@aenea @cstross Ummm, no, it doesn't. 😀 Space suits do not make breathplay safe, period.

Really this is a discussion for Fetlife! But no, no amount of sensors makes breathplay safe. For instance, pulse oximeters have a significant time lag.

Having said that people do talk a lot of crap about it. Some of it reinforces the forbidden fruit thing. The "closing argument" pseudo-paper people usually cite, for instance. A heart attack hours later isn't the main risk. The main risk for *most* forms of breathplay is literally suffocating. Which is extremely likely if playing solo, with *any* equipment, but can also easily happen with a partner if they are distracted.

Now if you're talking about controlled atmospheres... Well there are people on Fet who could advise on that. But I wouldn't recommend it; as a matter of basic physiology, the low-oxygen high happens right before you pass out. If that's what you're doing, you're always taking a risk.

Whereas the signal to breathe is mainly based on carbon dioxide concentration. Hence the more masochist end tend to go for bagging - which isn't safe either, but at least you do get some warning, which can result in struggling breaking bones etc, and again, any solo breathplay is dangerous.

Basically the somewhat-well-researched spectrum on this ranges from Jay Wiseman's "Closing Argument" (all breathplay is dangerous, some questionable sources), through to several people on Fetlife's Breath Play Safety board, who argue that e.g. strangling must be safe because martial artists do it all the time, and that breath holding must be safe because of "breath holding spells" (I'm not entirely convinced by even this argument, age matters). But at no point on that spectrum is breathplay "safe"!

Plus, specifically on space suits, not having easy access for first aid. But if your contingency plan is CPR, you need a better contingency plan; it mostly doesn't work (it's still worth knowing but the success rate is fairly poor unless you have an AED).

PS I'm not terribly happy talking about this on Mastodon. But when people say things like that ... Somebody has to step in.