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How long can you hold your breath?
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l3v1ck
What's a life?
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 10:21 am Posts: 12700 Location: The Right Side of the Pennines (metaphorically & geographically)
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What's "the HUET"? EDIT Google is my friend. I've never heard it called that before. No, these days you get an Airpocket to breath from.  50 seconds is just me messing round in a swimming pool.
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:42 am |
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belchingmatt
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri May 15, 2009 3:16 am Posts: 6146 Location: Middle Earth
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Helicopter Underwater Escape Training.
_________________ Dive like a fish, drink like a fish!
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If one is diving so close to the limits that +/- 1% will make a difference then the error has already been made.
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:44 am |
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John_Vella
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:55 am Posts: 7935 Location: Manchester.
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So you'd actually stay awake for two whole days just to prove that you can hold your breath for that long? Tying the balloon to your finger doesn't count, by the way  :etc:
_________________John Vella BSc (Hons), PGCE - Still the official forum prankster and crude remarker  Sorry  I'll behave now. Promise 
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:04 am |
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okenobi
Spends far too much time on here
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:59 pm Posts: 4932 Location: Sestriere, Piemonte, Italia
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I can only do about 45-50 secs last time I tried. My lung capacity is crap.
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:20 am |
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JJW009
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:58 pm Posts: 8767 Location: behind the sofa
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45 seconds, which seems a bit rubbish. I don't know if poor lung capacity makes any real difference, since your blood holds far more than a single lungful of oxygen?
_________________jonbwfc's law: "In any forum thread someone will, no matter what the subject, mention Firefly." When you're feeling too silly for x404, youRwired.net
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:07 am |
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Fogmeister
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:35 pm Posts: 6580 Location: Getting there
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There is a technique used by free divers called purging.
You breathe in and out very hard and very quickly for about 10 seconds (basically hyperventilating) and then take a final big breath of air.
This will lower the CO2 levels in your blood as much as possible and also make you very light headed. This then allows you to increase the length of time you can hold your breath for.
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:11 am |
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JJW009
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:58 pm Posts: 8767 Location: behind the sofa
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That's very dangerous. It lowers the CO2, but does not significantly increase the O2 levels. Because your body reacts to the CO2 and not the O2, there is a very real risk that you'll pass out and drown when your O2 drops.
_________________jonbwfc's law: "In any forum thread someone will, no matter what the subject, mention Firefly." When you're feeling too silly for x404, youRwired.net
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:13 am |
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ProfessorF
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:56 pm Posts: 12030
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Just did a minute. Are we purely holding the breath, or are exhales permitted? Is it just the time between inhales that we're counting?
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:19 am |
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trigen_killer
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:37 pm Posts: 835 Location: North Wales UK
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I'll expand a little more on what I said earlier and if I'm wrong on this, I'm sure Cloaked Wolf will correct me (for "Correct" read "Flame") Typically, when a molecule of haemoglobin arrives back at the lungs following a trip around the body, it will have given up (at rest) only one of the four molecules of oxygen that it carries, so it only needs to pick up one more one each trip. So, and this is speculation, that molecule of haemoglobin (contained in red blood cells) could make four journeys through the body without picking up any more oxygen and life would be sustained. This takes some time and in my theory, you should be able to hold your breath for a good few minutes before all of this oxygen is used up. YES, C_W there are other factors involved that would (I'm sure) sway this theory a little, but this is breathing 101! The thing is, that as oxygen is being used up, CO2 levels rise and the body is FAR more sensitive to the rise in CO2 and increase in blood and fluid acidity. The normal, overwhelming urge to breath normally comes from the raised CO2 and reduced pH in blood and cerebro-spinal fluid. Lowered oxygen levels do not normally provide a strong stimulus and can actually lead to respiratory depression. So, if you had a lungful of pure oxygen when you inhaled, this, to me, should not make the blindest bit of difference as it would not affect the rate at which oxygen is used up and CO2 produced. You would still reach a point where the urge to breath is so strong you'd have to give up. NOTE. I am not an expert on breath holding, so I don't even pretend to be especially knowledgeable in that field. My information is based on what I do know through my job.
_________________My lowest spec operational system- AT desktop case, 200W AT PSU, Jetway TX98B Socket 7, Intel Pentium 75Mhz, 2x16MB EDO RAM, 270MB Quantum Maverick HDD, ATI Rage II+ graphics, Soundblaster 16 CT2230, MS-DOS/Win 3.11 My Flickr
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:21 am |
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Fogmeister
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:35 pm Posts: 6580 Location: Getting there
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Yup, I didn't do it, I get light headed when try to blow up balloons. It is something they do though.
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:21 am |
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trigen_killer
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:37 pm Posts: 835 Location: North Wales UK
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When I do breath-holding in the water, I exhale. It certainly feels like it helps, but I'm not sure how much. I always only carry out this test in the water so that I CANNOT inhale, but exhales I allow.
_________________My lowest spec operational system- AT desktop case, 200W AT PSU, Jetway TX98B Socket 7, Intel Pentium 75Mhz, 2x16MB EDO RAM, 270MB Quantum Maverick HDD, ATI Rage II+ graphics, Soundblaster 16 CT2230, MS-DOS/Win 3.11 My Flickr
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:22 am |
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trigen_killer
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:37 pm Posts: 835 Location: North Wales UK
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Lowering CO2 by hyperventilating is a neat trick. The danger stems from the fact that you lower the partial pressure of CO2 in the blood, but it is almost impossible in a healthy individual to increase the oxygen levels in the blood as haemoglobin is normally saturated with oxygen anyway.
When you dive, the pressure on your body artificially raises the partial pressure of oxygen in your lungs- almost as if there is more O2 inside than there really is. As you surface, the pressure on your body is released, the partial pressure of oxygen in your lungs drops and the reality of low oxygen levels hits you and you pass out.
It is known quite simply as shallow-water blackout. It should not affect me (or you) floating on the surface as I do at the pool, because I have not dived and have not therefore increased the pressure.
_________________My lowest spec operational system- AT desktop case, 200W AT PSU, Jetway TX98B Socket 7, Intel Pentium 75Mhz, 2x16MB EDO RAM, 270MB Quantum Maverick HDD, ATI Rage II+ graphics, Soundblaster 16 CT2230, MS-DOS/Win 3.11 My Flickr
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:26 am |
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belchingmatt
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri May 15, 2009 3:16 am Posts: 6146 Location: Middle Earth
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Especially if you are free diving as you can have plenty of ppO2 at 10m, but as you ascend this can drop below critical levels and cause you to lose conciousness whilst still beneath the surface. Oops, didn't read Trigen's post. 
_________________ Dive like a fish, drink like a fish!
><(((º>`•.¸¸.•´¯`•.¸><(((º> •.¸¸.•´¯`•.¸><(((º>`•.¸¸.•´¯`•.¸><(((º>
If one is diving so close to the limits that +/- 1% will make a difference then the error has already been made.
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:47 am |
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trigen_killer
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:37 pm Posts: 835 Location: North Wales UK
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_________________My lowest spec operational system- AT desktop case, 200W AT PSU, Jetway TX98B Socket 7, Intel Pentium 75Mhz, 2x16MB EDO RAM, 270MB Quantum Maverick HDD, ATI Rage II+ graphics, Soundblaster 16 CT2230, MS-DOS/Win 3.11 My Flickr
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 12:18 pm |
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okenobi
Spends far too much time on here
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:59 pm Posts: 4932 Location: Sestriere, Piemonte, Italia
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Hmmm.... maybe I'm just generally crap? 
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Mon Feb 08, 2010 12:26 pm |
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