Air Hoses for long performances - where can I buy them?

[Mermaid Grace Official]

Hello everyone!

I am a professional mermaid living and working in England - I'm interested in investing in some air hoses for long performances - any ideas on where I can buy some? So far google has not come up with anything - perhaps there's a technical name for them that I'm unaware of?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thank You!

Grace

[Echidna]

I'm not sure it's possible to simply buy them, as there is a whole technology behind them to make it safe.
Your best bet might be to contact Weeki Wachi and ask about it.

[Theobromine]

They're called hookah rigs. You can buy them but they aren't cheap (not that any dive gear is cheap). Hookah rigs generally come with the same type of regulator you would see on a normal scuba kit. I believe that the air hoses used for performances at Weeki Wachee and various aquariums just use a modified version of it that's less obvious to the viewers. You don't have to be scuba certified to go hookah diving, but I would honestly recommend it because there are still safety issues you need to be aware of. If you're not scuba certified, at LEAST familiarize yourself with the risks of breathing compressed air underwater. Terms you should research and be aware include air embolism, decompression sickness, decompression injury, and neutral buoyancy, for starters. Here's an article from a few years ago that highlights the risks of diving without any training: http://www.tbo.com/outdoors/diving-risks-rise-with-hookah-rigs-85759

I'm not trying to scare you or discourage you from looking into getting a hookah rig, just want to point out that safety standards and procedures should be followed in ANY type of diving situation. There is always the potential for an emergency to occur, and while you want to minimize the risks of that happening in the first place, you will also need to know how to deal with an emergency situation if one does arise.

As for where you can buy them, just Google them, many online dive suppliers carry the equipment.

[AniaR]

You should not do this without professional training. It isnt the kind of thing you just pick up and do. Aquariums and weeki have a lot of training before mers even get to use them. Barbara one of the early weeki mers told us horror stories at merfest. You can seriously harm yourself.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

[AniaR]

.... Honestly this concerns me a lot. It is only going to take one inexperienced mer harming themselves and our whole world will crash on us. Other mers have loads of training and insurance. Please dont just try this. It isnt even just about you, it is the whole community
Most aquariums that did allow this are stopping it because of the high risk

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

[Theobromine]

I agree, honestly. There may not be any REQUIRED training or certification for using a hookah rig on your own, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea. Any time you're breathing compressed air underwater you put yourself at risk of an expansion injury and it's incredibly important to understand what those are and how to prevent them. It should also be noted that aquariums that have volunteer divers in their tanks require all divers to be experienced, certified divers, usually with a Rescue Diver certification at LEAST, even just to use a hookah rig for cleaning the glass. And if they didn't, I'd question their safety standards.

[Echidna]

Yep, let's not shine a light on the fact just how many things can go wrong when diving, even just freediving.
Right now, the Thomases are just going on about "your legs are together in a tail, you cannot swim"-kind of deal.
If they actually knew a shred about diving, the tail is the least dangerous thing :p
Hypoxia, barotrauma, lung-squeeze, etcetc.

I doubt the moms who buy their kids mertails know anything about this.
And I bet most "mermaid schools" which offer courses don't either.

[Theobromine]

Here is a good overview of lung overexpansion injuries and how to avoid them: http://www.justgottadive.com/dive_resources/technical_articles/beyond-basics-avoiding-lung-overexpansion-injuries#.VfijqJeQ-UE Just to give you an idea...you DON'T want your lungs rupturing or collapsing, or air pockets forming in your blood vessels or under your skin. These are serious and potentially fatal conditions, and all are fairly easy to achieve if you don't know what you're doing. Scuba certification courses cover all of these types of injuries, but they apply just as well to diving with a hookah rig, as you are breathing compressed air in both cases. Also, don't be fooled into thinking that you can avoid these risks by only staying in shallow water, because overexpansion injuries can happen even at shallow depths. There's a significant pressure change just in the first 10 meters; dive 10 meters (33 feet) down and you've just added one whole atmosphere of pressure to your body. If you then surface from this depth with compressed air in your lungs, that air will expand...and if you're holding your breath, that air has nowhere to go. That's why the #1 rule of any type of non-apnea diving is NEVER HOLD YOUR BREATH. In addition to lung overexpansion injuries, another major risk of breathing compressed air at depth and then surfacing quickly is decompression sickness, or the bends. This happens because when the air in your lungs is under pressure, nitrogen (the major component of air) dissolves into your blood more quickly. When you ascend from your dive at the proper rate, the added nitrogen has time to dissipate from your blood (you breathe it out again), but if you surface too quickly, then the nitrogen is suddenly no longer under pressure and will quickly bubble out of solution as it becomes a gas again. This leads to nitrogen bubbles in your bloodstream which is VERY dangerous. There are various degrees of decompression sickness, some less severe than others, but it is still a potentially fatal condition.

There are a million ways to die in the deep.

I also agree with Raina that even one incident of a mer getting injured through improper use of such equipment would be really bad for the community. Look at all the issues we've been facing with tail bans in pools, and no one's ever even drowned in a tail before. Breathing compressed air without proper training and safety procedures is a seriously risky game to play. That being said, if you're really interested in using air hoses for underwater performances, DO take a scuba certification course. You will learn pretty much everything you need to know about using compressed air underwater, avoiding injuries, and how to identify signs and symptoms of injures if they occur. Plus...it's fun. But get some experience under your belt before trying anything out on your own :)

[AniaR]

Its my understanding you cant even buy the air for it without scuba certification

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Grace Official]

Hi guys! Thank you all for your advice and concerns...

I was NEVER going to go into this without training, I feel my name and avatar may have mislead you. I have now been mermaiding for quite some time and I am actually getting my freediving qualification in just over a weeks time (I have a weeks specialist training in Gozo - I'm very excited!)

There is a scuba diving school 20 minutes from me, and I promise you I was never planning on using the equipment without the proper training! I was simply enquiring as it was something I was considering investing in, in the future!

So...how do I go about changing my username? It doesn't really describe me anymore :lol:

Grace Xx

[Mermaid Grace Official]

Hi AniaR

I hope that you have read my latest reply to this thread :)
I didn't mean to concern you - I promise I would never use anything without the proper training first.

All The Best,

Grace

[Theobromine]

Grace, that's really good to know and I hope you didn't feel that any of us were ganging up on you! We just take safety really seriously around here :)

[Keiris]

Hi Grace! Iona usually handles the one-time name changes on the forum. Btw, you have a gorgeous smile underwater! :D

[Merman Chatfish]

I am looking for something similar. Don't need to go deep, only 8 ft at the most, and I am SCUBA certified.

[MelodyAnn1205]

I am looking for something similar. Don't need to go deep, only 8 ft at the most, and I am SCUBA certified.

Hi Merman Chatfish - I am a business partner and Manager of SCULS,LLC and we have an air sipping source. You can take a look at it on EBAY. It has all of the information. The item does not come with Scuba Certification so I'm glad to see that you are certified. Nor does it come with the first stage or air source. Please note that it is different than using a regulator. But again, all of the information and pictures are indicated on our EBAY listing. Please feel free to ask any questions. Thanks so much http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=111788473702&alt=web

[Merman Chatfish]

Hi Merman Chatfish - I am a business partner and Manager of SCULS,LLC and we have an air sipping source. You can take a look at it on EBAY. It has all of the information. The item does not come with Scuba Certification so I'm glad to see that you are certified. Nor does it come with the first stage or air source. Please note that it is different than using a regulator. But again, all of the information and pictures are indicated on our EBAY listing. Please feel free to ask any questions. Thanks so much http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=111788473702&alt=web

Thanks. Any cheep air supply solution?

[MelodyAnn1205]

Thanks. Any cheep air supply solution?

I know that some customers as well as myself use a regular scuba tank filled with air. The hose, when outfitted with a first stage connects to the tank. The tank can just sink to the bottom especially if you aren't performing that deep. You said 8 feet right? (the SASS hose is 25 feet) or some will connect the tank to a banana float and the tank stays above. So you have options.

Take care,
Melody

[anami]

I wonder if you couldnt just run a tube to a float and use it like a long snorkle? Regular air...not compressed.

[AniaR]

there have been articles in dive magazines about the dangers of doing that too.

[anami]

From very deep or even in shallows? I thought either depth or air compression created the danger, but I am not scuba trained and I dont know. (Disclaimer!)

Sent from my C6730 using Tapatalk