Quote: (Originally Posted by
lizardland)
I freedive and spearfish and I do apnea training most days, I can do 6min+ in a static apnea and I was struggling with a couple of seconds to get to a reg in a minor CO2 event. .
Well said. I also freedive and spearfish (more often actually than rebreather diving... a daily freediving hour at sunrise is my habit, and I regularly fish in 40 feet of water), and do static apnea for 4+ mins regularly (you're doing great at 6... I'm *very* impressed... don't die in the pool!).
C02 is the only breathing trigger as we both know, and apnea diving trains one to be able to *partially* suppress the C02 "breathe now" urge. As you know, a VERY good apnea diver can breath-hold to unconciousness, and every year a few people do just that m(never mind shallow water blackout.. another issue). If you correlate what we both felt, both of us being freedivers and unable to suppress the "breathe now need", it ought to be obvious that someone without this skill set is gonna do worse. NOBODY, no matter what, can deal with elevated C02. It's a killer.
Dave