my packing confession

[Lil Dragonfly]

I'm addicted to packing

I know everyone tells me its bad, but...I can't help it!

I've been doing it since I was a kid, so its how I'm used to doing things. I guess it's a comforting thing more than anything else. Much easier to ignore the urge to breathe when I am well-stuffed.

Plus, I have an extra excuse to do it now. My lungs are slightly paralyzed, so its hard to get a deep breath without it. Someone told me to get a powerlung to reverse the paralysis, but I'm always broke.

If I injure my lungs by packing, is the damage temporary or permanent? Does no pain mean I'm in the clear, or will microscopic damage be going on anyway?

Not sure what to do :/

 

[Fondueset]

An interesting thing might be to find out WHY they are partially paralyzed. Is it your spine? A complication of packing?

 

[Lil Dragonfly]

It's because 6 years ago I tried to kill myself by overdosing on Benadryls.

 

[Fondueset]

Okay

Thing one: Don't do that anymore!

Thing two: There are some great practices in Yoga which really help with lungs - if you can find a good teacher. Or you can just take Will Trubridge's master class in the Bahamas - he co-teaches it with one of the best Yogis I've ever met - Simon Borg-Olivier.

I don't generally use packing - but I think in moderation it is probably not such a bad thing. Simon believes there are references to it in some of the ancient texts on Pranayama.

I understand the feeling of comfort you are talking about - but please be careful

 

[blueface]

What are the dangers of packing? I mean besides the obvious lung over expansion.

 

[vali]

i overpack miself when i go down....the urge to breath is diminished, but is very important to exhale some air when surfacing [the body will tell u when....a disconfort will appear near surface]
our instructor said to us that it is not good to overpacking....i guess he know better....

 

[sgnips]

What are the dangers of packing? I mean besides the obvious lung over expansion.

that is the main and more actual risk
as lungs don't have pain receptors, you won't feel anything but breast compression when packing too much

you should learn how much to pack and make a lot of training to improve your thoracic elasticity

now i want to bore you all a little bit, so here are my thoughts:
in the last months i could make few 5'50 STA packing (not much: about 1lt extra), then asked myself if i could do the same performance without packing
and the answer is: no, because i could do even more, i passed over 6' no pack, just relaxing and relaxing and relaxing again

the thing is: maybe (please note: MAYBE) great athletes actually need packing to reach those depths, distances, or sta times, but we "normal people" actually and definitely DON'T :martial

apart from this, i understand we are all intrigued in exploring what's behind our actual personal bests sensations and i do not condemn packing as long as it helps making the first steps behind our limits (if you think it might help, of course)
after that, if you gather those great athletes with your performances, throw away what i said before and follow your own path

 

[sgnips]

i overpack miself when i go down....the urge to breath is diminished, but is very important to exhale some air when surfacing [the body will tell u when....a disconfort will appear near surface]
our instructor said to us that it is not good to overpacking....i guess he know better....

exhaling before surfacing exposes you to BO risks
i rarely pack for deep dives, but when i did i never felt that discomfort, nor felt the need to exhale
instead, i can always suck air from my mask during the whole ascent

 

[vali]

i don't exhale all the air....just a bit and i don-t feel the discomfort allways....
normally i do not overpacking....just for some CWT PB...
it is possible this discomfort is something personal due to the fact that i have some type of hernya wich make a part of my stomaq being above the diaphragm....
so as my fellow lil dragonfly, i also need overpacking even just for not beeing capable to inhale at 100% of my loungs....

 

[miguel-van]

All of us should learn to really breath in deeply... before even thinking of packing. As sgnips told, there are lots of good excersises to improve thoracic elasticity. You can find some of them in Federico Mana's book "breathing techniques for freediving". Wich I think is a really good read!

 

[sgnips]

All of us should learn to really breath in deeply... before even thinking of packing. As sgnips told, there are lots of good excersises to improve thoracic elasticity. You can find some of them in Federico Mana's book "breathing techniques for freediving". Wich I think is a really good read!

i agree, i'm reading it overa again and practising!!

 

[fcallagy]

+1 on Federicos book which has not really made it into db land so far.

On the course it was interesting to see two points of view from very experianced people.
Umberto " I don't pack because I find it makes me uncomfortable"
and Federico "I stretch and stretch and stretch to improve my thoracic elasticity so when i pack I don't find it uncomfortable"

I am paraphrasing the above but you get the idea. Both are right.

 

[blueface]

I have tried some light packing (I'm afraid of tearing something and then I'd have to quit diving) and I feel like it feels like it squeezes my heart and the pressure is not very relaxing. I realize this goes away right after descent but I'm unsure about when to exhale. I know that if I didn't exhale the right way I could get an over expansion. I don't know if the benefits outweigh the risks.

 

[Kars]

Hi Lil Dragonfly,

I agree with the statements mad above. I too think that with exercises such as pranayama you can reinforce your breathing muscles, and improve your breathing technique tremendously.

I too use a bit of 'packing technique', but I have to moderate because like Blueface I find that it will pressure my main arteries and heart limiting circulation. Which had me have 2 packing BO's.

Like Sgnips said, I think relaxation wins easily over having a bit more air. When I did my last Frog Flow dive, lasting over 5', I did not pack. Teaching to relax yourself, staying in the flow will get you there. And on top of that, would you prefer to have a 4' minute dive that felt easy and great for the whole time or a 4'30" dive with more discomfort and struggle?

I'll say use your condition excuse to go to the Will Truebridge's Course on the Bahama's, maybe you can have some tax return marking this trip as medical treatment cost? (Have your doctor write a description.

Read and Try the Pranayama thing at home, have a daily practice of say 15 minutes and note your progression. Oh and according to Eric Fattah it will increase your lung volume significantly too! - Even to above the volume you now can reach by packing...

I think I'm going to do it as well.

Love, Courage and Water,

Kars

 

[sgnips]

I think I'm going to do it as well.

forcing your doctor to write you a description for a bahams trip, you mean?
i'd like it also, but my wife won't believe it anyway... :blackeye

 

[fcallagy]

Hi Lil Dragonfly,
I'll say use your condition excuse to go to the Will Truebridge's Course on the Bahama's, maybe you can have some tax return marking this trip as medical treatment cost? (Have your doctor write a description.


Love, Courage and Water,

Kars

Possibly the best piece of advice written on db. Now wheres my doctors number?

 

[azapa]

the day I see a seal or whale packing, i'll give it a try too!

only joking. I have enough buoyancy problems as it is without packing, and I find it very hard to pack too. I hate it.

There is far much more gain to be had through relaxation, good hydrodynamics and a nice style, that the only benefit I can see may be easier deep (past RV) equalization. But that too can be learned and improved without packing.

To sum up, packing seems like a little bit of a false shortcut, to me at my level at least.

 

[Fondueset]

I've never used packing when diving - I do like to do a little to get my lungs all happy before though.

I wrote Umberto and suggested he do the next AA english language instructor course at Dean's Blue Hole - save me about $3000 on air fare Probably he has other students though...

If you haven't seen it - here's my review of the Master Class - minus all the cool captions I had under the pictures.

 

[sgnips]

the only benefit I can see may be easier deep (past RV) equalization.

...and that is not necessarily true: you need to know how to equalize past RV or packing won't help you that much

 

[sgnips]

I wrote Umberto and suggested he do the next AA english language instructor course at Dean's Blue Hole - save me about $3000 on air fare Probably he has other students though...

...i don't think he can do that: there would be too many staff candidates fighting for that (me included, of course...)