color_me_gone
Sun is rising
- Dec 27, 2018
- 970
Well, at least when this method was using helium, you were able to accomplish this because helium is considerably lighter than air.
You'd fill the empty bag with helium, then pull the bag down over your head (still keeping the bag as vertical as possible).
Think of an open jar, filled with air, in a tank of water, with the mouth of the jar facing straight down.
As long as you keep the jar perfectly vertical, the air stays in the jar and the water stays out.
With nitrogen, things get a lot more messy.
Since air is already comprised of 78% nitrogen, the difference in densities between pure nitrogen and air are very small.
This allows air to easily commingle with the pure nitrogen.
Another way to say it is: it is much more difficult to maintain a distinct separation between the two gasses.
So what you are saying is absolutely correct, performing this process is NOT going to leave 100% pure nitrogen in the bag.
However,
My understanding of the theory of the inert gas / exit bag method, is to start the process with as much air (oxygen) purged from both the bag and your lungs, as possible.
This helps you become unconscious much more quickly.
The residual oxygen in the bag and in your lungs has to get used up before your blood oxygen level will start to drop.
Then your blood oxygen level has to drop to a certain level, before you lose consciousness.
And I SUSPECT that this level is not the same from one person to the next.
Just like Sodium Nitrite, the experience seems to vary from one person to the next.
So the bus comes quickly for some, and seems to never come for others.
But I don't think starting the exit bag without 100% pure nitrogen in the bag, is a game killer.
The game killer is more likely having to do with a person's body characteristics.
