Lolo head nearly becomes fish bait during whale season! Damn shooms!...

hoppyinca · 16th February 2008, 19:02

After conferring with another member of the board I believe I had a CO2 hit during my morning dive yesterday... 15 Feb 2008.

here's the haps;

I am on vacation on Maui, Hawaii and it's whale season. Diving a rebreather, if you get in the water early enough, and hangout long enough the possibility of seeing a whale is good... okay marginal, but it's a good excuse to hit the water early and stay long!

Pre-dive checks the evening before were done with no notible issues; however, I did not use my checklist as the rig had been dived all week with no issues... this was to be the last dive of my trip... thankfully it was not my last dive!

I awoke for the dive, geared up in the hotel room and headed down to the lobby, out on the beach, and into the water... solo.

made it through the surf, and at the outer edge of the reef laided a line to get back to the same spot later (had dived here before, the current can pick up pretty good, so I figured having a reference was a good idea, last time the walk back SUCKED!).

first thing I noticed was that I was uneasy throughout the dive and did not have the usual "clearity" of vision; however, it was still dawn and a bit surgy. I blamed it on daylight and water conditions.

after 30 minutes I suddenly noticed 5 to 6 uhu (parrot fish) in the near distance, and I was starteled. I remember thinking to my self, "why did they freak me out?". I continued to wait and hope for whales, pO2 was holding and the rig was operating flawlessly... I thought...

after only 45 minutes of what I planned to be a 4 hour dive I decided to gather my line and hangout on the reef, it was getting light and the chance of being visited by a whale were really small now.

As I started swimming back, I noticed that the current had picked up, albiet only slightly. I also noticed my unease growing...

As my finning increased in effort, so did the unease and my breathing rate. In hind sight I think this is when the tunnel vision started to creep in.

Eventually the unease delevoped into runaway anxiety and my breathing rate increased to the point that I was not able to catch my breath. All I could see/ focus on was my pretty orange line.

My condition worsened to the point that I ended up bailing out, rolling the remainder of the line into a ball, and ending the dive (thankfully only 30fsw and no deco obligation... 54 minutes total dive time). In fact I remember thinking, as I bailed out, "F@#$-it I'm done!"...

I had about a 5 minute surface swim in; my mind was clear, but still short of breath. it wasn't until 17 minutes after surfacing (looked at my computer) that I was completely settled...

After anaylzing what had happened, my thinking of what it could have been lead me to that insidious gas... CO2, but how?

I began disassebling the unit and checking off possible CO2 sources; all gas path seals good (diving Mk15; canister seal and sensor tower o-ring sat), sorb pack was verified tight... then I remembered earlier in the week, the inhale mushroom valve was folded over, happened to catch it as I was demmonstrating how easy dissassembly is with an Azimuth DSV.

I disconnected the breathing hose from the DSV and noticed that the inhale mushroom valve was not seated properly, it was folded over leaving an opening about 30% of the hose diameter. A HA!

So the moral of the story is... seriously check proper operation of the mushroom valves during all pre-dive checks.

I had gotten.... hum.... complacent due to the fact that I have cooper hoses and can not simply crush the hoses to check them; however as previously stated, I am using an Azimuth DSV, so with a simple un-screwing of the DSV and breathing hose a visual check and opertional test are easily performed.

I also should have performed a DIL flush upon the onset/ increased feeling of unease, this may very well have cleared the unease and clued me into a potential problem!

please your thoughts and comments are welcomed!

Mahalo,
hoppy

sensor330 · 16th February 2008, 19:37

Quote: (Originally Posted by hoppyinca)

After conferring with another member of the board I believe I had a CO2 hit during my morning dive yesterday... 15 Feb 2008.

here's the haps;

I am on vacation on Maui, Hawaii and it's whale season. Diving a rebreather, if you get in the water early enough, and hangout long enough the possibility of seeing a whale is good... okay marginal, but it's a good excuse to hit the water early and stay long!

Pre-dive checks the evening before were done with no notible issues; however, I did not use my checklist as the rig had been dived all week with no issues... this was to be the last dive of my trip... thankfully it was not my last dive!

I awoke for the dive, geared up in the hotel room and headed down to the lobby, out on the beach, and into the water... solo.

made it through the surf, and at the outer edge of the reef laided a line to get back to the same spot later (had dived here before, the current can pick up pretty good, so I figured having a reference was a good idea, last time the walk back SUCKED!).

first thing I noticed was that I was uneasy throughout the dive and did not have the usual "clearity" of vision; however, it was still dawn and a bit surgy. I blamed it on daylight and water conditions.

after 30 minutes I suddenly noticed 5 to 6 uhu (parrot fish) in the near distance, and I was starteled. I remember thinking to my self, "why did they freak me out?". I continued to wait and hope for whales, pO2 was holding and the rig was operating flawlessly... I thought...

after only 45 minutes of what I planned to be a 4 hour dive I decided to gather my line and hangout on the reef, it was getting light and the chance of being visited by a whale were really small now.

As I started swimming back, I noticed that the current had picked up, albiet only slightly. I also noticed my unease growing...

As my finning increased in effort, so did the unease and my breathing rate. In hind sight I think this is when the tunnel vision started to creep in.

Eventually the unease delevoped into runaway anxiety and my breathing rate increased to the point that I was not able to catch my breath. All I could see/ focus on was my pretty orange line.

My condition worsened to the point that I ended up bailing out, rolling the remainder of the line into a ball, and ending the dive (thankfully only 30fsw and no deco obligation... 54 minutes total dive time). In fact I remember thinking, as I bailed out, "F@#$-it I'm done!"...

I had about a 5 minute surface swim in; my mind was clear, but still short of breath. it wasn't until 17 minutes after surfacing (looked at my computer) that I was completely settled...

After anaylzing what had happened, my thinking of what it could have been lead me to that insidious gas... CO2, but how?

I began disassebling the unit and checking off possible CO2 sources; all gas path seals good (diving Mk15; canister seal and sensor tower o-ring sat), sorb pack was verified tight... then I remembered earlier in the week, the inhale mushroom valve was folded over, happened to catch it as I was demmonstrating how easy dissassembly is with an Azimuth DSV.

I disconnected the breathing hose from the DSV and noticed that the inhale mushroom valve was not seated properly, it was folded over leaving an opening about 30% of the hose diameter. A HA!

So the moral of the story is... seriously check proper operation of the mushroom valves during all pre-dive checks.

I had gotten.... hum.... complacent due to the fact that I have cooper hoses and can not simply crush the hoses to check them; however as previously stated, I am using an Azimuth DSV, so with a simple un-screwing of the DSV and breathing hose a visual check and opertional test are easily performed.

I also should have performed a DIL flush upon the onset/ increased feeling of unease, this may very well have cleared the unease and clued me into a potential problem!

please your thoughts and comments are welcomed!

Mahalo,
hoppy

A simple suck/blow while covering the ends of the breathing hoses will verify that the one ways are working.

hoppyinca · 16th February 2008, 19:47

Quote: (Originally Posted by sensor330)

A simple suck/blow while covering the ends of the breathing hoses will verify that the one ways are working.

when diving consecutive days during the week, I do not remove the loop... on my rig, it is far easier to disconn the loop and DSV, which I plan to do from this point on!

when the loop and DSV are disconn the suck/ blow method can be used.

thanks for the comment.

hoppy

MrClive · 16th February 2008, 23:12

hey mate,

just wanted to say thanks for posting and glad you made it out alright..

Gilles · 16th February 2008, 23:14

First of all, I'm very happy you pulled through Hoppy

Quote: (Originally Posted by hoppyinca)

...

first thing I noticed was that I was uneasy throughout the dive and did not have the usual "clearity" of vision; ...

I use this as my "CO2 sensor". Let's face it, we don't dive to freak ourselves out. We do it because when all is well, we feel in control and we enjoy this. When it begins to be not that, then something is wrong! I am susceptible underwater to denying to myself there's trouble.

An advantage I feel there is when connected to offboard bailout, is that you have much more gas to dispose of for checking (i.e. dil flush, sanity breaths, etc) without worrying about depleting your rig gas. Hence less hesitation (on my part).

Quote:

I had gotten.... hum.... complacent ...

Glad I'm not the only one

chunter · 16th February 2008, 23:24

Hoppy,

I'm glad you made it through ok. I am however pissed that you never come over to Oahu to dive!

Whenever I find myself breathing hard, I flush my loop often. There is plenty of dil, and really, you don't need any unless you are going down again. I also try to be sensitive of the tapping sound that the mushroom valves make, especially if I feel uneasy about something.

I'll also hold back the comments on Azimuth stuff.

(except for the one I just made).

Aloha,
Charlie

***ScubaDadMiami*** · 16th February 2008, 23:30

Glad you made it. Unfortunately, CO2 dulls the senses. So, while it might sound obvious as to what was happening (to anyone reading the story), it is quite another thing to be in the middle of it actually happening.

Good job for finally bailing out! So, since you did accomplish this, what does it say for all of the accounts where people say that the victim knows to bail out but just can't do it or can't slow respiration enough to make the switch to the offboard gas? Can you go into a little more detail about what this specific part of the dive was like, what you thought as you were doing it, what happened, and what you felt?

Thanks. Have some green for sharing.

**Dsix36** · 17th February 2008, 01:01

I always use a checklist, but I have skiped the mushroom valve check on a couple of occassions. I Really thank you for this post, It may very well be my arse that was just saved by reading it. I won't lett this test slide again.

I am glad that you managed to bailout and survive to dive another day.

Lancer4545 · 17th February 2008, 03:50

Quote: (Originally Posted by ScubaDadMiami)

Good job for finally bailing out! So, since you did accomplish this, what does it say for all of the accounts where people say that the victim knows to bail out but just can't do it or can't slow respiration enough to make the switch to the offboard gas?

Pleased to hear you're alright and it takes balls to get up in front of a crowd and tell everyone you did something you wouldn't normally. Have Green from me too.

I agree with what was said here. It's going to be almost imposible to bail out to OC if you have to remove a DSV and get a second stage out whilst you're puffing like a steam train. Makes a lot of sense to have a BOV and direct access to your offboard bailout gas. Then all you have to do is twist the BOV get a few sanity breaths and turn the bailout tank on......Easy, Stress Free and Very Very FAST.

As part of my Mod2 training Matt had me breath the unit on a bench with no scrubber fitted and a setpoint of 0.7 It was an experience I will remember for a long time and one that is always in the back of my mind when I go diving.

I think the symptoms are going to be different for everyone and there will be some of us who will not have any symptoms at all and simply black-out. But I feel it is an experience that will give you some idea of what you "Could" expect happen to you.

For me at around 4 mins my lips started to twitch as I held them sealed against the mouthpiece. Then I started to hyperventilate, slowly at first but increasing with time. A headache started to set in after about 6 mins and by this time I was really starting to pant. 9 mins and I pulled the plug and went off the loop to get some fresh air. My breathing rate settled after around 5 mins and the headache lasted for around 4 hours.

The thing that really made me aware something was wrong was the twitching lips, I have never had that happen before, then the uncontrolled hyperventilating. It wasn't as if I couldn't get my breath, I just couldn't slow my breathing rate.

I think it is something we should all do at least once if your going to continue CCR diving. Make sure you have a buddy close by to monitor you and be there in case you need assistance.

Regards,

Lance

hoppyinca · 17th February 2008, 07:38

Quote: (Originally Posted by chunter)

...pissed that you never come over to Oahu...

...hold back the comments on Azimuth stuff....
Charlie

yeah, sorry, if only the super ferry were more reliable!... honestly, I always try to do too much with too little time... guess we all do.

I only have experience with the Azi DSV, LOVE IT!

Quote: (Originally Posted by Dsix36)

I always use a checklist, but I have skiped the mushroom valve check on a couple of occassions...won't lett this test slide again...

I am going to re-write my checklist as it is not rig specific for modifications I have made (i.e. electronics, DSV, etc.).

this is definitely going to be on the new checklist. I remember hearing/ reading that someone had a copy of their checklist posted on the inside of the cover for their unit... once I get to using my cover I think I will do that as well...

thank you everyone for the support and comments... keep them coming!

hoppy

16th February 2008, 19:02	#1 (permalink)
hoppyinca New Member Current Rebreather/s: MK 15.X Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Laguna Niguel, CA USA Posts: 252	Lolo head nearly becomes fish bait during whale season! Damn shooms!... After conferring with another member of the board I believe I had a CO2 hit during my morning dive yesterday... 15 Feb 2008. here's the haps; I am on vacation on Maui, Hawaii and it's whale season. Diving a rebreather, if you get in the water early enough, and hangout long enough the possibility of seeing a whale is good... okay marginal, but it's a good excuse to hit the water early and stay long! Pre-dive checks the evening before were done with no notible issues; however, I did not use my checklist as the rig had been dived all week with no issues... this was to be the last dive of my trip... thankfully it was not my last dive! I awoke for the dive, geared up in the hotel room and headed down to the lobby, out on the beach, and into the water... solo. made it through the surf, and at the outer edge of the reef laided a line to get back to the same spot later (had dived here before, the current can pick up pretty good, so I figured having a reference was a good idea, last time the walk back SUCKED!). first thing I noticed was that I was uneasy throughout the dive and did not have the usual "clearity" of vision; however, it was still dawn and a bit surgy. I blamed it on daylight and water conditions. after 30 minutes I suddenly noticed 5 to 6 uhu (parrot fish) in the near distance, and I was starteled. I remember thinking to my self, "why did they freak me out?". I continued to wait and hope for whales, pO2 was holding and the rig was operating flawlessly... I thought... after only 45 minutes of what I planned to be a 4 hour dive I decided to gather my line and hangout on the reef, it was getting light and the chance of being visited by a whale were really small now. As I started swimming back, I noticed that the current had picked up, albiet only slightly. I also noticed my unease growing... As my finning increased in effort, so did the unease and my breathing rate. In hind sight I think this is when the tunnel vision started to creep in. Eventually the unease delevoped into runaway anxiety and my breathing rate increased to the point that I was not able to catch my breath. All I could see/ focus on was my pretty orange line. My condition worsened to the point that I ended up bailing out, rolling the remainder of the line into a ball, and ending the dive (thankfully only 30fsw and no deco obligation... 54 minutes total dive time). In fact I remember thinking, as I bailed out, "F@#$-it I'm done!"... I had about a 5 minute surface swim in; my mind was clear, but still short of breath. it wasn't until 17 minutes after surfacing (looked at my computer) that I was completely settled... After anaylzing what had happened, my thinking of what it could have been lead me to that insidious gas... CO2, but how? I began disassebling the unit and checking off possible CO2 sources; all gas path seals good (diving Mk15; canister seal and sensor tower o-ring sat), sorb pack was verified tight... then I remembered earlier in the week, the inhale mushroom valve was folded over, happened to catch it as I was demmonstrating how easy dissassembly is with an Azimuth DSV. I disconnected the breathing hose from the DSV and noticed that the inhale mushroom valve was not seated properly, it was folded over leaving an opening about 30% of the hose diameter. A HA! So the moral of the story is... seriously check proper operation of the mushroom valves during all pre-dive checks. I had gotten.... hum.... complacent due to the fact that I have cooper hoses and can not simply crush the hoses to check them; however as previously stated, I am using an Azimuth DSV, so with a simple un-screwing of the DSV and breathing hose a visual check and opertional test are easily performed. I also should have performed a DIL flush upon the onset/ increased feeling of unease, this may very well have cleared the unease and clued me into a potential problem! please your thoughts and comments are welcomed! Mahalo, hoppy __________________ "The government is merely a servant... merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them..." - Mark Twain
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16th February 2008, 19:37	#2 (permalink)
sensor330 Custom Title Allowed! Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Not Bought Yet Inspiration Classic Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Posts: 585	Re: Lolo head nearly becomes fish bait during whale season! Damn shooms!... Quote: (Originally Posted by hoppyinca) After conferring with another member of the board I believe I had a CO2 hit during my morning dive yesterday... 15 Feb 2008. here's the haps; I am on vacation on Maui, Hawaii and it's whale season. Diving a rebreather, if you get in the water early enough, and hangout long enough the possibility of seeing a whale is good... okay marginal, but it's a good excuse to hit the water early and stay long! Pre-dive checks the evening before were done with no notible issues; however, I did not use my checklist as the rig had been dived all week with no issues... this was to be the last dive of my trip... thankfully it was not my last dive! I awoke for the dive, geared up in the hotel room and headed down to the lobby, out on the beach, and into the water... solo. made it through the surf, and at the outer edge of the reef laided a line to get back to the same spot later (had dived here before, the current can pick up pretty good, so I figured having a reference was a good idea, last time the walk back SUCKED!). first thing I noticed was that I was uneasy throughout the dive and did not have the usual "clearity" of vision; however, it was still dawn and a bit surgy. I blamed it on daylight and water conditions. after 30 minutes I suddenly noticed 5 to 6 uhu (parrot fish) in the near distance, and I was starteled. I remember thinking to my self, "why did they freak me out?". I continued to wait and hope for whales, pO2 was holding and the rig was operating flawlessly... I thought... after only 45 minutes of what I planned to be a 4 hour dive I decided to gather my line and hangout on the reef, it was getting light and the chance of being visited by a whale were really small now. As I started swimming back, I noticed that the current had picked up, albiet only slightly. I also noticed my unease growing... As my finning increased in effort, so did the unease and my breathing rate. In hind sight I think this is when the tunnel vision started to creep in. Eventually the unease delevoped into runaway anxiety and my breathing rate increased to the point that I was not able to catch my breath. All I could see/ focus on was my pretty orange line. My condition worsened to the point that I ended up bailing out, rolling the remainder of the line into a ball, and ending the dive (thankfully only 30fsw and no deco obligation... 54 minutes total dive time). In fact I remember thinking, as I bailed out, "F@#$-it I'm done!"... I had about a 5 minute surface swim in; my mind was clear, but still short of breath. it wasn't until 17 minutes after surfacing (looked at my computer) that I was completely settled... After anaylzing what had happened, my thinking of what it could have been lead me to that insidious gas... CO2, but how? I began disassebling the unit and checking off possible CO2 sources; all gas path seals good (diving Mk15; canister seal and sensor tower o-ring sat), sorb pack was verified tight... then I remembered earlier in the week, the inhale mushroom valve was folded over, happened to catch it as I was demmonstrating how easy dissassembly is with an Azimuth DSV. I disconnected the breathing hose from the DSV and noticed that the inhale mushroom valve was not seated properly, it was folded over leaving an opening about 30% of the hose diameter. A HA! So the moral of the story is... seriously check proper operation of the mushroom valves during all pre-dive checks. I had gotten.... hum.... complacent due to the fact that I have cooper hoses and can not simply crush the hoses to check them; however as previously stated, I am using an Azimuth DSV, so with a simple un-screwing of the DSV and breathing hose a visual check and opertional test are easily performed. I also should have performed a DIL flush upon the onset/ increased feeling of unease, this may very well have cleared the unease and clued me into a potential problem! please your thoughts and comments are welcomed! Mahalo, hoppy A simple suck/blow while covering the ends of the breathing hoses will verify that the one ways are working.
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16th February 2008, 19:47	#3 (permalink)
hoppyinca New Member Current Rebreather/s: MK 15.X Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Laguna Niguel, CA USA Posts: 252	Re: Lolo head nearly becomes fish bait during whale season! Damn shooms!... Quote: (Originally Posted by sensor330) A simple suck/blow while covering the ends of the breathing hoses will verify that the one ways are working. when diving consecutive days during the week, I do not remove the loop... on my rig, it is far easier to disconn the loop and DSV, which I plan to do from this point on! when the loop and DSV are disconn the suck/ blow method can be used. thanks for the comment. hoppy __________________ "The government is merely a servant... merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them..." - Mark Twain Last edited by hoppyinca : 16th February 2008 at 19:48. Reason: added details.
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16th February 2008, 23:12	#4 (permalink)
MrClive Custom Title Allowed! Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: cork city ireland Posts: 171	Re: Lolo head nearly becomes fish bait during whale season! Damn shooms!... hey mate, just wanted to say thanks for posting and glad you made it out alright.. __________________ clive
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16th February 2008, 23:14	#5 (permalink)
Gilles Worship the feminine Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Den Haag (Netherlands) Posts: 762	Re: Lolo head nearly becomes fish bait during whale season! Damn shooms!... First of all, I'm very happy you pulled through Hoppy Quote: (Originally Posted by hoppyinca) ... first thing I noticed was that I was uneasy throughout the dive and did not have the usual "clearity" of vision; ... I use this as my "CO2 sensor". Let's face it, we don't dive to freak ourselves out. We do it because when all is well, we feel in control and we enjoy this. When it begins to be not that, then something is wrong! I am susceptible underwater to denying to myself there's trouble. An advantage I feel there is when connected to offboard bailout, is that you have much more gas to dispose of for checking (i.e. dil flush, sanity breaths, etc) without worrying about depleting your rig gas. Hence less hesitation (on my part). Quote: I had gotten.... hum.... complacent ... Glad I'm not the only one __________________ Gilles http://www.dirrebreather.com
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16th February 2008, 23:24	#6 (permalink)
chunter I like diving Current Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss MK 15.X Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Inspiration Vision Evolution Classic Kiss Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Honolulu Posts: 478	Re: Lolo head nearly becomes fish bait during whale season! Damn shooms!... Hoppy, I'm glad you made it through ok. I am however pissed that you never come over to Oahu to dive! Whenever I find myself breathing hard, I flush my loop often. There is plenty of dil, and really, you don't need any unless you are going down again. I also try to be sensitive of the tapping sound that the mushroom valves make, especially if I feel uneasy about something. I'll also hold back the comments on Azimuth stuff. (except for the one I just made). Aloha, Charlie __________________ "Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." - Emerson "Hobgoblin is a cool word." - Charlie
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16th February 2008, 23:30	#7 (permalink)
*ScubaDadMiami* Moderator Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Florida, USA Posts: 2,134	Re: Lolo head nearly becomes fish bait during whale season! Damn shooms!... Glad you made it. Unfortunately, CO2 dulls the senses. So, while it might sound obvious as to what was happening (to anyone reading the story), it is quite another thing to be in the middle of it actually happening. Good job for finally bailing out! So, since you did accomplish this, what does it say for all of the accounts where people say that the victim knows to bail out but just can't do it or can't slow respiration enough to make the switch to the offboard gas? Can you go into a little more detail about what this specific part of the dive was like, what you thought as you were doing it, what happened, and what you felt? Thanks. Have some green for sharing. __________________ Howard Packer IANTD CCR Instructor Miami Beach, Florida CCRDiveTraining.com
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17th February 2008, 01:01	#8 (permalink)
Dsix36 Going Down? Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Deerfield Beach, Florida Posts: 1,071	Re: Lolo head nearly becomes fish bait during whale season! Damn shooms!... I always use a checklist, but I have skiped the mushroom valve check on a couple of occassions. I Really thank you for this post, It may very well be my arse that was just saved by reading it. I won't lett this test slide again. I am glad that you managed to bailout and survive to dive another day. __________________ THE MORE THAT I LEARN, THE MORE THAT I STILL NEED TO LEARN!!!!!!
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17th February 2008, 03:50	#9 (permalink)
Lancer4545 Closed Circuit Divers Aus Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Cairns QLD Australia Posts: 664	Re: Lolo head nearly becomes fish bait during whale season! Damn shooms!... Quote: (Originally Posted by ScubaDadMiami) Good job for finally bailing out! So, since you did accomplish this, what does it say for all of the accounts where people say that the victim knows to bail out but just can't do it or can't slow respiration enough to make the switch to the offboard gas? Pleased to hear you're alright and it takes balls to get up in front of a crowd and tell everyone you did something you wouldn't normally. Have Green from me too. I agree with what was said here. It's going to be almost imposible to bail out to OC if you have to remove a DSV and get a second stage out whilst you're puffing like a steam train. Makes a lot of sense to have a BOV and direct access to your offboard bailout gas. Then all you have to do is twist the BOV get a few sanity breaths and turn the bailout tank on......Easy, Stress Free and Very Very FAST. As part of my Mod2 training Matt had me breath the unit on a bench with no scrubber fitted and a setpoint of 0.7 It was an experience I will remember for a long time and one that is always in the back of my mind when I go diving. I think the symptoms are going to be different for everyone and there will be some of us who will not have any symptoms at all and simply black-out. But I feel it is an experience that will give you some idea of what you "Could" expect happen to you. For me at around 4 mins my lips started to twitch as I held them sealed against the mouthpiece. Then I started to hyperventilate, slowly at first but increasing with time. A headache started to set in after about 6 mins and by this time I was really starting to pant. 9 mins and I pulled the plug and went off the loop to get some fresh air. My breathing rate settled after around 5 mins and the headache lasted for around 4 hours. The thing that really made me aware something was wrong was the twitching lips, I have never had that happen before, then the uncontrolled hyperventilating. It wasn't as if I couldn't get my breath, I just couldn't slow my breathing rate. I think it is something we should all do at least once if your going to continue CCR diving. Make sure you have a buddy close by to monitor you and be there in case you need assistance. Regards, Lance __________________ You can run but you can't hide! ISC Appointed Megalodon Dealer for East Australia http://www.closedcircuitdivers.com.au info@closedcircuitdivers.com.au
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17th February 2008, 07:38	#10 (permalink)
hoppyinca New Member Current Rebreather/s: MK 15.X Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Laguna Niguel, CA USA Posts: 252	Re: Lolo head nearly becomes fish bait during whale season! Damn shooms!... Quote: (Originally Posted by chunter) ...pissed that you never come over to Oahu... ...hold back the comments on Azimuth stuff.... Charlie yeah, sorry, if only the super ferry were more reliable!... honestly, I always try to do too much with too little time... guess we all do. I only have experience with the Azi DSV, LOVE IT! Quote: (Originally Posted by Dsix36) I always use a checklist, but I have skiped the mushroom valve check on a couple of occassions...won't lett this test slide again... I am going to re-write my checklist as it is not rig specific for modifications I have made (i.e. electronics, DSV, etc.). this is definitely going to be on the new checklist. I remember hearing/ reading that someone had a copy of their checklist posted on the inside of the cover for their unit... once I get to using my cover I think I will do that as well... thank you everyone for the support and comments... keep them coming! hoppy __________________ "The government is merely a servant... merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them..." - Mark Twain
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