Which gas is better for exit bags: nitrogen or helium?

[Jason0941]

Does one gas cause a loss of consciousness faster than the other? Are there any variables that make one gas better than the other?

 

[EmptyBottle]

Both gases act similarly to prevent oxygen from being absorbed while not interfering with getting rid of CO2, maybe price and availability are the only variables I'd think of.

 

[Alreadylate]

I know argon is not working for many people... I ended up buying argon cause the regulators that show flow in liters are for that kind of gas... But the day I was receiving the bottle I read some posts of people who tried it and didn't work

 

[quietwoods]

Helium is ideal. Nitrogen is heavier than helium and argon is heavier than both.

As stated above, many people have failed with argon.

They all have the same capacity to cause death by hypoxia, but argon is so heavy it tends to drop below air, making the exit bag method ineffective even with a higher than 15L min flow rate.

I haven't seen much on trying it with a mask though.

Helium > Nitrogen > Argon

 

[Alreadylate]

Helium is ideal. Nitrogen is heavier than helium and argon is heavier than both.

As stated above, many people have failed with argon.

They all have the same capacity to cause death by hypoxia, but argon is so heavy it tends to drop below air, making the exit bag method ineffective even with a higher than 15L min flow rate.

I haven't seen much on trying it with a mask though.

Helium > Nitrogen > Argon

do you think using helium instead of nitrogen makes a big difference?

 

[quietwoods]

do you think using helium instead of nitrogen makes a big difference?

People have had a lot of success with nitrogen. Not an expert in stuff like this so wouldn't be able to give a definitive answer.

Helium is just the easiest to work with because it is the lightest.