Hendrik-- Some thoughts: it's really not necessary for people to worry about what type of gas the regulator is calibrated for. As long as it connects properly to the tank, a regulator is simply a mechanical device that will work with any type of gas. You only have to adjust the flow: e.g., if it's an oxygen/argon regulator and a person is using nitrogen, just go for 19 LPM instead of 15.
As you said, with newer brass fittings, yellow gasline PTFE tape is not really necessary.
You're using the word
pipe but the more proper word to use--at least in the U.S.--would be
tubing. Don't want to confuse anyone!
I can't say that I agree with a plastic shopping bag for the Exit Bag, though perhaps I am misunderstanding your terminology, again might just be language problem. The thickness in mils of the average, everyday, supermarket turkey roasting bag is more than adequate for the small amount and the relatively low pressure of the gas. If a person was really anxious about it, they could simply double the bag, but it's not necessary. There are many, many sizes available and within reason--it shouldn't be skin-tight or the size of a blimp--it really doesn't matter.
The most interesting part of your post, at least to me, is why you were not able to achieve your goal with this method. As you say, it was
not something inherently wrong with the materials, the way they were connected, or your procedure. You made a well-researched, well-prepared effort. When the proper materials are gathered and connected correctly, when the final procedures are followed
meticulously, this method is 100% reliable and effective.
So it comes down to what you're calling
survival instinct, and you're correct, but there are two types.
The first type includes things like hypercapnia (a physical reflex to the the build-up of carbon dioxide) that can include anything from wild, panicked physical actions to hiccups or yawning. The startle reflex, coughing, the mammalian diving reflex, jerking your hand away from a hot stove are all other examples.
These are deep-seated, instinctual, uncontrollable, evolutionary adaptations that are indelibly programmed in our brainstems.
The brain has no instinctive response to breathing inert gas; it just thinks you're breathing air, until you painlessly and quickly pass-out and die.
So what you experienced is the second type of survival instinct. It's psychological. But it's very powerful and very
real, perhaps just as powerful and real as any physically instinctual brainstem reflex. And just as difficult to control.
Some people call it the will to live; others self-preservation, fear of dying, a primitive force that clings to life. On and on. Religious folks have their take on it, social activists have their take, poets theirs, even politicians weigh in, unfortunately.
Let's just say that that taking one's own life, for most people, is a scary proposition!
And as with anything that scares us, we react.
You're going to have this same psychological/emotional survival instinct kick in no matter what method you choose. Standing at the edge of a high place or your finger on the trigger of a gun or your hand around a glass of SN--you'll have that moment of doubt and fear. When my time comes so will I. I wish I knew the answer, but I don't.
The Exit Bag & Inert Gas method involves about 10 to 15 seconds before unconsciousness. Death follows in a few minutes. What you're saying is that you need to find something that gives you less time to think, and perhaps you're right. But no matter what the method, you will have that moment...that moment at the brink.
