Onomatopoeia
Student
- Feb 17, 2024
- 171
A poster, @ScubaCTB, previously linked a piece where one guy ctb using those rubber masks, so it obviously has worked.
Like I said in a previous post above, @befree recommended to leave the mouthpiece on the end of the regulator, whereas @GasMonkey and @Scrooge recommended to take it off(see posts above, posts #184-#186)
This was mentioned a couple of pages back on this thread. A couple of people advised to take out the rubber mouthpiece from the regulator, so that the regulator would respond to both nasal and mouth breathing from the inner mask when unconscious. @befree, who created this thread, recommended to leave the mouthpiece in.
A few weeks before they left this site, @befree seemed to be advising to only use the full-face SCUBA masks:
It's a shame all these users are no longer on the site. But glad you're still here as someone who's been following it all for a while.
I think I may go with what @GasMonkey and @Scrooge said - no mouthpiece. I read that full study you linked from @ScubaCTB. The guy in that study who died using the SCUBA method not only had the exact same mask I'm looking to purchase, but also the study actually say the following:
"Use of the full-face diving mask, fixed in the occipital region of the head by three rubber straps (spider), thus providing continual inhalation of the pure nitrogen even after loss of consciousness of the victim (no mouthpiece on the diving regulator used)."
So he removed the mouthpiece and, according to the study, the autopsy found 94.7% nitrogen in his lung, more than enough for a peaceful death.
The study also says this:
"The breath regulator (open-circuit type) used allowed inhalation of nitrogen without addition of open air, and the full-face diving mask assured aspiration of the gas even during the time of unconsciousness."
I had to look up what open-circuit means. Apparently it means the regulator I have and it looks similar to the one the guy used in that study. So that's a relief. I also just looked at my regulator again. There's a switch above the mouthpiece that you can set it to "pre-dive" or "dive." I watched this video on YouTube. It says to "set it to dive for better airflow."
It looks like the process to remove the mouthpiece is fairly simple, as demonstrated in this video. I also found that sometimes the mouthpiece dislodges underwater, which can cause a panic. But it looks like professional divers have a backup regulator already in place when this happens. They also say that "While you can use a regulator without a mouthpiece it isn't nearly as comfortable." But for our purposes, I don't think comfort is all that important.
This is so much work and kind of stressful to make sure everything is right. But I think the evidence favors no mouthpiece, and apparently no nose plug, when using the rubber masks.