Freedivers safety vest in development

[trux]

Do a search for the Long Beach Neptune's Meeting from two months ago.

Hmm, I searched DB for any post regarding "Neptune" or "Long Beach" and "vest" but did not find anything relevant. Or are you speaking about some external website? Can you post a link?

I tried inflating my lifejacket at 20m/60feet once, and the pressure prevented it from inflating. Talk about false security : )

My "life line" also got stuck under a rock once ascending.

I have stopped using any forms of "life savers" since then.

Are you speaking about this specific security vest? Did you have the chance to test a prototype? Or was it something else? As far as I know the vest was succesfully tested at depths below 20m, so find your claim little bit strange.

 

[Bill McIntyre]

I found it strange too. Nothing he mentioned had any relationship to this vest under development.

I hope that he didn't stop wearing his seat belts too.

 

[Seacidal]

I believe that Seal was referring to a lifejacket product already on the market.
However, the observation regarding the inadequacy of standard, single use, CO2 cylinders as an inflation source is telling. The Freediver Recovery Vest currently under development incorporates a reusable compressed air cylinder that can be easily refilled with a standard scuba tank. The compressed air cylinder capacity is selected by determining the amount of lift required to bring an unconscious diver to the surface from considerable depth.

More information and progress reports can be found at The Freedivers Safety Vest; A device to protect those who suffer freediver blackout (shallow water blackout) by bringing them to the surface

Thank you for your interest and support,
Chip Bissell
Advisory Board member

 

[Seal]

Hmm, I searched DB for any post regarding "Neptune" or "Long Beach" and "vest" but did not find anything relevant. Or are you speaking about some external website? Can you post a link?


Are you speaking about this specific security vest? Did you have the chance to test a prototype? Or was it something else? As far as I know the vest was succesfully tested at depths below 20m, so find your claim little bit strange.

I was talking about a standart boating lifevest.....jeees luise relax.

And just because I have a deathwish, doesn't mean im not wearing a seatbelt. I don't like paying fines. Im just pointing out how I would not trust anything other than my own judgement to keep me alive. That's all.

 

[adolphin]

More information and progress reports can be found at The Freedivers Safety Vest; A device to protect those who suffer freediver blackout (shallow water blackout) by bringing them to the surface
Advisory Board member

Chip .. I bet it felt great to go faster !! .. the improvement of hydrodynamics and therefore speed although adding extra bulck to the body size always made a lot of sense to me .. I believe in alternative medicine .. .. long ago, I was inspired by the body of a Dolphin, although it would need a lot of added size to fill the spaces around a human body to transform it into the shape of a dolphin, and the difficulty of finding a neutrally bouant material for the filling regardless of the depth you are at ! and although it might work only for stronger legs and trunk muscles, and larger monofins and lots of training to get used to it ( very very wierd idea ha?) .. still, I have the feeling that it would be a revolution in the world of free diving, and hey ! that would give room for other revolutionery parts of the gear such as the breathing system (snorkel) and the manouvering system for example .. .. and yes it can be adopted to SCUBA diving as well where SCUBA equipments will be hidden under the dolphin like body so the SCUBA divers will be sexy rather than clumsy ..

But back to the reality of today, when are we getting the FRV ?! .. come on come on come ooon ! .. rofl

 

[Bill McIntyre]

Im just pointing out how I would not trust anything other than my own judgement to keep me alive. That's all.

When I flew jet fighters, I did my best to exercise good judgment, but I always strapped into my ejection seat just in case my judgement or equipment failed me.

 

[Seacidal]

Good point Bill. I imagine that most of the divers who have succumbed to blackout felt that they were using good judgment.

The problem is that once you blackout, self-help is no longer an option. If your judgment wasn't as good as you thought it was, it's too late.

From interviews of fortunate divers who have blacked out and been recovered and revived by other nearby (and watchful) divers, they all report thinking that things were okay, and that they were fine, until they weren't, and then they couldn't do anything about it. And that's what makes blackout so frighteningly dangerous.

 

[Bill]

'From interviews of fortunate divers who have blacked out and been recovered and revived by other nearby (and watchful) divers, they all report thinking that things were okay, and that they were fine, until they weren't, and then they couldn't do anything about it. And that's what makes blackout so frighteningly dangerous.'

Not that it makes it any less frightening but when you black out, even for a split second, you lose the last 8 seconds of whatever the brain uses for dynamic ram plus the length of the blackout. If you realize that you had a samba, tunnel vision or 'saw stars'. You probably didn't b/o, just very close. If you deny an obvious samba or have a memory lapse followed by feeling fine, it was probably a b/o but the diver can't tell what happened.

Next time you see Anacapa tell her I miss her. We dived her waters over 500 days, starting back in '69.

Aloha

 

[Seacidal]

Bill,

I'll pass along your sentiments the next time I'm out at the islands.

I don't deny that some divers may experience what you describe in connection with a blackout, near-blackout, samba, etc. Yet there are some survivors of complete and total blackout who are able to recall their "last" dive, right up to the "lights out" moment, and even recall thoughts and experiences from during the blackout period and through their recovery.

Such individuals are extremely fortunate, not only for their fortuitous rescue and ultimate survival, but for the insight and appreciation they gained of exactly how unforeseeable and insidious blackout can truly be.

My wish is that we may all gain that appreciation without having to endure that degree of risk or pass that close to death's door. Hopefully, in doing so, we can greatly reduce the number of occurrences of blackout and the unnecessary and tragic fatalities that so often result.

Chip Bissell

 

[trux]

With the recent passing away of Dimitris Vassilakis, and other freedivers earlier this year whose unnecessary deaths were reported here and on other freediving forums I watch, I asked myself if at least one of them could not have been saved if he wore the vest.

Chip, how is it going with the development and the certification? May we hope to see the product anytime soon on the market?

 

[adolphin]

trux, what is hapening is so sad
and ofcourse, the vest is an important step into freediving safety, I hope it gets out soon, the same question here Chip.

 

[azapa]

me too, I would like to be using one of those jackets

 

[Fondueset]

Wish I had some venture capital. Niche Market but I'd bet its a solid investment.

 

[Seacidal]

Terry Maas and I gave a presentation on the freediver recovery vest back in June at the Blue Wild Expo in Florida. Without going into all the detail and repeating all the Q & A that took place, I'll try to provide a brief update.
Testing and refinement of the various components is ongoing, as their reliability and durability are essential. This type of testing is rigorous and time consuming.
The "wearability", for lack of a better term, of the vest is being tweaked and tuned to be both unobtrusive to the diver and effective at providing desired surface flotation.
Additional hydrodynamic testing is in progress, to ensure the product is as streamlined as possible. To date, such testing has shown the product may actually reduce a diver's hydrodynamic drag.
Thanks for all of your ongoing interest, and I know that all members of the team appreciate the support of the diving community.
Chip
The Freedivers Safety Vest; A device to protect those who suffer freediver blackout (shallow water blackout) by bringing them to the surface

 

[Fondueset]

If you need one tested out in really cold conditions I'll be in the water all winter.

 

[trux]

Each time I hear about a freediver death (just like in the recent thread about Will Hedlund), I ask myself if the life could not have been saved if he used the freediving safety vest.

Chip / Terry, how is it going with the vest? Can we expect seeing the product available any soon?

PS: R.I.P. Will!

 

[IanF]

For a newbie spearo - this thread makes very interesting reading.

Crossing over from twenty years of skydiving, I can see some striking similarities between this and a computerized automatic deployment device now in current usage. The functions are reversed, the intent the same.

Falling too fast due to being knocked unconscious or losing altitude awareness - at a set height, your canopy deploys.

A major breakthrough in size and efficiency over previous AADs, the 'Cypres' cost a LOT of money. The cool and groovy high profilers started to use them - soon every newbie budgeted an extra couple thousand dollars to equip their rig with this device.

Lives started to be saved, reports of occasional early activations - but on the whole, more good things than bad.

Soon parachuting clubs started to insist on these items being used - or you could no longer jump on their dropzone. The national body in the UK insisted that they were used for anyone considering display jumping.

Regular servicing of the unit was mandatory to ensure warranted performance - and this could only be provided by licensed centres, at a cost. Out of the service period and the dropzone operator would not allow you to jump.

So, here we are today. A patented niche product for a niche market - guaranteed income stream for the manufacturer from the servicing requirement. Almost 100% takeup due to pressure from national body or jump site. The company has made a lot of money.

The similarities are clear - what is not the same is that in spearing it is still the individual who decides where and when he/she wishes to hunt. With no regulated environment restricting hunting without such a device, I fancy take-up may be be limited.

I think it is a great idea and will certainly be looking at purchase when they hit the shelves.

Rgds Ian

 

[azapa]

random question Ian: what does the device cost? and what does it cost as a % of the whole "skydivers KIT"?

I ask because unbelievably, as you probably know "free" divers kit can cost between 500 to 1000 US$ if you use carbon fins. I personally would spen 1000 more on this device.

 

[IanF]

random question Ian: what does the device cost? and what does it cost as a % of the whole "skydivers KIT"?

I ask because unbelievably, as you probably know "free" divers kit can cost between 500 to 1000 US$ if you use carbon fins. I personally would spen 1000 more on this device.

Azapa

By comparison, the 'free' diver spends nothing on his sport!

Now bear in mind I am seven years out of date with prices - but would consider the percentages remain similar.

Parachutes (main+reserve) & Harness $5,400....+ ... AAD $1400!

Then add in carbon fibre helmet & jump suit appropriate to your discipline, altimeter,goggles, gloves.

I'm guessing the AAD runs to about 20% of the cost of the total kit.

Each jump in the UK @ $36 - for a little less than one minute in freefall.

You don't even get to eat fish afterwards!!

Rgds Ian

 

[azapa]

BUMP on the vest. Still waiting for it out here. How is the development going?

http://www.oceanicss.com/