Posted by mike on March 08, 2001 at 22:00:46:
In Reply to: Definition of Breath Holding... posted by mattschechter on March 08, 2001 at 18:17:17:
i grew up asthmatic and allergic to darn near everything that wasn't in the ocean. I have found that upon exposure to cold water (such as removing a mask underwater, i seem to reflexively close up!) If i were to skip breath, which on the record i don't (off the record, i do all sorts of rotten things) (sorry RaiderKarl...gotta lie ;), and my mask came off while i was holding my breath with a closed epiglottis, and Mr Murphy showed up, that could lead to some nasty things. I belong to a gym with a cold dip (55 deg F) and four days a week, i get in that cold dip for no other reason than to learn control of certian reflexes that may be harmful in cold water! When i free-dive, and i get starved for O2, and get that burning sensation on the way back up, i will close the epiglottis, but thats a whole different game than scuba. IMHO, purposefully not exhaling for more than the "normal" (whatever the heck "normal" is) time period could be construed as "breath-holding" or skip-breathing, but others may disagree.. heck, we could have a whole new series of flame wars over that!