12-02-2017, 05:08 PM
OK folks, sorry that I have been sidetracked.
Since my last post there has been a lot of discussion about carrying air from lower altitudes, supplemental O2 and onwards.
to understand what is at work here you need to know a little bit about gas laws, and the physiology of respiration.
What determines the amount of O2 available for respiration is the partial pressure of the O2 in the breathing gas.
To make more O2 available in a lower pressure environment the percentage of O2 needs to be increased.
Bringing air from a lower altitude in a container does nothing because it will have the same percentage of O2 at the same pressure as the ambient air at altitude.
The percentage of O2 is still the same.
The small canister of O2 terracore referred to could do the job if it were large enough.
What would be needed is a bottle of medical O2 trickling an O2 stream into the air being breathed, say one of those O2 supplemental tubes used in a hospital, or used by people that carry an O2 bottle because of lung damage, capable of supplying a stream of O2 for the whole period of exertion.
An oral-nasal would also do the job.
As far as My $0.02's worries about dangers of using O2, other than fire dangers, and the dangers of dealing with containers of high pressure gasses, those only need to be worried about when being used at higher pp's, usually when approaching 2 atmospheres.
The only other possible thing of concern is the dryness of the bottled O2.
It conceivably could be a problem with drying the lining on the lungs out.
The percentage of O2, or any gas in a mixture, does not change with altitude, only the concentration of all the gasses in the mixture.
They are all thinner at higher altitudes but still have the same percentages [gas laws at work].
My knowledge about this comes from having been a working diver, having worked at depths up to 300' and having needed to decompress on O2 a number of times during which I have need to deal with another diver being subject to oxygen poisoning while confined in a hyperbaric chamber.
O2 poisoning is nothing to worry about at altitude.
The greatest problem I see is that an Rx is needed to obtain medical O2.
Then, the bottle and gear costs for just one ski trip.
I find it hard to justify.
As far as PaulW's reference to Diamox, I have not looked into it because, unless it affects the pp of available O2 in the breathing gas, I see it as nothing to give consideration to.
Having said that, I'm reminded of someone saying:
I've made up my mind. Don't try to confuse the issue with facts.
Without being shown where I'm wrong, I see it as a lost cause.
OK, I'm done for now.
EDIT:
OK, I did look at Diamox.
Scary stuff.
It might be of use for extended periods of high altitude exposure.
I still do not see it to be of use for myself for short periods of exposure, definitely not as a prophylactic for short term exposure where I have never shown signs of altitude sickness.
My concern is for the low pp of O2, not altitude sickness and the cerebral and pulmonary edemas that can accompany it.
Got more rain today.
Snow should still be accumulating on the mountain.
Welcome to Puna, the land of the Vocal Lunatic Fringe.
Since my last post there has been a lot of discussion about carrying air from lower altitudes, supplemental O2 and onwards.
to understand what is at work here you need to know a little bit about gas laws, and the physiology of respiration.
What determines the amount of O2 available for respiration is the partial pressure of the O2 in the breathing gas.
To make more O2 available in a lower pressure environment the percentage of O2 needs to be increased.
Bringing air from a lower altitude in a container does nothing because it will have the same percentage of O2 at the same pressure as the ambient air at altitude.
The percentage of O2 is still the same.
The small canister of O2 terracore referred to could do the job if it were large enough.
What would be needed is a bottle of medical O2 trickling an O2 stream into the air being breathed, say one of those O2 supplemental tubes used in a hospital, or used by people that carry an O2 bottle because of lung damage, capable of supplying a stream of O2 for the whole period of exertion.
An oral-nasal would also do the job.
As far as My $0.02's worries about dangers of using O2, other than fire dangers, and the dangers of dealing with containers of high pressure gasses, those only need to be worried about when being used at higher pp's, usually when approaching 2 atmospheres.
The only other possible thing of concern is the dryness of the bottled O2.
It conceivably could be a problem with drying the lining on the lungs out.
The percentage of O2, or any gas in a mixture, does not change with altitude, only the concentration of all the gasses in the mixture.
They are all thinner at higher altitudes but still have the same percentages [gas laws at work].
My knowledge about this comes from having been a working diver, having worked at depths up to 300' and having needed to decompress on O2 a number of times during which I have need to deal with another diver being subject to oxygen poisoning while confined in a hyperbaric chamber.
O2 poisoning is nothing to worry about at altitude.
The greatest problem I see is that an Rx is needed to obtain medical O2.
Then, the bottle and gear costs for just one ski trip.
I find it hard to justify.
As far as PaulW's reference to Diamox, I have not looked into it because, unless it affects the pp of available O2 in the breathing gas, I see it as nothing to give consideration to.
Having said that, I'm reminded of someone saying:
I've made up my mind. Don't try to confuse the issue with facts.
Without being shown where I'm wrong, I see it as a lost cause.
OK, I'm done for now.
EDIT:
OK, I did look at Diamox.
Scary stuff.
It might be of use for extended periods of high altitude exposure.
I still do not see it to be of use for myself for short periods of exposure, definitely not as a prophylactic for short term exposure where I have never shown signs of altitude sickness.
My concern is for the low pp of O2, not altitude sickness and the cerebral and pulmonary edemas that can accompany it.
Got more rain today.
Snow should still be accumulating on the mountain.
Welcome to Puna, the land of the Vocal Lunatic Fringe.
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Was a Democrat until gun control became a knee jerk, then a Republican until the crazies took over, back to being a nonpartisan again.
This time, I can no longer participate in the primary.
Was a Democrat until gun control became a knee jerk, then a Republican until the crazies took over, back to being a nonpartisan again.
This time, I can no longer participate in the primary.