Can you breathe the air in your tires if your car goes underwater?

Talk about it here!

MythMod

Unfortunately Comcast in Northern VA decided that Mythbusters is much more interesting as a "silent movie." We tried making up our own dialog but it got tiresome after a while.

Hopefully Comcast will have the audio jack plugged in when they show it in reruns. Until then, I hope the rest of the country got to enjoy it in living sound.

slice the side of the tire? how about cut the stem the tire, and seal lips and suck like a straw instead of trying to lip lock the sidewall?

I wonder if this would have been more plausible if the tire had a prominent fill stem? Adam didn't really get his mouth around the stem (from what I could tell).

Somehow, I feel it may have been premature to have one person try it with one tire, and call it busted.

I Think you have the wrong person doing this myth. Wouldn't it make more sence to have someone who is trainned in "free-flow" regulator breathing? At least Jamie should be trainned in that.

I think he should have tried biting the tire stem. That way he could have inserted the stem in his mouth while sealing his lips around it so no water comes in. Then bite through the stem to start the air flow.

I was thinking that you might be able to catch some of the released air in a shirt or bag, which might be easier to breathe out of.

Paul

I think it'd be more plausable if Adam closed his nose while he tried to get air in. When you breath, some air comes in through the nose. In this case, water would try to get in through the nose.

slinky471, ur right. Adam should have done that. I still think it's plausible if the nostrils are shut so more air would come in through the mouth.

My very first thought is that he should have stabbed the bottom of the tire, and opened the valve, and sucked on the valve. Why?

Because, I think the reason the air flow was getting mixed with water was because there was a vacuum as the air was rushing out. Thus, the water was flowing back in the same hole, breaking the air flow. (Coincidentally, this is why in large water jugs with a tap on them, it is recommended you stab a hole in the top.)

If he stabbed the bottom and used the valve to breathe, the water would rush in the bottom while the air would push out the top, and I would think it would be a much more even flow.....

What do you guys think

I think it would be like breathing through a froze up regulator. You should be able to use your tounge to create a "filter" for the water. This assumes you can create a big enough hole, or can remove the valve stem to have enough air rushing out. (Not like Adam did in the show)

Perhaps since Adam was given a knife in the myth, he could be given a coke bottle also. In the time the car is sinking, he could cut /break the top off, and keep a tight seal with the top of the bottle. Doing this, he could catch the air flowing from the tire with the bottle, and "filter" out the water from the air flowing to the top of the bottle into his mouth.

It's pretty Macgyver, but I think doing it that way should give it a plausible, needing both a knife and a coke bottle.

what if he put his head inside his shirt and let the air from the tire go into the bottom of his shirt and then he could breathe the trapped air.

I am wondering if Adam put a straw or even a hose on the fill stem. If the would have able to breath better underwater.

If Adam would have cupped his hand over the air stream, he would have been able to breath the captured air.

Any of the divers on the site should have been able to cover that; in my dive master class we had to breath of a cylinder without a regulator.

I am wondering if Adam put a straw or even a hose on the fill stem. If that would have able to breath better underwater.

quote:

Originally posted by sapphiregirlz79:
I am wondering if Adam put a straw or even a hose on the fill stem. If that would have able to breath better underwater.

Well, he has to be able to push the stem also to let the air out.

But I do like the idea of catching the air in a shirt, you could even suck the air through the fabric if you had enough air trapped.

any diver worth his salt knows how to breath out of a tank with no regulator. I have done this several times. also in a hot tub that blows bubbles i can easily breath for as long as i want. let me have a shot at it.

what if the tires had less air in them too, because a lot of air seemed to go into his mouth and he didnt have a tight seal. Also in my hot tub (when it isnt hot) you can sit on the bottom of it for as long as you want breathing off the bubbles that come from the ground (not jets).

It is possible to breathe from free flowing air, perhaps Adam just needs some skills...

There's a family attraction in Florida called Weeki Wachee Springs where they do underwater 'mermaid' shows daily. The mermaids breathe from free flowing hoses during their shows, and even eat and drink under water. If you go to the website (just do a search, it'll come up), at the bottom of the History page, there's some older video supplied of the mermaids in action.

I'm guessing the myth is still busted, because realistically you'd have to have some practice/training to do this properly. Of course, aren't all our action movie heroes born with that? ;o)

quote:

Originally posted by mythmod:
Can you breathe the air in your tires if your car goes underwater?

Talk about it here!

MythMod

I too watched the james bond movie where james bond was supposedly breathing the air from a tire on a rolls royce.....well there was valve stem extenders on that particular tire. and james bond or a stand in ...put his lips around the valvestem.