Prefered oxygen mask

[Houman]

Hi,

My M20K Rocket came with an oxygen tank and 2 nose breeders, but I'm not a fan of the nose breeders and looking to get 2 oxygen masks, ideally one that is Headset friendly.

 

Any idea or preferences, it has to work up to 24000 feet and have flow safe indicators.

 

Thanks !

[Joe Zuffoletto]

The ones I use in my Acclaim are similar to these. I prefer fixed flow over having to dial in your altitude. The rebreather compensates for the additional oxygen use. You have to lift the max to use your mic, but up high on long XC flights you talk to ATC very little, so it never bothered me.

 

http://aerox.com/product/mska-fixed-flow-system-assembly-wpb-1-style-fitting-rev-a

[jlunseth]

Best thing is to get a miked mask.  I have the Precise Flight.  I like the flow meter, it is no big deal to dial in an altitude, and in exchange the little ball tells me there is O2 flowing.  I used a pulse oximeter for awhile after I first started using the O2 system, especially up high, but now know the settings well enough that I don't bother with the oximeter, I just check the ball on occasion to make sure there is flow.  You may need to play with the mike a little to get it to work correctly, the mike in my mask is like most mikes, it wants to lay horizontally across your lips to work best.  However, it is installed in a vertical orientation at the factory.  You can bend it around with a needle nose to get it horizontal, and then everything is good. 

 

O2 usage is less with a mask with a bag than with a cannula.  The drawbacks are that it is difficult to eat or drink, and if you wear glasses they are perched further out on your nose.  Neither is a very big deal.  But if you not going above 18k the cannula is a little more comfortable.  Just did a flight yesterday at 17 using the cannulas instead of the mask.

[Jeff_S]

I'm curious, are they really called "nose breeders" or is that just the way you pronounce them when they're stuck up in your nose and you sound like you have a cold?!

 

[jlunseth]

Use a little alcohol on a Q-Tip and that will stop the nose breeders.

[Awful_Charlie]

I've got a couple of the 'Alps' masks with microphone. After 3 hours it's quite pleasant to take them off, as much as anything because they're getting a bit damp inside. I normally use the Oxysaver cannulas until getting very high.

 

My headset uses the Bose socket, and plugging the mask into the jack socket cuts out the headset mic. I also have a small box of alcohol wipes for coping with any, err, deposits, and for generally freshening them up.

 

No flow indications on the mask itself, but I have them in the lines from the overhead ports

[Danb]

Aerox deluxe/mic in Flight levels. Don't like it..use oxisaver cannulas with oximetry would not fly without it. I need o2 around 8000ft my wife d/n need her until 12000+. Not fair.. My o2 level at 7000 feet is 94 hers at 12000 is 95. I guess my heart fails first whatever.

[aviatoreb]

Oxyarm http://www.oxyarmaviator.com

or Alps mask with mic for above 18k and up.

 

Both with O2D2.

[rainman]

I use a miked mask (Aerox)) above 17K and Oximizer cannula below. I check with my pulse oximeter every flight above 10K no matter the device. The mask is capable of delivering a higher percentage of oxygen, so it makes sense at higher altitude, but the pulse oximeter will tell you if you're getting what you need from a nasal cannula.

[jlunseth]

On the non-miked mask, it might work to lift the mask in order to talk on the radio when you are in the teens, but in the 20's time of useful consciousness is a few minutes and starts to drop precipitously with only minor increases in altitude.  My standard source, the Jeppesen Commercial/Instrument text, says TOUC is 3-5 minutes at 25k, but other sources say 1-2 min.  It is about double that at 22k.  But as has been noted in this thread, tolerance varies among individuals, and in fact it varies for one person from day to day.  So I am not big on pulling the mask up to have a conversation with ATC when in the 20's.  That way lies the dark side of the force.  Acclaim drivers, or the 252 drivers who need to see if their aircraft will make the FL280 service ceiling, really need to be careful, TOUC is in seconds up that high, not minutes.  When you are in mask territory, which is FL180 or above, the  miked mask is a better choice. 

[Danb]

Eric I had the 1st style oxy arm and found it to be heavy and clumsy,looking at the website you provided it appears they have addressed some of there issues and gave credit for those of us who purchased these originally. I based on your candor and the website + credit I upgraded to the newer model hopefully it will do the trick. The concept makes sense.the only annoying thing is what they charged for shipping like $24 we will see, I hope I enjoy it as you have,,safe flying...

Dan

[Joe Zuffoletto]

On the non-miked mask, it might work to lift the mask in order to talk on the radio when you are in the teens, but in the 20's time of useful consciousness is a few minutes and starts to drop precipitously with only minor increases in altitude.  My standard source, the Jeppesen Commercial/Instrument text, says TOUC is 3-5 minutes at 25k, but other sources say 1-2 min.  It is about double that at 22k.  But as has been noted in this thread, tolerance varies among individuals, and in fact it varies for one person from day to day.  So I am not big on pulling the mask up to have a conversation with ATC when in the 20's.  That way lies the dark side of the force.  Acclaim drivers, or the 252 drivers who need to see if their aircraft will make the FL280 service ceiling, really need to be careful, TOUC is in seconds up that high, not minutes.  When you are in mask territory, which is FL180 or above, the  miked mask is a better choice. 

Very good points. I almost always fly in the mid to high teens; rarely in the twenties.

[aviatoreb]

Eric I had the 1st style oxy arm and found it to be heavy and clumsy,looking at the website you provided it appears they have addressed some of there issues and gave credit for those of us who purchased these originally. I based on your candor and the website + credit I upgraded to the newer model hopefully it will do the trick. The concept makes sense.the only annoying thing is what they charged for shipping like $24 we will see, I hope I enjoy it as you have,,safe flying...

Dan

 

They really are light weight now.  Easy to flip up out of the way when not needed but at the ready when you climb.  But most importantly the thing that annoys me about regular cannula is how it tugs on your nose when you turn your head, but with it attached to your headset it moves invisibly without feeling it as you turn your head.  In fact you can set it so it all but doesn't even touch your nose but still is hovering right there so you can breath well.

[AndyFromCB]

On the non-miked mask, it might work to lift the mask in order to talk on the radio when you are in the teens, but in the 20's time of useful consciousness is a few minutes and starts to drop precipitously with only minor increases in altitude.  My standard source, the Jeppesen Commercial/Instrument text, says TOUC is 3-5 minutes at 25k, but other sources say 1-2 min.  It is about double that at 22k.  But as has been noted in this thread, tolerance varies among individuals, and in fact it varies for one person from day to day.  So I am not big on pulling the mask up to have a conversation with ATC when in the 20's.  That way lies the dark side of the force.  Acclaim drivers, or the 252 drivers who need to see if their aircraft will make the FL280 service ceiling, really need to be careful, TOUC is in seconds up that high, not minutes.  When you are in mask territory, which is FL180 or above, the  miked mask is a better choice. 

 

I would say the day to day is no joke. You just cannot say how you will react at altitude. It's not however seconds at 28,000. It's still minutes, but it's minutes of total stupidity. You don't start getting into seconds until 35,000 feet when it starts going below 60 seconds in case rapid decompression. 

[jlunseth]

You are right, Jeppesen says 2.5 to 3 minutes, there are other tables that say 1 minute at FL28.  But here is my thinking on the "seconds."  Even if you know your hypoxia symptoms well, it takes time to realize you have a problem.  We don't have such a thing as "explosive decompression" in our Mooneys, because we don't have compression to begin with.  The way we detect a hypoxia problem is knowing our symptoms and realizing they are happening, and then either looking at the ball valve if you have one, or getting a pulse oximeter reading.    If your O2 systems quits suddenly, you don't start gasping for air and know instantly it is time to go down.  You are going to use most or all of that 2 and 1/2 minutes figuring out you have a problem, so you are down to seconds to get lower and even if you execute a steep dive the time of useful consciousness at FL22 is not exactly comforting, and it is going to take you a couple of minutes to get down there.  

 

I just came to the conclusion that FL22 is as high as I want to go.   At least I have some time to detect and react, and the time of useful consciousness goes up significantly as you go lower.  Go any higher than 22 and the margin is just too thin for me.