Weight belt/harness management in emergency

cool_hardware52

I don't yet dive an Rebreather, but I've been exposed to a few. My understanding is the loop volumes are more like 16-20L, maybe more, although the 16-20L volume is typical of what is actually used. (min loop volume)

I would guess that the volume of the breathing hoses alone is ~ 3kg. This does not include the volume of the CL's, head or scrubber.

What am I missing?


Tobin

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pchanning

I'd infalte my big fat wing, keep all my weights and my equipment, feel smug for a second, and then realise the imminent horror of the approaching bill from APD.

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Paul

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Doorduijn, Niels

16-20 liters? I do not have the actual numbers at hand, but 16-20 is way too much. I would figure a couple of liters for the hose, and say 2 liters for the air around and in the canister. I discuss this with APD some time ago and they figured that in case of a flood you would become about 5 kg heavier. If you are properly balanced, 5 kg (or even 10 for that matter) can be easily solved by wing inflation (22.5 on the inspiration). You shouldn't even need to inflate the drysuit.

Rgs,

Niels Doorduijn

cool_hardware52

This simply does not square with my observations. I hope you are correct, but I simply can't see where all the volumes; Hoses, Elbows & Tee's, Head, volume of the canister not occupied with sorb, and the volume of the counter lungs equals only 10L.

I see a test coming on.........

Tobin

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Mdemon

This is a buoyancy question - I'll assume that we all have a bailout strategy for gas...

Dumping lead? The only thing you have keeping you down? I don't think so!

My order:
Wing - I haven't been using this (I suck a vacuum on it before diving), so that's 16Kg to play with.
Dry suit - must be able to get a few more Kg's in that before the neck seal starts burping...
Buddy AutoBlob - an instant source of lift, and if you're cool enough to send it up on the reel, you can now reel yourself up if you have to!
Counterlungs - things would have to be pretty bad...
Lift bag - would be fiddly to do, especially plummeting downwards...

If all else fails, I could always invert and fill the DS legs too. In my case, that would have to be 10Kg+ easy.

In short, I don't think a flooded loop calls for lead dumping and uncontrolled ascents.

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Doorduijn, Niels

A bit expensive, that test. For buoyancy purposes, the volume of the counterlungs should equal zero (well sort off). Rgs, Niels

cool_hardware52

Shouldn't be too expensive. I plan to prep a head so no vitals get wet, pull the sensors etc.

At the risk of displaying my ignorance why would the CL be empty?


Tobin

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ScubaDadMiami

Rhetorical question: Am I diving underweighted or something?

For me to descend, I first suck my wing to a vacuum before even getting off of the boat. Then, I have to raise my arms above my head to get myself under due to the thermals holding some gas inside of my drysuit. Once I finally have the gas removed from the suit, I am finally under and able to turn to go down for the dive. (It might sound like it takes longer than it actually does.) I think I am weighted properly inasmuch as I can hold my stops with my bailout low on gas while ascending.

I am still a , however, even with about 20 pounds of water in the loop, I can't see how my wing and, if I had to resort to using it, my drysuit, couldn't handle the load to get back to the surface.

I also carry an SMB and another lift bag. The only weight I can ditch is from my light canister and EPIRB canister. So, between the flooded loop and lost equipment, this would be a very expensive outing. Oh, and it would also trash an Extend Air cartridge.

Now, getting my head high out of the water is another story. My wing will not hold me high out of the water (I am using the Dive Rite 50 pound Rec Wing, which is what is recommended for the Optima). However, it does keep me to about the level of the top of my shoulders when I am vertical with it inflated all the way. Draining it does not really lower me much; it's just that this is about as high out of the water that I can get.

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