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Thread: Scuba tank and tail?!

  1. #21
    Senior Member Pod of Cali spottedcatfish's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Drowning View Post
    Here are two good possibilities:

    Spare Air

    Attachment 4479

    This is used as a small emergency bottle to get an out of air scuba diver to the surface. In a pool, it would last long enough to fulfill some Merfantasies. NB: You must be scuba certified to even purchase one of these, let alone get it filled (which could be done from a scuba tank).
    Well I'm not certified (yet!) but I was curious too as to where you would get one of these little bottles from. Here are two sites that sell them:

    http://www.h2odyssey.com/dive/pages/...es/airsyst.htm

    http://www.spareair.com/product/models.html

  2. #22
    You can get them at many dive shops, or a good online retailer like www.leisurepro.com or www.diversdirect.com

    Just be sure to get ceritified first!

    Quote Originally Posted by spottedcatfish View Post
    Well I'm not certified (yet!) but I was curious too as to where you would get one of these little bottles from. Here are two sites that sell them:

    http://www.h2odyssey.com/dive/pages/...es/airsyst.htm

    http://www.spareair.com/product/models.html
    [I][B]What happens underwater, stays underwater...[/B][/I]

  3. #23
    Taking on some new work, which will bring lots more money for scuba gear (and one of those sexy shell weight belts!) for me and Florida merfolk who would like to try breathing underwater!

    Long hours means it might be hard to find a time for a while , but it will happen...
    [I][B]What happens underwater, stays underwater...[/B][/I]

  4. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Lyna View Post
    I think it would be the most epic feeling in the world to don my tail and go swim around underwater without having to surface...for lengths at a time just exploring. Has anyone else done this?
    Lots of people have, Lyna. The Otter Bay mermaid wetsuit has been very popular, and I have talked with some who have done it. They say it's incredible, and you can actually swim faster than ordinary scuba divers. This might be one reason for me to do scuba diving again Have to think about it.

    Otter Bay Wetsuits has a page on how to dive as a mermaid. They also say you should be an experienced diver before doing it. http://www.otterbaysuits.com/howtodive.htm

    Here's a video of someone scuba diving as a mermaid


  5. #25
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod MerAnthony's Avatar
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    I would love to do this but to get ceritified it cost way to much for me. I guess I will have to wait.

  6. #26
    I'm in the same boat as MerAnthony. I'd love to be certified someday though...
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  7. #27
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod Mermaid Melanie's Avatar
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    As a PADI instructor I would advise anyone to get certified before even contemplating this as there are specific safety points you must know about such as mixing freediving with scuba is not recommended ... you cant just shoot to the surface when you feel like it. in a pool sure its maybe not so deep but you can still get diving injuries in very shallow water. As for the movement thing.... with scuba you are supposed to go slowly, not exert yourself... if you go fast and especially using dolphin kick you are using a lot of your muscles and energy. Doing this can make you short of breath, and also makes you use your air faster. I have thought of doing a dive in my tail - but conditions would have to be favourable - no current, no surface waves, good visibility, shallow bay area and of course for something like this if you don't do it from a dive boat - make sure and have at least a rescue diver with you who should know what to do in the event of an emergency and have a first aid kit at hand.
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  8. #28
    Name:  Capture.PNG
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Size:  458.3 KB It's fun! i played around with it. got some cool pics taken of me that day. you can't do it in open water, but for the pool i took off my BC and held it with my arm, and took the regulator out while blowing bubbles.I got to stay down longer and get some fun shots of a scuba mermaid.i also let go of the whole unit and swam around it and did flips down there then returned to the regulator for a few breaths.Don't you dare try that in open water.I'll write a whole thread about playing with scuba as a mermaid.I learned a lot and asked questions to a bunch of dive masters.
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  9. #29
    Senior Member Pod of Cali
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    Pretty cool. Where did you do it?

  10. #30
    ok, i am a certified diver and i would only do this with a buddy in under thirty feet of water with a spare air (the little bottle thing), would this still be a bad idea in a tail? i wouldn't be swimming in water with a current, or have the possibility of anything grabbing my tail. completely clear water, bottom is at thirty, and i would have a buddy. comments?
    Hugs, fishes, and mermaid kisses!

  11. #31
    Senior Member Pod of Cali angelstarfish's Avatar
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    im interested, but I live near San Diego, CA...

  12. #32
    would be a kool thing to do for a photo shoot

  13. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by green52 View Post
    Pretty cool. Where did you do it?
    a community pool in Tucson. 15ft deep.
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  14. #34
    Quote Originally Posted by Gem Stone View Post
    ok, i am a certified diver and i would only do this with a buddy in under thirty feet of water with a spare air (the little bottle thing), would this still be a bad idea in a tail? i wouldn't be swimming in water with a current, or have the possibility of anything grabbing my tail. completely clear water, bottom is at thirty, and i would have a buddy. comments?
    i would say thats not a good idea.I don't know alot about the spair air but i believe it works just like your regulator does.The deeper you go, the more air your lungs are taken in to compensate for the pressure. so if your'e 30ft and you breathe with only that you run out of air so you are holding your breath now, you are now at risk for many common injuries that you learned when getting certified. your buddy diver like melanie said needs to have taken the rescue diver course.if your'e not wearing a mask, communicating with your buddy and finding the other regulator will be difficult. you could panic like i did at one point and when you panic, you shoot for the surface.Its extremely dangerous.don't do it.Free diving is better.
    Last edited by Odette; 08-26-2013 at 12:42 PM.
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  15. #35
    you can do it wearing all your gear, the bc, mask, tank, everything. The only difference is instead of fins, you use your tail. I did this last year in the FL Keys, the tour company didn't even say anything to me. The people I went with kind of laughed, but no one made a big deal of it. They followed me underwater because they said it was cool to watch me. I swim better with the monofin (in my tail) than with two fins anyways. I did have a problem on one of my dives though, the air bubbles from both myself and my partner (who at one time was below me) were getting caught in my tail and causing a "balloon like" reaction, my tail was filling up with air and i couldn't get myself to sink...so be careful. luckily i was only 25 ft or so so it wasn't as dangerous as say a 60 ft dive, but it was bad. i was shooting to the top. my partner was searching for me and had no idea i was right above him floating quickly to the surface...so be CAREFUL. wear a belt, keep your waist from getting any air in it...

  16. #36

  17. #37
    Vent your tail with a small hole/s to let any trapped air out! Your tail problem is similar to what can happen to a drysuit when air gets into the legs. There's usually no vent there, and the diver can go up feet first. One drysuit manufacturer also mounts leg vents to dump the air if the bubble goes to the legs. I've been thru a uncontrolled ascent due to a leaky drysuit inflator. 99 ft to 10 ft in less than a minute! That's even scarrier when you're on the edge of deco.


    I wish this "spare air" crap would stop! Listen to the instructors/old divers on this forum!!!!

  18. #38
    Senior Member Pod of Texas Seatan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gem Stone View Post
    ok, i am a certified diver and i would only do this with a buddy in under thirty feet of water with a spare air (the little bottle thing), would this still be a bad idea in a tail? i wouldn't be swimming in water with a current, or have the possibility of anything grabbing my tail. completely clear water, bottom is at thirty, and i would have a buddy. comments?
    The biggest change in pressure is between the surface and 33 feet (or 10 m). The air in your lungs is compressed 50% during the descent to 33 feet. So you have HALF as much air available to you in your tank as when you are on the surface. Go down another 33 ft (to 20m) and you have 1/3 a tank... Not nearly as big a pressure change! So the biggest pressure change is 33 ft/10 m. Being in "only" 30 feet of water is actually a misnomer as it affects the air in your tank (and lungs!) the most. This means that you MUST ascend slowly letting out air (as my dive instructor said "don't outswim your bubbles") or the rapidly expanding air in your lungs can cause them to rupture. You won't be able to swim around, flipping and surfacing like a mer due to this. Freedivers start with a breath of air on the surface which compresses as they go down and expands back to normal size as they go up, so it isn't an issue for them. Also, depending on how long you are down, if you stay down too long and ascend too quickly then you could get decompression sickness from the nitrogen built up in your body, a serious medical condition.

    Also, don't forget that your buddy is not just there for you--YOU are there for your buddy. If THEY are the ones who run out of air or have an issue, you have to be the one to offer your secondary regulator and swim with them to the surface, holding on to them at arm's length. It is critical times like this that ANY effect of having a tail versus having two legs has will be most obvious. Can you guarantee that you will be as capable of free movement and mobility in a tail as you would with two legs? If the answer is yes and you are also a very advanced diver, then maybe you could try it. But if the answer causes any hesitation, then it is not fair to your BUDDY for you to dive in a tail.

    If you do want to use a SCUBA in your tail, I would suggest doing so in a pool no more than fifteen feet deep and with a buddy. Even at fifteen feet you will need to regularly equalize your ears and make sure your movements are slow and steady so that you keep breathing evenly off your regulator. If you plan to stay underwater even in a pool and not come up, don't forgo calculating your dive length on the dive chart, because diving in a pool is STILL diving and if you stay down too long, you can have the exact same problems as if you dove deep in the ocean (nitrogen buildup!). The only difference is that the amount of time you can stay down at, say, 30 feet is much, much longer than if you went down to 100 feet. But time can fly, especially when playing mermaid! Also don't forget to check your air, not only because running out of air is VERY disturbing, but also because it is bad for the tank.

    Overall, I'd say diving with a mermaid tail is best left to people who have earned a master's level scuba certification from PADI or a similar organization. Once you are at that level, you understand ALL the risks, you know what to do to prevent them, you will know how to help your buddy despite your tail, and you will know whether it is a risk you really want to take. Diving can be very safe or very dangerous, and as fun as it would be to scuba as a mermaid, I don't think it would be worth the risk.

    One alternative would be to shallow water SCUBA dive with a monofin instead of dual fins. That way if your buddy has an issue then you can kick your monofin off if need be and help them to the surface. Since it's shallow water, having no fins shouldn't hinder you much as long as you stay close to your buddy. I myself do the dolphin kick instead of scissor kick when scuba diving, but I do it with my dual fins. It's not much different.

    Okay, that was long winded and sounded like a lecture from an old person, but I didn't mean it like that. I just know how even moderately experienced divers can panic during bad situations and I think having a tail on would make it very unsafe for diver AND buddy.
    Last edited by Seatan; 09-23-2013 at 05:16 PM. Reason: can't spell
    Once upon a time I was known as Seavanna. Going by Seatan these days. I always wanted to be the high lord of underwater hell.

  19. #39
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    Right on - 63 cft tanks are perfect for mermaid scuba diving. Although, here is a link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jiFYmxmk10
    showing two mermaids scuba diving with what looks like 80 cft tanks and it is very elegant, not to say sexy :-)

  20. #40
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    Visit johnleeex's Youtube Channel
    I came across this thread now (2020), and your vision of Scuba diving with a tail is very doable. See a long (1 hour) video of two mermaids diving with Scuba gear, going very deep, in fact. They are wearing Otterbay suits. Did you ever start Scuba diving after moving to LA, as you mentioned in this 2012 post?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jiFYmxmk10

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