oxygen for long hold downs

[photosettle]

I won't ever likely need such a thing for the ankle biter surf i'm usually in, but was wondering why big wave surfers don't use a small tank of oxygen to squeeze in a few breaths during long hold downs.  Seems to me that it could be designed to fit into an impact vest? 

[suprbowl]

Shame Dorian has been working with Billabong on an inflatable vest. No oxygen, but shoots you to the surface. The V1, I believe videos were posted here not too long ago.

[H2Oman]

Oxygen gets toxic around 20'   Air is a better choice.  Then there's that embolism risk.

[PonoBill]

Yes indeed. Any diver knows there's a big nasty problem with breathing compressed air, you need to be under control and managing your ascent. People do wear rescue air tanks on their vests, but if they know what they are doing it's an absolute last resort. Fill your lungs with air at 15 feet and then hold your breath in panic as you shoot to the surface--instant embolism as the air expands to twice the volume. You'll probably die before you get to shore. Shane's idea is way better, though I think the ascent bubble should be in the front. Like the potato in a speedo.

[beaglebuddy]

The biggest impediment I see, besides forgetting to exhale on the way up and having your lungs explode, is this; basically you would have a diving regulator attached to a small bottle of compressed air, one would be completely out of breath and would reach for the air tank, you would not have any breath to blow out and purge the regulator of water, now you could hit the button on the back of the regulator and it would blow out air thus purging the regulator but try doing all that while going thu a washing machine, perhaps somebody could pull it off but I think you would first have to dive to the bottom, hold on then calmly use the regulator.
Better yet the way to do this would be to have a regulator/face mask strapped to your face and already be breathing compressed air while you are catching the wave, but that's just cheating.

[PonoBill]

I use a rescueair bottle when I dive, in part because I rarely dive with a buddy. Its a small bottle with probably ten breaths worth of air at 40 feet. The regulator is very compact and low volume, purging isn't a problem, the air in your mouth is plenty and people have lots of air in their lungs and trachea when they're holding their breath, there's air for purging, that's just psychological. Still, I wouldn't use one though there has been plenty of times I wished I had one. Better off not being in a situation you can't handle than using something hazardous as a crutch.

[JC50]

O2 not very toxic at 20'.  Hyperbaric chamber treatment usually (Table-6) has patients breathing 100% O2 at 60' for 20 minutes (at rest). That's not to say no such thing as O2-toxicity under pressure less than 60', there is a real danger when diving on 100% O2, but highly unlikely in a short episode to the bottom of a large wave.

The real problem I see is just plain having too much equipment, even a small come-home bottle of air. You're getting your ass kicked by heavy water, the most important thing to do is to relax, conserve what you have, and ride it out. Training to that effect goes way further than relying on equipment that may or may not be where you left it, or just might be more of a hassle than just waiting until released and going for surface. No way to get around the hard object that bottle must be, you probably don't want any hard objects nearby when getting slammed by a big wave.

I'm wouldn't worry too much about embolism. If you're going for measures as far as a come-home bottles you likely already understand to slowly exhale on ascent. After witnessing more than a few diving-related emergency incidents, expanding bolus of air usually overcomes desire to hold breath before injury occurs. BUT! It's imperative to understand the concept; not all respiratory systems are made or trained equal.

[H2Oman]

I have nothing more to add

[headmount]

We have a 10k foot mountain we can drive up to the top of and jump out of the car and run around... and then pass out. At high altitude the O is mighty fine but  I think once I get worried about a long hold down in surf without a spare tank of anything, I'll hang up my spurs.

[sharksupper]

I've been held down many times in big conditions.  One particular day it was so close I kissed the sand with joyful tears when I got back to the beach and took a break from surfing for a month.  I was motivated to find a solution to the problem and looked up all kinds of emergency air products.  I never did buy any, instead I just don't go out in suicidal conditions anymore    The small hold downs on moderately bigger days remind me not to go out when it's stupid big.  For me, more than double over is stupid.  If I waste my life on one big day, I'll miss a whole life time of perfect head high days 

http://www.wegotair.com/
http://www.spareairxtreme.com/specs.html

[enden]

Did you watch the Gerry Lopez interview, he talked about being held under for a long time.

[PonoBill]

My longest hold down was not a huge wave, but I got pushed up against one of the underhanging lanes that give Lanes at Ho'okipa it's name. Felt like forever before I could push away and when I did another wave was shoving me down when all I wanted was to go up. Got a little panic-y and struggled for the surface but got back in control and rode it out. Good thing my leash didn't snag like it did on another occasion--that would have kicked me right into blind panic.

The biggest issue is not to waste your energy and air. If you can hold your breath for two minutes sitting on the couch you can hold it for 30 seconds under a wave--as long as you don't go bonkers.

I think a tank would make people feel safe in situations they really can't handle. I've thought about it, decided not to. Then again I also decided not to paddle in to Jaws. That was an easy decision.

[pdxmike]

I didn't know until now that small bottles of air/oxygen/whatever even existed.  I agree with everyone who sees them as a crutch that can do more harm than good--one more piece of equipment that can go wrong, or fail due to user error.  It reminds me of the SUP death in Seattle last week when the paddler failed to deploy his functional belt pfd. 

Plus, if word got out that these things are readily available, it would encourage some people to go out into conditions they might otherwise avoid, as happens with pfds.  Also, I'd hate to see in every article about someone dying in the surf, the sentence, "He was not wearing a backup air/oxygen supply device" similar to the line you now see about pfds every time someone drowns.  Pretty soon people would be pushing to require them.  Or maybe not--surfers seem to be left alone by the law if they're not carrying paddles.

I would much rather see people use canisters of helium.  It would make their recounting of their narrow escapes waaay more entertaining.

[outcast]

It might be hard to find the bottle
This guy kind of sums it up:

http://www.surfline.com/surflinetv/greatest-wipeouts/danilo-couto_57017

[ehrawn]

Pilots train to find a HEED in an emergency. Surfers could too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopter_emergency_egress_device