Northwest Dive Club

Ok so I dive dry and some reason when I dive I have to pee in which I always hold it, so my question is how many recreational divers use them? I feel like its taboo to have one and be a rec diver since your only forced to hold it for an hour or whatever

Put one in my last drysuit 8 years ago. Absolutely brilliant bit of kit. You can make a solid argument that they increase safety by allowing good hydration before the dive. The rare times I have had to use my backup suit I miss the option.
Older bladders and prostrates appreciate the benefit the most.

Don't have one, don't need one. But then again, I'm just 46 years old. Maybe when I reach a half century old, then I might need it. I'm always the kind of person that can hold pee. . I know, I know. Don't have bladder problems either.
I can do a first dive for over an hour, do my SI without using the bathroom, then dive again for another hour, change clothes, eat and drink beer afterwards, then only do I have a need to go to the bathroom. Okay, enough said. Too much information. The way I look at it right now, for me, it's just another thing to disinfect every now and then. Bottom line is, no personal need right now. My advise is, if you really have a need for it, cause you leak while diving, then go for it. You can have a hundred people giving you an advise on your thread, but ultimately, it's only you who can decide if you really need it.

Its not just you it happens too. It is a real medical condition.

http://www.globalbioweather.com/weather ... resis.html

More Scuba related, 4th post down, http://www.scubadiving.com/training/bas ... ls/ask-dan

Adult Depends...

I'm a camel, so not me...

Majority of all dives I use one, I feel its important to stay hydrated. Whats the best way to disinfect ? I have been using 50/50 water and alcohol, although I worry about damaging the seal.

Use one all the time, rec and tech dives. Some <1 hr, some much more. They are especially useful in winter on the boat or at sites without toilet facilities. Drink up.

I use mine nearly every dive. I'm pretty prone to immersion diuresis and if I'm appropriately hydrated diving without my plumbing is very uncomfortable.

Plenty has been written about appropriate grooming and sanitation in other threads. You'll regret not shaving enough or letting yourself get a UTI. There is a truly epic thread at TDS with way more than you ever wanted to know as well as more recent threadshere.

Alcohol won't hurt the valves, and it's not a terribly good disinfectant, so I wouldn't dilute it with water. But following an alcohol rinse with a vinegar rinse is not a bad idea at all, because the Pseudomonas bacteria that have been involved in some of the p-valve UTI cases are not very sensitive to alcohol, but don't tolerate acidic pHs well at all.

I use a p-valve for most multi-dive days, and any time I'm contemplating a dive significantly longer than an hour. I don't bother for most single-dive outings.

Dehydration is a key element in contributing factors to pre-dsispose you to potential DCS issues..

so, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate..

putting in and using a p-valve is super easy and convenient..

Here is a great article on the DUI web site about P-Valves: http://www.dui-online.com/tech_p_valves.htm

K

I recently had one installed for much of the reasons that the Capn' stated. Also I drink a lot of water (hear its good for ya) so I would find on 1+ hour dives I was rushing to get my gear off so I could sprint the the bathroom. Therefore I started to drink less before diving, and that's not good. Seemed the cotton mouth was happening more often and I decided that removing water from my diet is not good, so I needed a solution.
Well once you get the whole catheder thing figured out, and that first couple times using it and wondering if it stayed on, and if you are, in fact, pissing yourself...ha ha they are AWESOME.

Also wide bands for the win!!!

I am getting ready to put one in my suit as well. Anybody want to make a recommendation on a brand/type. I have heard really good things about the Halcyon.

Cheers

OxyCheq.

D

coulterboy wrote:Don't have one, don't need one. But then again, I'm just 46 years old. Maybe when I reach a half century old, then I might need it. I'm always the kind of person that can hold pee. . I know, I know. Don't have bladder problems either.

Nobody's getting P-valves because they're having accidents. They get p-valves because holding it is quite a distraction. You can't tell me it's not a distraction because you've not tried a P-valve yet. You can't know until you've tried it both ways. I didn't think I needed one either but friends goaded me into it. Once I started using it I was shocked at how much of my attention it freed up. Attention is your most vital resource as a diver and the more of it you can free up the more you'll enjoy diving. Now that I've tried it, I rarely dive without plumbing.

Ben

airsix wrote:

coulterboy wrote:Don't have one, don't need one. But then again, I'm just 46 years old. Maybe when I reach a half century old, then I might need it. I'm always the kind of person that can hold pee. . I know, I know. Don't have bladder problems either.

Nobody's getting P-valves because they're having accidents. They get p-valves because holding it is quite a distraction. You can't tell me it's not a distraction because you've not tried a P-valve yet. You can't know until you've tried it both ways. I didn't think I needed one either but friends goaded me into it. Once I started using it I was shocked at how much of my attention it freed up. Attention is your most vital resource as a diver and the more of it you can free up the more you'll enjoy diving. Now that I've tried it, I rarely dive without plumbing.

Ben

Not only that, but I'm never cutting short a dive. 45min dives can much more easily go to 75min dives. You can easily add 25% to your weekend bottom time for a $1.75 catheter. Its alot of work (and time and expense) to go to some even recreational dive sites. And there's frequently no facilties and/or you have to suit up an hour+ before the dive because its pouring and you're on a boat. Stripping down and losing heat via wet undergarments just so you can pee is silly.

It all sounds good, but I can't use them. I tried everything, but the damn things pop off no matter what. (yeah, yeah, go ahead, I don't care.) I just learned to drink a lot of water before a big dive, and stop about an hour before I splash. Plus, you don't dehydrate as fast on a ccr. I wouldn't say I have a huge bladder or anything like that, and getting out of my suit to pee is usually pretty high on my list when I get out, but its not a huge issue for me, either.

Not a huge issue... heh heh... Oh the possibilities....

Joshua Smith wrote:Plus, you don't dehydrate as fast on a ccr.

You also tend to stay a bit warmer on a ccr, cutting down the amount of peripheral vasoconstriction that often makes us need to pee so badly when diving these cold waters.

Joshua Smith wrote:It all sounds good, but I can't use them. I tried everything, but the damn things pop off no matter what.

You can make a properly sized Rochester wide-band applied to an appropriately prepped site "pop off"?

what is this I don't even

airsix wrote:

Joshua Smith wrote:It all sounds good, but I can't use them. I tried everything, but the damn things pop off no matter what.

You can make a properly sized Rochester wide-band applied to an appropriately prepped site "pop off"?

what is this I don't even

Yep. I sure can. Over and over again. I even tried supplemental duct tape. After 40 or 50 straight failures, I lost interest.

Joshua Smith wrote:

airsix wrote:

Joshua Smith wrote:It all sounds good, but I can't use them. I tried everything, but the damn things pop off no matter what.

You can make a properly sized Rochester wide-band applied to an appropriately prepped site "pop off"?

what is this I don't even

Yep. I sure can. Over and over again. I even tried supplemental duct tape. After 40 or 50 straight failures, I lost interest.

Thats insane! Getting the catheders off can be a time consuming process, and it IS a process. The single small band catheder I got with the valve was a joke, and lets just say that I thought there was going to be a lot of work to figure out how to make these work right, cause that DID NOT work right. Didnt have an accident, but only due to avoiding it.

Once I was introduced to the wide band.....WOW!!


just throwing that out there

CaptnJack wrote:

airsix wrote:

coulterboy wrote:Don't have one, don't need one. But then again, I'm just 46 years old. Maybe when I reach a half century old, then I might need it. I'm always the kind of person that can hold pee. . I know, I know. Don't have bladder problems either.

Nobody's getting P-valves because they're having accidents. They get p-valves because holding it is quite a distraction. You can't tell me it's not a distraction because you've not tried a P-valve yet. You can't know until you've tried it both ways. I didn't think I needed one either but friends goaded me into it. Once I started using it I was shocked at how much of my attention it freed up. Attention is your most vital resource as a diver and the more of it you can free up the more you'll enjoy diving. Now that I've tried it, I rarely dive without plumbing.

Ben

Not only that, but I'm never cutting short a dive. 45min dives can much more easily go to 75min dives. You can easily add 25% to your weekend bottom time for a $1.75 catheter. Its alot of work (and time and expense) to go to some even recreational dive sites. And there's frequently no facilties and/or you have to suit up an hour+ before the dive because its pouring and you're on a boat. Stripping down and losing heat via wet undergarments just so you can pee is silly.

I will cross that bridge when I do have the need and desire for that piece. As for now, I am enjoying my dive and never had I shortened the dive because of the need to pee. I'm glad it works for you guys, but everything works great for me as it is. Let's not focus on what I do, don't do, or what I have or don't have. You guys have what you have and it works great for you. I don't have what you have, and it also works great for me. Like I said, no need for it yet. If you have it, have at it.
Enjoy it.

Norris wrote: Thats insane! Getting the catheders off can be a time consuming process, and it IS a process. The single small band catheder I got with the valve was a joke, and lets just say that I thought there was going to be a lot of work to figure out how to make these work right, cause that DID NOT work right. Didnt have an accident, but only due to avoiding it.

Once I was introduced to the wide band.....WOW!!


just throwing that out there

No kidding try using them for a week straight in the tropics and they stick more and more every day...

Cap'n, so the hot weather makes it worse?? Now that I think about it, I guess it would. My hot weather diving was in Jamaica and the Virgin Islands so it was surfshorts, and rash shirt temperatures so lets just say there are two types of people, people who pee in their shorts and....well you get the idea...ha ha


Also I forgot my point in that post... Josh man, even the wide bands popped off? I mean..hmm how do you say...this thing couldnt "POP" off under ANY circumstances I do not think. However the one that CAME with it, that I almost had an accident with, popped off. Hence the wide band plug...whew...ok all better now.

Norris wrote:Cap'n, so the hot weather makes it worse?? Now that I think about it, I guess it would. My hot weather diving was in Jamaica and the Virgin Islands so it was surfshorts, and rash shirt temperatures so lets just say there are two types of people, people who pee in their shorts and....well you get the idea...ha ha


Also I forgot my point in that post... Josh man, even the wide bands popped off? I mean..hmm how do you say...this thing couldnt "POP" off under ANY circumstances I do not think. However the one that CAME with it, that I almost had an accident with, popped off. Hence the wide band plug...whew...ok all better now.

I am not sure. I use them in FL and MX. Air temps in the 70s and 80s, water temp is 68F and 76F respectively. I think the glue tends to stay behind the warmer it is. So the next one gets a bit more glue and so on. Can be removed with a solvent but around here I am not diving continuously to need it.