h a l f b a k e r yAmbivalent? Are you sure?
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I'm sure there's others, but the two sports
that I can think of that deal with a lot of
whitewater are rafting and surfing. I've
surfed for years and have had many
experiences where I didn't know where up
was becuase I was floating or sinking in a
soup of bubbles.
Keeping a SCUBA gear
would be wieldy
and take the experience out of anything.
My idea is for a wearable suit that can
store only a couple breathfuls of air.
Inflatable bladders would be sewn into a
wetsuit evenly around the upper body
area. It would also serve as a flotation
device. For rafting though, it would be
primarily a flotation device, from which
you can attach hoses to and breath in and
out of. It is important to breath from and
also, if you have strength, breath into the
flotation device, or you might breathe
away all your bouyancy!
For surfing, where you normally submurge
yourself to go underneath waves, a less
bouyant version is needed. Maybe 3
breaths, and then that's it. It should be
more than enough.
The breathing tube would be fitted with a
one way valve, so you're not drinking a
little bit of water, or sea water before you
take a breath. You can then have the
option of breathing out into an external
bag, saving that air for bouyant purposes,
or rebreathing if needed.
Whitewater
http://en.wikipedia...tewater_controversy
[normzone, Mar 30 2010]
Air Supply
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Supply
[normzone, Mar 30 2010]
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[twitch], when I read your title, I immediately thought of a device that could separate the water from the air (//floating or sinking in a soup of bubbles//), and then allow you to breath the air part. |
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You've not mentioned one important fact about white water: with all that entrained air, it's less dense than clear water, so you need a lot of extra buoyancy to float in it. |
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Another thing: rebreathing exhaled air (as in your final sentence) is a pretty desperate measure. There's still plenty of oxygen in it, but the carbon dioxide level is so high that your haemoglobin can't exchange its CO2 for oxygen. You also feel as though you're choking because your breathing reflex is controlled by the CO2 concentration in your lungs. You are actually suffocating, of course. Now if you can remove the CO2 somehow, you can rebreath the same air several times usefully. Some calcium hydroxide in the bag, perhaps? |
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My original idea for this was for an
apparatus that could separate air from
water within white water, but upon further
contemplation, I got frustrated. So this is
My version 1 of sorts. |
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I'm sure that ought to be possible - and very useful if so. |
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I thought this was an idea for a waterproof mp3 player that plays only soft rock bands. |
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My first thoughts on an air/water separator:
Needs a drop out chamber.
Water at bottom of drop out chamber is blown out when breathing out.
Some kind of interface to keep water and air apart.
Rotating gymbal gadget to keep air offtake at the top.
Air balancer to make sure there is at least one lungful of air in the system, in case the white water doesn't contain enough air. |
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That's a complicated system, but maybe do-able. |
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//Keeping a SCUBA gear would be wieldy // Most SCUBA gear I know of is anything but wieldy. Did you mean "unwieldy"? |
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I had trouble thinking about keeping
things upright, but with your gymbal
[ling], it is possible. I was thinking about
it being in a helmet and vest together,
using the helmet to separate air and water,
and using the vest to store air. I think
about it, it might be backwards. If you
want the air to travel up, it would be best
to collect the air at the bottom of the vest,
but then is there enough white-water?
many things to think about. |
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An easy way to try this out would be to connect a snorkle mouthpiece via a flexhose to a floatation bag in a kayak. Being able to take a couple of breaths while upside down would make a big difference when learning to roll. |
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BTY, the breathing reflex triggered by CO2 is largely suppressed with enough adrenaline -- a condition easy to achieve when underwater in a rapid! |
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I've read of kayak skirts fitted with tubes and snorkel mouthpieces. You're breathing air you've been sitting in, but it's better than nothing. |
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I'd get a 2-liter soda-pop bottle and pressurize it with a bike pump, then graft that into a Camelbak water carrier. |
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[baconbrain] "You're breating air you've been sitting in, but it's better than nothing." Indeed it is. It's better than air you've already breathed, too - even if you've been farting. |
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[baconbrain], if you're going to pressurize
something that comes from home, get
something that's meant to be pressurized,
like a pump-poison-sprayer, before any
poison goes into it of course. |
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I like somebodies snorkel idea. I think i'm
going to put that into another idea
somewhere.... hmm. but what? |
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Can you reverse a stillsuit to produce air instead of water? Just to keep the spice flowing, of course. |
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Oh. And I was so curious as to how a political scandal and a soft rock band could fit together (links). |
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I carry small SCUBA devices with me when I freedive, some are marketed under the trade name Spare Air. |
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I have a military surplus unit that's about the size of a beer bottle, and it contains about 6 - 8 good breaths at approximately 65 feet underwater - it would give you more at a shallower depth. |
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Built into a suit would be sweet. But if you get any kind of depth at all, you're going to need pressurized air or you won't be able to expand your lungs. |
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It wouldn't be hard to build it with a check valve such that
you breath in from one partition, and out into another.
Locate them in a single chamber so the inflated volume stays
roughly constant. |
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The real problem would be that you're either doing the
entire rapids in a breath mask, or you're never going to get
this in as you're to busy trying not to hit rocks even if you're
operating above an instinctual level at all. |
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I'm lying alone with my head in the foam
Trying to breathe til it hurts
I know you hurt too but what else can we do
When our raft has been dashed apart
I wish I could carry some oxygen tanks
For times when my life feels so low
It would make me believe, in the waves I could
breathe
When we're pulled way down below, way down
below... |
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I 'm all out of air, I'm dizzy without it
I know you were quite not breathing for so
long
I 'm all out of air, I need some more O2
I can't be too late to finish this silly song... |
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If you only want a couple of breaths, you could use a tiny air canister, like the CO2 cartridges you get for paintball and airsoft pistols. Actually, there's nothing sci-fi about the ones they used in Star Wars (ok maybe they lasted too long). |
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