Quote: (Originally Posted by
silent running)
I have been emphasizing the importance of low WOB to safety for a long time and I doubt I could have done some of the divng I have done, or would have even attempted it, if I was diving on a unit with high WOB.
A unit that has OK WOB at 30M and a low RMV will breathe like a straw at 60M when you are finning at your maximum exertion level, trying not to be blown any further down in a nasty current, something which has happened to me many times. If I understand my physiology correctly, a CO2 hit starts with the diver retaining CO2 and not being able to vent it out of the body fast enough and a high WOB, especially at depth, is certainly the last thing you want when the "s" hits the fan.
Silent.
C02 has a huge effect in the development of gas bubbles in the blood. I think I am record even with Peter before the Prism that unless or until we have C02 detectors in the bag there is no place for the recreational use of rebreathers. I still guess I’m half right. In most studies they have been on the effect of gaseous bends caused by the diluent gas, nitrogen N2 etc however the latest studies on mice have shown that high C02 breathing causes a local supersaturation of C02 in the lower gut and spleen. When the mice are then subjected to intravenous nitrogen gas (bends) the N2 bubbles formed increase in size faster and larger dependant on the amount of C02 in super saturation that had occurred earlier in the spleen, prior to the onset of the bends. The resultant gas bubble production also has been observed to cause liver damage. Your advantage with Prism is the low WOB and good scrubber exchange. Iain Middlebrook