What do you guys think about devices to carry some emergency oxygen in the surf.
Is there a produkt out there?
Some small carbon tank with compressed air like it is used for paintball.
Maybe built flat into some kind of turtle back.
Would be interesting for big surf and kayaking.
think baywatch. if you can’t hold your breath you should not be surfing.
thats a really good idea. I’ve seen people dragging around the air tanks with tubes up their nose. I guess they must be kayakkers.
I was thinking of getting some gills installed when I get my next face lift. Theres lots of extra skin that would be easy to make gills with.
I think you’re on to something. With the nose tubes attached to the board , you wouldn’t need a leash any more.
gotta add that to my osha surf kit. air tank, helmet, shark repellant, sunscreen, nose leash, life jacket, flare gun. i keep losing my car key, i dunno how i’m gonna keep track of all this other stuff.
yes there is Spare Air & specifically for surfing
I’ve thought about this too for BIG WAVES.
Tripple hold downs at Mav’s, not that I need to worry about that.
Mavericks guys talked about that maybe 10 years ago. When Foo died, there was a lot of discussion about being trapped in a crevice. Flea also got trapped by his leash wrapping around an underwater rock, about the same time.
Consensus was that if you got driven 40 feet deep & whipped out your ‘spare-air’ & took a lungful, then your leash & board started pulling you upwards & instead of a wave over your head, you had a trough, you could find yourself under 5 feet of water instead. Lungful of air, taken at 40’ now at 5’? Instant embolism. Lungs pop like balloons… generally seen as a bad idea. Guys went to PFD’s instead.
Yes…Thats what I thought of too…
But for when kajaking you can`t get down too deep in most rivers.
Then there would still be the problem of beeing trapped so that you cant reach your air device…or you could reach it an still can`t get out of the situation…then you have air for 2 minutes and still no way to escape.
It is probably not that a danger in surf…I guess most people die because of unconsciousness and not drawning because they are too deep…
or they get trapped…that can be avoided ny surfing other breaks.
Would you consider PFDs dangerous in normal Surf up to 12`?
It was done way back when…
Ace Cool took one out with him when he tried to surf the biggest wave at Kaena Point.
Laird used them in the early days as well.
I think with ski teams it’s not an issue any more they’ve mastered the buddy system.
But it’s still a possibility
The Seals have rebreathers and similar devices but in reality you’d only need one or two breaths to make it effective. That and a knife device to automatically to cut your leash off cause the current will trap your arms…
They could actually build a real small one in those life vests all the tow in guys use…
Believe it or not there is already a company called Spare air that has a minitank for extremesports…
Goodness, who’s got the time to fumble around trying to get to an air tank? where do you keep it…strapped to your back, so you got to get it off of your back, turn it on and shove the regulator in your mouth. I don’t know about you, but when I start to panic from a hold down I don’t really have much time to go through a spare air shake down procedure. Maybe if you practiced with it all the time, you might get proficient at it. But then again you could do the same just getting into shape. How many days would you really need it?
Since this last run of swell in Southern California it has been under 1 1/2 over head for almost a month, and most days it’s been twice that. I have a problem with most surfers not being prepared to survive, be it too small of a surfboard, too thin of a leash, too small of cajones whatever. Those first 2 days of our “Perfect Winter” swell the life guards in San Diego County made over 200 rescues. Could you imagine how many more rescues they would make if everybody had Spare Air packs on there back…Oh no, my spare air just ran out. what do I do now!
Common there has to be a limiting factor in big surf, if not, every out of shape, kook, freak, wannabe will be surfing with Spare Airs. It’s already dangerous enough, take out the drowning factor, and we really got a mess…Look out here comes dude Jr. on his 5’5" big wave fish… Lets face it, if your not ready for 15-60 seconds of hold down in cold dark green water, maybe you should refine your limits.
My 10 cents, and it’s not pointed at any one in particular…except for that kid yesterday that had his new light weight leash break at NG, and I went in to get his board, because he was trying to swim against the rip. Know your limits.
-Jay
I can hold my breath for quite some time.
Don`t think that anybody would venture out in big surf only because of some spare air…there are other factors in that game.
BTW, the topic was not meant to offend somebody.
It doesn`t seem to be a big problem in surfing anyways.
In kayaking a bottle of air for 30min could have saved a lot of lives though.
Most people drawn in rivers because their head gets pressed under water…stuck behind a log…thats only 20cm under water.
A tube would also do it in this cases…
I guess more swimmer than surfer drawn every year…does anybody have numbers…swimmer vs. surfer or do lifeguards make no difference?
I’m not a diver so maybe someone else can shed light on this… I read somewhere or Darrick Doerner was talking to me about this… I forget… But anyway, it was said or written that the problem with spare air is everyone is so used to holding their breath that holding compressed air is the ticket to the bends… If you had the discipline in a nasty situation to exhale and inhale then it could work… But even the hardcore guys don’t want anything to do with it. Of course they all thought about this already or have tried it…
Today I got held under a pretty good one at Laniakea. The wave wasnt very big but it sure had a lot of water holding me down for awhile… I was pretty relaxed but like mentioned above… I’m not sure how I’d be having to find my air tank while getting pummeled and swirled… At some point you need to focus on fighting for the surface not fummbling for the air supply…
Actually, you wouldn’t be down long enough to get the bends. That needs nitrogen saturation in the bloodstream, which takes quite a while at pressures of, say, 1-2 atmospheres pressure, on the order of 100 minutes if I remember the tables right, before you’d need to decompress on the way up.
But, as was mentioned, embolism would be the killer. If you took a deep breath and just stayed put as a 40’ wave went over, you’d be going from 2 atmospheres plus in pressure to half that, so that your lungs would want to double in size…and they ain’t exactly designed to do that. http://www.scuba-doc.com/ageprbs.html has some very scary stuff.
Friend of mine had a drysuit that was also a buoyancy compensator. Well, one valve jammed open and the other one jammed shut and he went from 90 feet to the surface in one fast shot. And there was nothing they could do, probably not even if he had been next door to a high-end hospital. And I think I recall reading about fatal embolisms from as shallow as 15 feet.
hope that’s of use
doc…
I was thinking of getting some gills installed when I get my next face lift. Theres lots of extra skin that would be easy to make gills with.
I think you’re on to something. With the nose tubes attached to the board , you wouldn’t need a leash any more.
that’s strange …
I always imagined you just used a snorkle in your bottom [turns]
ben
I’m sure if you asked him nicely , your friend “rubberlove” could maybe insert it for you , Daz ?
Quote:I was thinking of getting some gills installed when I get my next face lift. Theres lots of extra skin that would be easy to make gills with.
I think you’re on to something. With the nose tubes attached to the board , you wouldn’t need a leash any more.
that’s strange …
I always imagined you just used a snorkle in your bottom [turns]
ben
I’m sure if you asked him nicely , your friend “rubberlove” could maybe insert it for you , Daz ?
Well… gills are definitly the next level in surfing…then people will start surfing with googles…is a fish really seeing 180° like my sigma fisheye?
that might be a bonus bionic improvement over gills…
90%( or better) of today’s surfer’s or (general pudlick), breath incorrectly… BET YOU DO TOO!
…Then please,tell me… what is correct way to breath …huh?
…Just a small,minor change can vastly improve your lung volume…free diving …me??? over 4 minutes.
They said, “Anyway… you know good and well… it would be beyond the will of God… and the grace of a king…”
Howzit Herb, If you are serious about the proper way to breath, you should inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. I learned this years ago when I was in to yoga, this breathing technique lets you exhale more carbon dioxide and will keep your breathing more regular. If you do the opposite the excess carbon dioxide in your lungs can cause side aches from the build up.Aloha,Kokua
yes there is Spare Air & specifically for surfing
I’ve thought about this too for BIG WAVES.
Tripple hold downs at Mav’s, not that I need to worry about that.
Being trashed in the spin cycle with this thing in your mouth probably does wonders for your dental work.
If I felt like I need this, I feel like I better stay on the beach. Its kind of like getting on an airplane for a surf trip. And, the pilot gets on wearing a parachute. Time to rethink what your getting into.
so true, so true…
how Herb
please enlighten us?
i cant hold my breath swimming under water longer than 30 seconds
and if im being tumbled 10 seconds feels like for ever