Kinross

Someone told me that skydivers don't have to breathe during free fall because the oxygen is forced through their skin.

I calim BS because you usually skydive fully clothed with only your face exposed and the fall is not that long to begin with. And if oxygen id forced into your body why don't you get nitrogen poisoning?

Any truth to this guy's claim?

ps418

I seriously doubt it. Skin is not very permeable, and the oxygen would have to pass through not only skin but also through underlying capillaries as well. And the amount of surface area available is small compared to the volume of tissue that needs oxygen. Also, breathing is not just about getting oxygen but preventing the buildup of CO2, and there's no way to expire CO2 through your skin.

So, BS, I say.

Patrick

Wyz_sub10

This sounds like a remnant of the ol' "we breath through our skin" argument - the one that insisted that if you painted your body, like in "Goldfinger", you'd suffocate.

Lo and behold, The The Straight Dope is covering the very topic today!

(I'd love to include some great body-paint photos from "Fantasy Fest" but we do try to maintain a level of decorum in the upper fora.)

Craig

I've actually read that somewhere, and thought the same thing.

A quick Google search returned a bunch of pages about proper breathing while you are skydiving, so I'm inclined to think it's untrue.

Google results

velvetfinger

i have actually done skydiving once. i don't remember breathing during the freefall because i was screaming

i don't recall the instructor showing me correct breathing technique, though.

nermal

Hah! What's terminal velocity, about 120 mph? So by that theory, one could ride a fast motorcycle across the US without ever taking a breath, except to stop for gas.

"Hey, gotta do a gas/breathing break. Wanta candy bar?"

Ed

Ateisto

I'm a skydiver. The claim is not true. In freefall, which lasts about a minute on a typical jump, you just breathe normally. There's fairly high air pressure at your face when you're looking straight down, but nothing you can't easily regulate with your mouth and throat. Generally you aren't looking down anyway; you're looking around -- it's the world's greatest view, every time!

To startle a new jumper freefalling next to us we will sometimes open our mouth and relax our cheeks. The cheeks comically inflate like that famous trumpet player and flap madly in the wind. I've heard, though never confirmed, that if you lose your goggles in midair and aren't careful, your eyelids can inflate, which would probably hurt....