Hi,

Whenever I need to work on my prop, etc. underwater, I've just slapped
on the mask and fins and held my breath. But I've always wondered: why not
rig up a hose arrangement to be able to breathe? We're not talking 50-ft
depths here, so I'd think it would be pretty safe. Perhaps some kind of
non-collapsable hose on the end of a snorkel?

Does anyone do this? Why or why not?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

It would be extremely dificult if not impossible to breath through a
hose at surface pressure if your lungs get more than 2 or 3 feet under
water. The difference at 3' is only about 1.5 pounds per square inch
but the water is pressing on a couple thousand square inches of lung
surface.

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:

Hi,

Whenever I need to work on my prop, etc. underwater, I've just slapped
on the mask and fins and held my breath. But I've always wondered: why not
rig up a hose arrangement to be able to breathe? We're not talking 50-ft
depths here, so I'd think it would be pretty safe. Perhaps some kind of
non-collapsable hose on the end of a snorkel?

Does anyone do this? Why or why not?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36


--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

It would be extremely dificult if not impossible to breath through a
hose at surface pressure if your lungs get more than 2 or 3 feet under
water. The difference at 3' is only about 1.5 pounds per square inch
but the water is pressing on a couple thousand square inches of lung
surface.

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:

Hi,

Whenever I need to work on my prop, etc. underwater, I've just slapped
on the mask and fins and held my breath. But I've always wondered: why not
rig up a hose arrangement to be able to breathe? We're not talking 50-ft
depths here, so I'd think it would be pretty safe. Perhaps some kind of
non-collapsable hose on the end of a snorkel?

Does anyone do this? Why or why not?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36


--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

That is a very dangerous idea but the reason why isn't immediately obvious.

When you exhale you will fill the long tube with your expelled air and then
breathe it all back in. I believe this would result in hypoxia (oxygen
deficiency) in which case you could drown without realizing what's
happening.

Snorkel tubes are short so most of the exhausted air is expelled and there
is enough of an influx of fresh air to avoid this problem.



"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
news
Hi,

Whenever I need to work on my prop, etc. underwater, I've just slapped
on the mask and fins and held my breath. But I've always wondered: why not
rig up a hose arrangement to be able to breathe? We're not talking 50-ft
depths here, so I'd think it would be pretty safe. Perhaps some kind of
non-collapsable hose on the end of a snorkel?

Does anyone do this? Why or why not?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

That is a very dangerous idea but the reason why isn't immediately obvious.

When you exhale you will fill the long tube with your expelled air and then
breathe it all back in. I believe this would result in hypoxia (oxygen
deficiency) in which case you could drown without realizing what's
happening.

Snorkel tubes are short so most of the exhausted air is expelled and there
is enough of an influx of fresh air to avoid this problem.



"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
news
Hi,

Whenever I need to work on my prop, etc. underwater, I've just slapped
on the mask and fins and held my breath. But I've always wondered: why not
rig up a hose arrangement to be able to breathe? We're not talking 50-ft
depths here, so I'd think it would be pretty safe. Perhaps some kind of
non-collapsable hose on the end of a snorkel?

Does anyone do this? Why or why not?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

Good point.

So you need to "in through the mouth out through the nose" or else get
a "proper" mouthpiece that expels the "out-breath" directly.

As for the pressure, that's a big question mark. At the prop, I'm only
under maybe a foot (depending on body position). I don't know if the
pressure would be too much for me to take a breath or not (it's easy for
me to create suction in my mouth at this depth, so...I donno.)

After all, look at all the Bad Movies that have Our Heros hiding
underwater with a reed in their mouths...

Lloyd


On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 20:37:27 +0000, Paul wrote:

That is a very dangerous idea but the reason why isn't immediately obvious.

When you exhale you will fill the long tube with your expelled air and then
breathe it all back in. I believe this would result in hypoxia (oxygen
deficiency) in which case you could drown without realizing what's
happening.

Snorkel tubes are short so most of the exhausted air is expelled and there
is enough of an influx of fresh air to avoid this problem.



"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
news
Hi,

Whenever I need to work on my prop, etc. underwater, I've just slapped
on the mask and fins and held my breath. But I've always wondered: why not
rig up a hose arrangement to be able to breathe? We're not talking 50-ft
depths here, so I'd think it would be pretty safe. Perhaps some kind of
non-collapsable hose on the end of a snorkel?

Does anyone do this? Why or why not?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

Good point.

So you need to "in through the mouth out through the nose" or else get
a "proper" mouthpiece that expels the "out-breath" directly.

As for the pressure, that's a big question mark. At the prop, I'm only
under maybe a foot (depending on body position). I don't know if the
pressure would be too much for me to take a breath or not (it's easy for
me to create suction in my mouth at this depth, so...I donno.)

After all, look at all the Bad Movies that have Our Heros hiding
underwater with a reed in their mouths...

Lloyd


On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 20:37:27 +0000, Paul wrote:

That is a very dangerous idea but the reason why isn't immediately obvious.

When you exhale you will fill the long tube with your expelled air and then
breathe it all back in. I believe this would result in hypoxia (oxygen
deficiency) in which case you could drown without realizing what's
happening.

Snorkel tubes are short so most of the exhausted air is expelled and there
is enough of an influx of fresh air to avoid this problem.



"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
news
Hi,

Whenever I need to work on my prop, etc. underwater, I've just slapped
on the mask and fins and held my breath. But I've always wondered: why not
rig up a hose arrangement to be able to breathe? We're not talking 50-ft
depths here, so I'd think it would be pretty safe. Perhaps some kind of
non-collapsable hose on the end of a snorkel?

Does anyone do this? Why or why not?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 11:48:30 -0800,
Lloyd Sumpter wrote:
Hi,

Whenever I need to work on my prop, etc. underwater, I've just slapped
on the mask and fins and held my breath. But I've always wondered: why not
rig up a hose arrangement to be able to breathe? We're not talking 50-ft
depths here, so I'd think it would be pretty safe. Perhaps some kind of
non-collapsable hose on the end of a snorkel?

Does anyone do this? Why or why not?


There are two problems.

1) Unless you have a seperate exhaust path (usually via a valve directly
into the water) you can't push the "bad" air, out of the snorkle very
far. If the volume of the snorkel tube is a significant fraction of your
lung volume, you just pusþ the air up the tube, and then draw that same
air, back into your lungs.

2) The pressure at say, 7 feet depth, is about 1.5 atmospheres, so you
will be drawing in 1 atmos air, against 1.5 atmos pressure on your
lungs. Try it. Take a garden hose down to 7 feet, with the other end in
the air, (of course, keeping the water out of it) and try taking a
breath through it. You will be able to do it, for a while, maybe a
minute, by exhaling through your nose, but you'll give your diaphram a
real workout.

The usual solution, is either a tank+reg with a really long hose in
between or a hookah setup. The tank's a lot cheaper, especially if
you allready have the tank and the regulator, the hose isn't too
expensive.


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--
Jim Richardson http://www.eskimo.com/~warlock
"What I look forward to is continued immaturity followed by death."
-- Dave Barry

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 11:48:30 -0800,
Lloyd Sumpter wrote:
Hi,

Whenever I need to work on my prop, etc. underwater, I've just slapped
on the mask and fins and held my breath. But I've always wondered: why not
rig up a hose arrangement to be able to breathe? We're not talking 50-ft
depths here, so I'd think it would be pretty safe. Perhaps some kind of
non-collapsable hose on the end of a snorkel?

Does anyone do this? Why or why not?


There are two problems.

1) Unless you have a seperate exhaust path (usually via a valve directly
into the water) you can't push the "bad" air, out of the snorkle very
far. If the volume of the snorkel tube is a significant fraction of your
lung volume, you just pusþ the air up the tube, and then draw that same
air, back into your lungs.

2) The pressure at say, 7 feet depth, is about 1.5 atmospheres, so you
will be drawing in 1 atmos air, against 1.5 atmos pressure on your
lungs. Try it. Take a garden hose down to 7 feet, with the other end in
the air, (of course, keeping the water out of it) and try taking a
breath through it. You will be able to do it, for a while, maybe a
minute, by exhaling through your nose, but you'll give your diaphram a
real workout.

The usual solution, is either a tank+reg with a really long hose in
between or a hookah setup. The tank's a lot cheaper, especially if
you allready have the tank and the regulator, the hose isn't too
expensive.


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Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (GNU/Linux)

iD8DBQE/pspKd90bcYOAWPYRAnD3AKDGpbObVHddXgw1m2JPkEb/+kz5JwCffVEL
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--
Jim Richardson http://www.eskimo.com/~warlock
"What I look forward to is continued immaturity followed by death."
-- Dave Barry

Go try it in a swimming pool with a garden hose before you get yourself
hung up under your keel and get nominated for a Darwin Award. You will
find that it is impossible to breath if your lungs get more than about
3' deep.

Your prop is probably a foot or two deep minimum and if you are upright
your lungs will be a foot or two below that. You might be able to do it
upside down and sort of lay against the hull so your lungs are not as
deep. Hang your belly button on a barnicle to keep in place. Better
use red bottom paint so the blood stains won't show as bad. :-)

Movie cowboys hid from the indians with a reed by laying on their backs
so their body is just below the surface. About the same as normal
snorkling depth. It also helped to be solid muscle. Beer guts float. :-)


Lloyd Sumpter wrote:
Good point.

So you need to "in through the mouth out through the nose" or else get
a "proper" mouthpiece that expels the "out-breath" directly.

As for the pressure, that's a big question mark. At the prop, I'm only
under maybe a foot (depending on body position). I don't know if the
pressure would be too much for me to take a breath or not (it's easy for
me to create suction in my mouth at this depth, so...I donno.)

After all, look at all the Bad Movies that have Our Heros hiding
underwater with a reed in their mouths...

Lloyd


On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 20:37:27 +0000, Paul wrote:


That is a very dangerous idea but the reason why isn't immediately obvious.

When you exhale you will fill the long tube with your expelled air and then
breathe it all back in. I believe this would result in hypoxia (oxygen
deficiency) in which case you could drown without realizing what's
happening.

Snorkel tubes are short so most of the exhausted air is expelled and there
is enough of an influx of fresh air to avoid this problem.



"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
news
Hi,

Whenever I need to work on my prop, etc. underwater, I've just slapped
on the mask and fins and held my breath. But I've always wondered: why not
rig up a hose arrangement to be able to breathe? We're not talking 50-ft
depths here, so I'd think it would be pretty safe. Perhaps some kind of
non-collapsable hose on the end of a snorkel?

Does anyone do this? Why or why not?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36




--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com