Cave Country buddy May 25, 28, 29

[inquis]

I'm coming into town for the NSS-CDS conference and have a bit of time for some cave diving on Thur May 25 (all day), Sun 28 (afternoon), and Mon 29 (all day). I'd love to meet up with anyone who is available. I'm certified to Stage Cave and will be diving back mounted LP85s. Happy to do Apprentice-level dives as well or pair with CCR.

(I'd especially love to pick anyone's brain with a Fathom Mk2/3 or a Choptima. I'm planning to start down the CCR road later this year.)

 

[rddvet]

Thank you for the reminder to avoid cave country Memorial Day weekend. We always have free time that weekend but forget it’s packed with divers for the conference.
That’s an easy choice in my book as a first time ccr diver. Go fathom. The choptima while not as unfriendly to a new ccr diver as a sidewinder, is still imo a unit that’s meant for experienced ccr divers. Having the unit mounted in your chest makes setup a little trickier. Not overly hard, but you have to make compromises such as more difficult scootering.
I’m a very huge proponent of someone’s first unit being a bm unit. Especially if the goal is to use the unit for cave diving.

 

[berndo]

Why Fathom or Choptima? BM mCCR and CM eCCR couldn't be more different from one another.

 

[inquis]

Yeah, I'm sure it'll be a mess, but I wake up at night picturing maps and passages in my head. I gotta see the wet rocks.

 

[inquis]

@rddvet, thanks for the thoughts on a unit. I've had many of the same thoughts. I've developed a very favorable impression of an instructor who teaches the Choptima, so that's attractive. Hopefully I can chat up Jon Bernot when he's away from the shop regarding his Fathom instruction while I'm there.

 

[inquis]

Why Fathom or Choptima? BM mCCR and CM eCCR couldn't be more different from one another.

I don't have a strong preference for either philosophy and won't be doing something like photography where eCCR becomes substantially more valuable. Travel is a heavily weighted consideration, with a slight edge to the Choptima there. Partly, I feel like should just "get in the game" so I can make an educated decision a couple years from now, and the cost of entry is a little lower for the CM. Then again, the simplicity of mCCR is appealing, and I am old enough to have enjoyed driving a stick shift. So yeah, firmly on the fence.

 

[JustWetRocks]

Why not do try dives on both units? Fathom is having a try day that weekend and I’m sure there is an instructor or two that would be happy to do try dove day with you.

 

[tomfcrist]

I’ll be at the conference, but planned to avoid diving that weekend like the plague. All the local holes are going to be packed like sardines.

 

[inquis]

Why not do try dives on both units?

Great minds think alike! That's actually the main reason I'm coming into town. I'm demoing the Choptima on Fri (full day) and the Fathom on Sunday. Unfortunately, I'm only expecting about 45 minutes in the water with the Fathom. Still, I'll take any first-hand experience on it I can get.

 

[inquis]

Anyone up for Monday 29th? While I'm sure Ginnie will be a zoo, I'm hoping somewhere like Madison might be reasonable.