Testing air

[phillip1]

I know I posted this question somewhere else but I cannot remember were, anyway. If you were to dive a cave and after a while pop up into a dry cave how would you test the air to know if it is good.
My current solution is to have one guy breath the air while another is close at hand to shove the reg back etc.. but what about if you are solo? and at what point is it deemed safe air to breath and be able to get out of the water and check out the dry cave?

thanks

[a64pilot]

The only "safe air" in a cave is what you brought with you.
If for whatever reason it's a life or death thing, then testing is irrelevant. In the military I was taught if there was no other way to test for a chemical environment, you took the protective gear away from the least important person and watched< but what's your option assuming you have to have the air to survive anyway?

[OFG-1]

Phillip, its easy.

Before the dive, put a cat into a waterproof container, such as a pressure cooker or something. Take the cat with you until you reach the air chamber (hopefully its not too far or the cat will expire or you will have to install a O2 injection system and scrubber in the pressure cooker.). Let the cat loose in the air chamber and have it wander around for a while. You may have to tie a reel to the cat to make sure it does not wander off too far. If the cat falls over, then don't breathe the air.

[Tegg]

Phillip, its easy.

Before the dive, put a cat into a waterproof container, such as a pressure cooker or something. Take the cat with you until you reach the air chamber (hopefully its not too far or the cat will expire or you will have to install a O2 injection system and scrubber in the pressure cooker.). Let the cat loose in the air chamber and have it wander around for a while. You may have to tie a reel to the cat to make sure it does not wander off too far. If the cat falls over, then don't breathe the air.

A canary would be easier to transport and deal with....

[MichaelAngelo]

A canary would be easier to transport and deal with....

but not as tasty.

[MichaelAngelo]

Phillip, its easy.

Before the dive, put a cat into a waterproof container, such as a pressure cooker or something. Take the cat with you until you reach the air chamber (hopefully its not too far or the cat will expire or you will have to install a O2 injection system and scrubber in the pressure cooker.). Let the cat loose in the air chamber and have it wander around for a while. You may have to tie a reel to the cat to make sure it does not wander off too far. If the cat falls over, then don't breathe the air.

but then you eat the cat

[phillip1]

Phillip, its easy.

Before the dive, put a cat into a waterproof container, such as a pressure cooker or something. Take the cat with you until you reach the air chamber (hopefully its not too far or the cat will expire or you will have to install a O2 injection system and scrubber in the pressure cooker.). Let the cat loose in the air chamber and have it wander around for a while. You may have to tie a reel to the cat to make sure it does not wander off too far. If the cat falls over, then don't breathe the air.

what about a mouse a cat is a bit big, or a kitten

[Sludge]

But you don't want to risk the life of a canary - they serve other useful purposes in society.

[hunabku]

Good luck getting a cat in the pressure cooker without a struggle. They are too smart to put up with that crap.

I'd recommend a small dog, or a puppy.

Dry cavers often carry a bic lighter as a simple check to see if there is enough oxygen to sustain the flame.

Sounds like a good question for a sump diver, or to post on NSS cave chat.

[floridakid]

Dry cavers often carry a bic lighter as a simple check to see if there is enough oxygen to sustain the flame.

It actually requires less oxygen to maintain a flame than what it requires to keep a person conscious. The exact percentage of oxygen required to sustain a flame is actually dependent on several factors. This number is somewhere in the neighborhood of 16% for your typical "Class A" combustibles (a BIC lighter runs off "Class B" combustibles). A flame can actually be sustained in even lower percentages of O2 in certain cases, most notably in the presence of other oxidizers or in cases where the fuel being burned contains some type of oxygenated compound (like ethanol). A bic lighter would be useful only for it's specificity and not it's sensitivity. In other words, if the flame won't burn, it is not safe to breath. If the flame will burn, it might have enough O2 to sustain life, or it might not.