Re: [Paddlewise] Dry Suit Neck Gasket

From: Dave Kruger <dkruger_at_pacifier.com>
Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 02:24:11 -0800
Matt Broze wrote:

> Has anyone ever died from being strangled by a dry suit they tried on and
> couldn't get it off before they passed out? Seems like a possibility to me.
> How about just making bad decisions because the brain wasn't getting enough
> blood?

I make bad decisions all the time ... no need to deprive my brain of blood to
get that to happen!

Seriously:  Tuesday I paddled vigorously for four hours with an over-tight neck
gasket -- so tight it was difficult to swallow.  Even if it had been a lot
tighter I would still have been able to get air, by slipping a finger through
it near my Adam's apple.  And, blood flow occurs via the carotid arteries, more
protected than the airway.  I've been hypoxic enough (at altitude) to prompt
brain slowdown, so I know what that's like.  Not anywhere near that state with
my over-tight gasket.

Because the gasket has to fit over your head to reach the neck, plenty of
warning of an over-tight gasket.  Doubt anybody has ever strangled from that. 
[There have been times when my paddling partners have wanted to strangle me,
but that's a different story!]

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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Received on Thu Dec 28 2000 - 02:21:29 PST

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