney in the winter.
> You don't touch the purge button as you say as that's just looking
> for trouble.
>
> Last year's Icebreakers was about 7C under the water, although
> very nearly 0C on the surface film, so not really too bad.
> It goes down to about 4C later on in the year and that does
> begin to feel like somebody smacked you in the face with an
> ice cream when you step in.

I think I'd prefer the ice cream . . . unless, of course, I ever get over
there. My guess is that my 3mm with no booties or gloves won't quite do the
trick.

Lee