General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Re: modern escape gear mk9
Posted by:
paul
()
Date: February 11, 2008 03:41AM
Hi Ken,
Thanks for the great explanation of the dynamics of making a survivable deep ascent escape from a submarine. At an early age I had what could have otherwise been a catastrophic regulator failure at depth. Luckily, I had made a rather rapid descent, and at about 30 meters I lost a high pressure line. I shot to the surface, and was extremely worried that I might have been subject to the bends. This was in the late 70s, and in those days, before affordable dive computers, the rule of thumb was to ascend no faster than your smallest air bubbles. The divemaster assured me that I would be fine, but quickly rigged me up with another tank and regulator and sent me over for a few decompression stops, which were more to cure my anxiety than to prevent the onset of the bends.
The time between achieving an ambient pressure equilibrium of a bottomes sub at 600 feet, the escape and ascent to the surface is certainly critical to survival. Would some sort of mixed gas, of a breathing tank attached to the escape suit with enriched oxygen, and say, helium, reduce the risk of nitrogen narcosis, or the bends?
Regards,
Paul
Thanks for the great explanation of the dynamics of making a survivable deep ascent escape from a submarine. At an early age I had what could have otherwise been a catastrophic regulator failure at depth. Luckily, I had made a rather rapid descent, and at about 30 meters I lost a high pressure line. I shot to the surface, and was extremely worried that I might have been subject to the bends. This was in the late 70s, and in those days, before affordable dive computers, the rule of thumb was to ascend no faster than your smallest air bubbles. The divemaster assured me that I would be fine, but quickly rigged me up with another tank and regulator and sent me over for a few decompression stops, which were more to cure my anxiety than to prevent the onset of the bends.
The time between achieving an ambient pressure equilibrium of a bottomes sub at 600 feet, the escape and ascent to the surface is certainly critical to survival. Would some sort of mixed gas, of a breathing tank attached to the escape suit with enriched oxygen, and say, helium, reduce the risk of nitrogen narcosis, or the bends?
Regards,
Paul
