Story Documenting my experience with inertgas(nitrogen)+exitbag(with non rebreather mask)

[unique_user]

im putting together my setup now. im thinking
1) 1.5cubicmeter nitrogen cylinder,
2) argon flow regulator(18 lpm * 1.2 correction = 21lpm approx),
3) oxygen non rebreather mask with 1way valves to vent co2 placed inside an exit bag. ill have to test so that the additional complexity wont cause problem

ive read multiple threads where people mentioned that when they were testing their setups their survival instinct kicked it and either they struggled or panicked or they instinctively freed themselves from the exitbag etc. however, i feel i have no such instinct. This is just a feeling i have ofcourse ill only know once i try. So im gonna test my setup once i get all components and i put it together. Ill be testing it aleast once. ill add a comment here how my test goes and if my instinct kicked in

ill do the test in my rental home but ultimately ill get in my car and travel to an area close to my parents house and ctb so that it will atleast not be a hassle for my parents post my ctb logistically. ill have to pick a place and time where ill have nobody around for atleast 1-2 hrs(this is the tough part)

 

[unique_user]

I put my setup together partially, see attached pic. I hooked up nitrogen cylinder to argon flow regulator and connected that to an oxygen mask and placed the mask inside a trash bag. I have not built a proper exit bag yet because i couldn't find any turkey bags so i used a trash bag. Later, ill try to find alternatives such as shoe bag or something

I tried initially with just the mask. The mask has a reservoir which i taped off so that the gas wont go into the reservoir but directly hits my nose. there are 2 simple one-way valves which only let air out but not in. The mask of course doesn't seal perfectly around the contact area so a little air goes out and comes in via the contact area gaps. I turned on the gas with 20lpa flow with just the mask without the bag. After 2:45 min i felt nothing and i started doubting the purity of the gas.

Next, i tried again by placing the mask inside the bag like shown in the pic. I placed the bag over my head and closed the plastic bag around my neck using my hand lightly so that as soon as i loose consciousness my grip will loosen and ill gain consciousness. This time i started feeling unconscious within 40 secs and my hand became loose and the bag fell off. No suffocation, no special sensation, no uncomfortable feeling, just felt like going to sleep. I stopped the stopwatch on my phone and it showed 44 secs.

Like i suspected earlier, no panic set in and no instinct kicked in which would stop me from going forward. This is good as it makes going through the process simpler and therefore avoids some failures. I will put together a proper exit bag and try again and update again then

 

[unique_user]

Today i had a doubt if the pipe im using between regulator out and the mask/exitbag which is a 5mm internal diameter pipe would be sufficient for 20lpm flow and if in my testing i was actually getting <20 lpm. i saw almost all posts recommending 5/8inch which is a 16mm inner diameter pipe for use with this setup.

So i searched for the technical specifications for the typical 5mm ID oxygen pipe and i found that it supports 30-40 lpm flow and that 5/8inch pipe can carry much higher flow. So it should be ok with the pipe im using in the pic shown above. This 5mmID pipe is also easy without needing special pipe connectors. I can simply push the pipe to connect to the regulator and similarly push it into the mask to connect to the mask

I practically verified this by disconnecting the pipe from the regulator and starting the flow of 20lpm and then connecting the mask via the 5mm pipe. Doing this does not show any drop in the lpm on the regulator reading. so my setup should be good