Underwater breathing thingy

[simongoldthorpe]

I recall a while ago seeing something advertised, like a small aqualung, that would give you 15 minutes underwater air. Marketed as useful for scrubbing the bottom or freeing fouled props etc.

Does anybody know anything about them (price etc) or even tried them?


PS before Happy 1 starts telling me that the untrained use of these is highly dangerous I was only thinking about their use as an adjunct to a snorkel.

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[tcm]

Not seen one, but heard of it. It must be essentially a long pipe to a compressed air tank. I use conventional dive gear to clean props quite often.

In practice i bet it wd be a bit rubbish. If the mouthpiece falls out of your mouth , would it be to hand? Or would it whizz away from you? Without a jacket or some fittings/staps it would not stay with you. You need weights anyway otherwise you won't sink, and then an inflaty jacket allows you to adjust your floatiness (technical innit?!) so you stay just below the props not clonking your head on everything.

Unless miles cheaper, i think it wd be better to get some cheapy diving gear. The tank looks dead hard but it is all quite fine underwater. If you're a wimp like me you just stay 1 metre below the surface, and only go on a weedy diving "taster" course in a swmming pool and never ever miles down like ooer more than 2 metres.

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[longjohnsilver]

Forget it!

Buy a small dive cylinder, 10 litres, and a regulator and contents guage, will last much longer and won't cost any more. just make sure that you only use it for boat scrubbing if not trained. Certainly worth doing a few days with a dive skool just to learn the basics, then you can use it for proper dives! Much better that way.

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[simongoldthorpe]

Sounds like common sense. Can you just buy this stuff at a dive shop or do they get all prissy about you not knowing what you are doing?

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[longjohnsilver]

Buy it from a dive shop, but you'll normally see loads of secondhand gear advertised in the local free ads, most of it virtually unused. Best to check with someone who dives just to make sure it's what you want and up to scratch.

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[qsiv]

For all that the qualified divers dislike it <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.browniedive.com/hooka/pressure.shtml>this</A> is what you were thinking about, I believe.

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[tcm]

no, my exp of dive shops is that they are fine taking money off you regardles about how clueless you are, same as boating. Apparently, one shop even sold a chart to hlb.



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[longjohnsilver]

Chart

But it was of the Zambesi, his road atlass didn't cover that area. Strangely it looked very much like Plymouth with lots of tipex.

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[PhilF]

Bad idea, get trained and do it properly IMHO.
Do the course and learn the potential pitfalls and dangers.
Never dive when on your own and dont hold your breath

PhilF

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[longjohnsilver]

Diving alone

I always dive on my own, always someone in the boat, wouldn't do it any other way. Have survived 20+ years of doing it this way, probably best part of 2000 dives. Not for everyone, I know.

But cleaning off the boat, dive as a pair??? I think not!

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[ccscott49]

Re: Diving alone

You know aswell as I do, diving on your own is a no no, but I too dive mostly on my own, not deep, 10 meters or so and if you cant make an emergency ascent from 10 meters, you shouldnt be in the water! Diving anyway. But as you say cleaning the boat, checking the anchor, I think not also!

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[dieselhead]

try andarks website, i have seen them on there

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[itsonlymoney]

I can't beleive the replys that reccomend going out and buying diving equipment then using it with no experience. Or for that matter your intention of going overboard with a bit of plastic tubing fed by what appears to be a pond pump supplying it. It may not look like rocket science but I am sure there must be more to it than meets the eye. Why not just continue with a long brush and a rope to hold onto, got to be a safer bet !

Ian

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[tcm]

Re: nah, not for prop scraping

you need someone on the boat, and praps turn of the fuse for the starter motors for peace of mind. But otherwise tis fine to dive (just under the boat) on your own - worst that happens is splutter splutter even when you run out of air then ask others can i have a cup of tea please and ooh they think it is all very awful and tough.

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[PhilF]

Re: Diving alone

Thats a bit like " I drive better after a drink"

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[DavidJ]

Don't even think of using diving equipment without doing the training. Maintaining bouyancy at 1 metre from the surface is very tricky and 'saw toothing' up and down creates micro bubbles which causes bends...and thats just for starters.
To be more helpful, there are always adverts for second hand full equipment which is hardly used. I think many people do the course buy the stuff then give up (I would too if I dived in the UK!) Have a look in "Dive" magazine.

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[ParaHandy]

the bends, narcosis?? .... go deeper in me bath tub ... though soap does get in your eyes so s'pose that's a bit ... well ... frightening


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[Keen_Ed]

Are you thinking of: http://www.mini-breather.com/

Have to say that the thought of someone using compressed air diving equipment without training is a little scary. You need to understand the dangers, in particular the dangers of lung gas expansion injuries should you ascend and hold your breath. Don't forget that the last 10 metres of ascent are the most dangerous for this: the pressure doubles between the surface and 10m down.

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[DeepAndy]

I agree with LONG JOHN on this one,

It is far easier to get a local sports diver to clean ya bottom , un foul props etc.

SPARE AIRS are a waste of time and money.


Andy

commercial diver of 23 years

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[tcm]

Re: \'ang on a minute

i'm afraid there isn't much to diving IF you don't actually dive. Going under the boat is hardly a dive. It's a metre down, two metres tops. This isn't a dangerous depth, with or without a tank. Rocket science (especially for rockets which leap into the air 2 metres maximum) is also not too hard.

Agreed, a real dive needs training but that is specifically not what was asked. Tis a good idea to have a realistic mate along who knows what's what. A helpful sales assistant will be able to show what's what. The tanks can only be filled professionally so not too much to worry about, honest there isn't. The most dangerous thing is dropping the tank on your foot. They don't show this in the course, as far as I am aware, and they are often a bit too keen to go nice and (worringly) deep even on the first day. A half-day taster course in a swmming pool is miles more than adequate, but mostly commonsense (eg don't put loads of weights on and jump in, try it just lowering yerself down the swmming ladder) is the main requirement, as with many activities.

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