The freediver's safety vest--IT'S ABOUT TIME!

[smilinmatt]

Can anyone tell me if there are any statistics available on the likelyhood of a SWB victim regaining conciousness on their own once brought to the surface?

For example, if someone is diving solo (or their buddy is occupied or out of reach) while wearing the FRV and experiences a SWB. The vest inflates and brings them to the surface face up, but no one is there to "wake them up".

Will the victim generally resume breathing and wake up on their own, or does recovery usually require intervention other than help to the surface?

Eventually a SWB victim will begin breathing even without assistance. Whether that's right after breaking the surface or during a terminal gasp is going to depend upon a bunch of variables. Even with the vest, you'd want a buddy to make sure your first breath isn't right into a breaking wave.

[Jloren9]

Good article on this in the latest HSD

[hogphish]

not true....some require intervention

[hogfish hunter]

whats a good speargun for a 14 year old

[hogphish]

you might get more response on another forum...but how about a Mako 90cm.

[earesponsible]

Looks like this thing is nearly $3000. Did I see that right? Not much use to most.

[phil herranen]

Originally Posted by earesponsible

Looks like this thing is nearly $3000. Did I see that right? Not much use to most.

how much was that boat in your avatar . the air bags in your car probably added 3k to 6k to the price of your car if you could have would you have opted out of them ? seatbelts ? its all perspective and what you value as important almost all of us can save up 3k in a year. for me seeing my wife and kids are worth a lot more than 3k
phil

[orcawealth]

ordered mine be here Friday. 4 kids= 3,000 being a fair price to pay for added safety. Plus in the gulf we often have viz between 10-15 feet how effective is a buddy in that environment?

[orcawealth]

Recieved my vest friday initial impression is good on the quality will post a lengthy review after I've been in the water. The build quality seems excellent however the warranty is a litle quirky. Will post my pro and cons after actual use.

[Newt]

Originally Posted by orcawealth

Recieved my vest friday initial impression is good on the quality will post a lengthy review after I've been in the water. The build quality seems excellent however the warranty is a litle quirky. Will post my pro and cons after actual use.

Looking forward to hearing about it. Wish I could afford one, but an extra 3k and going to UF don't exactly go hand in hand!!

[bk393]

http://spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=129556

[AlvinA]

I,m just getting into Freediving, but agree with orcawealth. Although I wish it were cheaper (and I,m sure the price will eventually fall) how do you put a price on saving a life.

[anthropisces]

Originally Posted by smilinmatt

Eventually a SWB victim will begin breathing even without assistance. Whether that's right after breaking the surface or during a terminal gasp is going to depend upon a bunch of variables. Even with the vest, you'd want a buddy to make sure your first breath isn't right into a breaking wave.

Excellent point similinmatt. We all want to support this technology and subsequent iterations. It is though a mechanical device, which can fail. There are no guarantees with it, a buddy or anything.

[orcawealth]

One of the reasons for the high cost on the vest is issue of possible vest failure. The vest has back ups so it has redundancy. In addition he spared no expense on any of the components. He has thin margins on this due to that. There may come a time when they come up with a cheaper vest but I prefer the quality.

[Bill McIntyre]

Originally Posted by orcawealth

One of the reasons for the high cost on the vest is issue of possible vest failure. The vest has back ups so it has redundancy. In addition he spared no expense on any of the components. He has thin margins on this due to that. There may come a time when they come up with a cheaper vest but I prefer the quality.

I agree. Once you have that vest in hand, you will see that it just looks like it has to be expensive. The wrist computer itself far exceeds the most expensive freedive computer watch. Everything important is redundant and the parts seem to be of space age quality.

Only you can decide if its worth the purchase price to you, but I seriously doubt that the price can ever come down. Don't die just because you are waiting for a discount.