Posted on 06/05/2004 9:14:49 AM PDT by Orange1998
Boat anchor + garden hose + lost keys in lake = near disaster
By The Associated Press
(6/03/04 - KANSAS CITY, MO) — A man who nearly drowned while trying to retrieve his car keys from a lake bottom -- using a garden hose to breathe -- will try again Thursday with a trained diver.
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Michael Hatfield, 54, lost his car keys in Longview Lake on Memorial Day. The Missouri State Water Patrol said he used the hose to snorkel 30-feet below the surface, with a 20-pound boat anchor tied to his waist to help him reach the bottom.
On one attempt, the garden hose slipped from his mouth. Hatfield, unable to breathe, became disoriented, the water patrol said.
A spotter holding a rope tied to Hatfield pulled him to safety after sensing trouble.
Hatfield was not breathing for a short time after he surfaced, but eventually began breathing on his own. Authorities said he refused medical treatment.
"I'm shaking now, thinking about what could have been," Hatfield said.
"Keys can really be replaced," he said. "At the time, I did not think about that. It was really an embarrassment."
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
He didn't know anything about water pressure vs. air pressure. As he descended into the lake the water pressure increased, squeezing the air out of his lungs and up thorugh the hose. Trying to breathe against that kind water pressure is like trying to breathe against a 20' python coiled around you that's trying to squeeze you to death. Can't be done.
What were they drinking!
Thinking? Darwin award stuff.
The garden hose prolly slipped outta his mouth, cuz he was already losing it from lack of oxygen to his brain.
It's not a question of water pressure vs. air pressure.
It's a matter of common sense saying that it is a bad idea to tie yourself to and anchor and jump in a lake.
I don't understand why he didn't figure what you said out the moment he dropped to the surface. He's lucky to be alive.
I guess we can assume they weren't highly educated. They found out first hand the laws of physics.
I think there is a Aggie Joke somewhere here.
I'm not sure that a wet vac could provide enough pressure to get the necessary flow rate of compressed air at the bottom of the hose, but you have the right idea that the air needs to be pumped down.
Levelling town in a DIY armored bulldozer, searching for keys at the bottom of a lakebed with a garden hose snorkel -- it appears the 17-year testosterone cycle is at its apogee.
I've think I've got some lumber laying around unused. Maybe I'll build a catapult or something.
"I've think I've got some lumber laying around unused. Maybe I'll build a catapult or something."
I got a hollow log here in the yard, I'm thinking "cannon". LOL. There may have been a method to my marriage to a PA.
I would think that the problem is the volume of air in the hose. 30 feet of hose filled with carbon dioxide would have to be forced clear of the hose so that fresh air and oxygen could go back down. The lungs can't clear the hose at that depth.
And the hose may have actually been longer, maybe a 50 foot hose, adding to the impossibility to the attempt.
Now, was he smart enough to breath out into the water and only breathe in through the hose? Probably not!
Cannapult!
If we put our heads together, I'm sure we can get ourselves into the headlines ;0)
Give the guy a hystericalistory book.
If he were looking for a human boat anchor I could nominate a lot of people.
Fryer's Kits: Free Trebuchet
Another problem besides the depth would be the necessity of using a one-way valve. If he tried to inhale and exhale through the same hose, CO2 would take him out pretty quickly.
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