Time of the month and diving

[tinkerbell]

Any suggestions on how to handle being on dive boat for hours and being on your period. Usually all men and they trash the head so bad you can't go in there! Going Friday - stressed on how to handle 6-8 hours out on the boat with 17 men (one of which is my husband!)
Also, as an after thought - my husband says that being on my period will attract sharks - I am an intelligent woman and think that he is just being an a-hole.

[Vercingetorix]

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~dandoc/pdfdoc/women2.pdf

I was never here...

[YellowfinKunkfish]

Home - DivaCup™

I've never used one, but I've heard really good things about them. So far everywhere I've been diving, at that time of the month, I've had the luxury of having a bathroom handy. If I ever get to go on a boat though, and I'm going to be in a similar situation such as yours, I will be purchasing one of these!

And everything I've read says that sharks are NOT attracted to menstrual blood. Don't worry about it!

Rhonda

[Monkeylemon]

You might want to look into menstrual cups--they can hold out longer than tampons. One disposable brand is "Instead." (Sorry, menfolk, but if you're reading this, you were asking for it!)

[Osprey]

Sharks don't want our blood.. it's old after gathering for that long anyway (I know it's nasty.. but let's face it, that's biology). And diva cups are both good for you, and for the ecosystem compared to other monthly products. they are very easy to care for and keep very sanitary. There are a few brands, so if you have allergies to a certain material, try another brand. I can PM you some sites if you like

[jimmysdevoted]

i cant wear the cup..

but what wooudl eb smart is bring your own head.. if your not squeemish. YOu can get from the camping supply a porta potty.. it looks like a folding seat and it uses odor free bags with a dry chem,ical at the botom that turns liquid into inert solids. You can then curtain off one section as off limits as there you have it.
j

[tinkerbell]

THANKS ALOT. SEVERAL LADIES SENT INFO ON THIS. WILL LET YA KNOW. DIVING ON THE LOBSTER LEDGE OFF WILMINGTON, NC COAST 110' FRIDAY 20TH.

Originally Posted by YellowfinKunkfish

Home - DivaCup™

I've never used one, but I've heard really good things about them. So far everywhere I've been diving, at that time of the month, I've had the luxury of having a bathroom handy. If I ever get to go on a boat though, and I'm going to be in a similar situation such as yours, I will be purchasing one of these!

And everything I've read says that sharks are NOT attracted to menstrual blood. Don't worry about it!

Rhonda

[Eurodiver]

/does the happy dance
So glad I don't have those pieces parts any more.
When I had to have my hysterectomy the doctor said she could could control my problem with birth control or we could just take out everything but an ovary. I said if I wasn't going to use it any more take it.
She asked me again why I wanted to go ahead and have a hysterectomy and she thought I was still too young and my reply was "So I can wear white all summer"

[Monkeylemon]

OK, big LOL on that one! You made my morning.

[DallasMarineBio]

Ok, so I'm not a woman, but this thread caught my attention off the main page b/c working in the aquarium industry I've been asked this a hundred times...many people are concerned about diving in tanks with sharks at certain times of the month...Having seen literally hundreds of volunteers dive in very close proximity to sharks, many times during their period I can say that I've never seen any altered behaviour in the sharks, let alone aggression or interest.

The answer I got from DAN was that menstrual erythrocytes (red blood cells) are already lysed (burst) and do not have the same properties as live cells.

This makes sense to me from feeding many sharks 1st hand - if you collect a bunch of blood from frozen seafood and pour it in a shark tank, you will get a reaction - but pour in some blood from fresh seafood and you have a feeding frenzy on your hands in under a min.

Just my $0.02 - for what it's worth