June 2011    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 26, No. 6   What's this?

How to Breathe from a BCD

from the June, 2011 issue of Undercurrent  

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Some time ago, Undercurrent presented tips for emergency breathing from your BCD. This seems like a good time to repeat them:

To gain confidence in your ability to act in an emergency, practice this and all other BCD breathing skills with your gear in shallow, calm water. Be sure to disinfect your BCD first.

Clear your mouthpiece. Tom Phillipp, Aqua Lung's product manager for BCDs, points out that many oral inflators have holes behind the deflator button to prevent water from being blown back into the bag while purging, so the best method is to first blow a little air in so the water runs out the holes. Then hold the deflator valve down as you continue blowing. Your exhaled breath will now go into the BCD, and the holes will be sealed so no water can re-enter....