O2 Reg Recomendation for Flyers/Divers

For those out there that are also divers, I've reached the point where I need to have an O2 emergency kit handy for diving. I can't see having two separate systems for flying and diving, so I'm looking for a good recommendation on an 8-25L flow regulator that would work for both purposes. The DAN kits are nice, but have a premium $$ so I figured I can put a kit together for a little less.

Jim

o2

What exactly are you using O2 for while diving? A rebreather?

With his reference to the DAN kits, in diving this is used for an emergency O2 supply as first aid on the surface if needed, not actually used during the dive.

Just looked up DAN kits. Cheapest would be to use a standard medical O2 cylinder such as an E with a medical regulator. You can get these relatively inexpensive on ebay. You would also need a collection of masks including the standard non rebreather, one with a reservoir and maybe a positive pressure device such as an ambu type bag. Again should be able to get on ebay. This type of regulator would not be approved for aviation however with dry oxygen and carful use could be made to work with a small risk.
Usual disclaimers.

If you are going to be using this for diving, you will need a separate O2 cleaned regulator dedicated to just O2 use.

Don't use it below 20'

walkman said:

If you are going to be using this for diving, you will need a separate O2 cleaned regulator dedicated to just O2 use.

Don't use it below 20'

Click to expand...

Different O2 system. The o2 kit referred to for diving would be for emergency purposes (Decompression sickness treatment) on the surface.

Although I have considered using my 40 ft3 deco pony bottle for aviation use, having a reg in the mouth while flying may not work so well.

I'd be interested in the system the OP eventually decides on.

jcaplins said:

Different O2 system. The o2 kit referred to for diving would be for emergency purposes (Decompression sickness treatment) on the surface.

Although I have considered using my 40 ft3 deco pony bottle for aviation use, having a reg in the mouth while flying may not work so well.

I'd be interested in the system the OP eventually decides on.

Click to expand...

Ah missed that.

I've flown with a reg in the mouth before. I'm sidemounting tech/cave so I've got a 6' hose and can stash the bottle pretty much anywhere in the airplane. Its a bit of a pain though, and you go through the Oz pretty quickly.

Emergency O2

As assumed, this is for emergency use. I DM classes and do some dive leading and really need to have an emergency bottle handy. Masks are pretty cheap, and bottles are pretty standard, so it's the reg that's the question.

8-25L is way too big for flying, unless you are going above 18,000ft. Regulators are only about $30, so I would get one for each use. I have a Drive mini 0-8 for my plane. I wish I had gotten a pediatric 0-4 (It gives finer adjustment at the lower end of the scale). At 12,000 feet I usually set it at 0.75 to 1L for two people. - I am using Oxymizers.

For emergency use you need the larger volume because you will be using a face mask with 100% oxygen. Flying you just supplement enough oxygen to keep your pulse Ox in a safe range.

Thanks, that makes sense, I thought the airborne delivery rate would have been higher. Separate regulators may be the best option.

Jim P said:

For those out there that are also divers, I've reached the point where I need to have an O2 emergency kit handy for diving. I can't see having two separate systems for flying and diving, so I'm looking for a good recommendation on an 8-25L flow regulator that would work for both purposes. The DAN kits are nice, but have a premium $$ so I figured I can put a kit together for a little less.

Jim

Click to expand...

For aviation:
The flows for aviation use are more like 0.5, 1 and 2 lpm continuous flow.. make sure that the regulator goes that low. If the regulator body has a 50 PSI out you can put a low flow regulator on there if the integral flowmeter doesn't select that low or in fine enough increments. A slightly more gas-conserving solution is to get a pulsed delivery regulator that senses your breathing and gives a burst on inspiration. You get the supplementation without waste. On average you breath in/out at a 1:2 ratio: there are other confounding variables, but you will waste SOME of the continuous flow.

For emergencies:
Keep in mind a typical D cylinder with 340 liters capacity at 15 LPM flow will last a very short time.. 22 minutes. Flowing at 6 lpm it will give you an hour.

So keeping your hypothetical emergency in mind on the dive boat, and guestimating how long til help gets there or you get to shore based help, and how long the tank would last.. do you want to get wrapped up into high flow, knowing it will exhaust the tank before you finish, or select a moderate flow that will still help, but allow supplementation for the entire event. Keep in mind your dive buddy is going to spend 5-6 hours in a chamber if you have a suspected DCS event. You wont fix them with 15 minutes of high flow. Normal human breathes 4-6 liters per minute tidal volume at rest.

Of course, this being my first post, I dont want to accuse a perfect stranger of being normal

My rig, when I was helping build a velocity, was going to be a fiberglass wrapped 4500 psi SCBA firefighters bottle (enough volume to support one man with all air volume for 1 hour), and put an oxygen regulator on it. It was super light, and would last hours and hours at aviation flows, so it would never have to be filled "away". I would have filled it to 2200 PSI (huge safety margin on the life limit) and at that pressure it would hold just under 1300 liters of oxy with a tank weight of 13 lbs. At 1 lpm thats... a long time.. Space considerations are a bit different in a Velocity than most RV's so... YMMV.

Now.. the disclaimer... the roll your own I envisioned is not a simple plug and play. There are issues with fittings, cylinder life limits, avoidance of hydrocarbon contamination and whatnot... Most vendors will look sideways at something like that and rightfully so, which is why I would have transfilled it myself with leased tanks from a gas supplier.

Welcome to VAF!

Dave, welcome to VAF