Kiss sidewinder scrubbers.

[tbone1004]

Thanks mate ,

Yeah it looks like the primary aim of the side winder unit is low profile.
That is not my thing.

It is what it is , lightweight rebreather for airline travel , with compromises to achieve this result.

I like that KISS trys to push the boundaries.

Cheers mate.

the aim of the unit is low profile but it has nothing to do with being lightweight for travel, not sure where you saw that but that wasn't on the list of criteria when designing the unit. Happy accident that it travels well, but it's primary intent is as a cave diving rebreather for small squeezy spaces.

 

[Dave1w]

For the Classic, I found upgrading the BOV and having a minimal backplate that mounted it tight to you and quite high up made WOB much better. The rEvo was similar in needing have it in the right place to breath well (which it did)
The Spirit (which I really enjoy) is an interesting thing. If you look at the scrubbers, it shouldn't breath at all well, as it has that big long gas path, but somehow, and I think it may be to do with the lungs positioning around your chest, it breaths OK. I'm not doing huge dives on it, but for a unit to pick up and dive, weighing less than a 12 litre steel tank to dive it's just fine.
Like I say, it shouldn't but it does seem to breath ok. Not super like other units I have but ok. Maybe their will be some testing as a result other takeover and CE

 

[rddvet]

IMO the wob of the sidewinder sucks. I hated it. It’s also very easy to get the sorb wet on even the smallest dive.

 

[J-Vo]

I'm new to RBs and don't have anything to compare, but when mounted and positioned properly I can't tell the difference between breathing on the loop and sitting on the couch with my SW. Withen reasonable trim of course. The biggest issue I have had is developing a mounting and donning procedure that consistently achieves the above.

 

[Dumper]

G ,day fellas ,

I am hopeless on computers and so have been lurking for a while , observing but not interacting.

I finally bit the bullet and signed up.

I have very little practical experience, I have built and dove a replica of the dc55 pscr rebreather.
WOB ON it was very good, however it gave me a caustic cocktail and the love affair was over.

That was 15 years ago and I a m thinking about scratching the itch again a n d rebuilding another breather.
Look up the CRABE rebreather from France , Aqualung product ,military breather primarily.

Anyway I am toying with different form factor,
Perhaps innovating with 2 scrubbers , like rev0 or kiss s spirit or sidewinder.

old ruski IDA breathers had 2 scrubbers.

So that's me.

I like Kiss cause they try to to push the envelope , put their money w there their mouth is and have a go.

Sure they may have some downsides but they come out with some revolu t ionary , practical gear and are not elitist snobs , into the bargain.
No corporate crap.

(The GEM adv , f o r example , revolutionary)

I never saw anywhere that it was designed to be lightweight , that is a deduction of mine.

On paper a damp exhale scrubber is frowned upon , in the field it's not the end of the world.

Good to see customers giving em a go.

Critical , to me at least is t h at water in coun terlung does not pass thru inhale scrubber and for t h e most part , thats what I hear.

So from what I gather from youuse blokes, is that in the field , your units function adequately and at a good price point into the barg a in.

Like Henry Ford's flathead v8 , t h at brougjt v8 power into a 4 cylinder world.

The opposition couldn t build a cheaper simpler design to compete with him , he had the KISS principle in place.

Sure things moved on, he made enough cash out of t h e flathead to put into R &D to do t h at.

Looks like the dual scrubber design , has its merits , I will percivere.

Thanks fellas.

PS: I am hopeless with computers , I can t send a private post to THE CHAIRMAN ,to let him know that I can t send private posts from my homepage.
A bit of a catch22 problem there.

It's got to do with me not setting things up properly I think.

Could one of you fellas let him know I am having dramas

Thanks very much , Ralph.

 

[J-Vo]

I'm not going to argue the Sidewinder's flood tolerance, but the water you get in the unit is let in through your lips unless there is a problem with the unit. This newbie can do two and a half hours on it and tell you were the reaction front is in the exhale canister based on the reaction moisture. Beyond that and I begin to see reaction moister on the inhale side.

Side note, I had a leak in the O2 line once that let several cups(1 cup = 1/4 liter) of water into the unit through a two hour dive. Didn't even notice until after the dive, and the inhale canister was bone dry witch means the reaction front didn't even get to that side, so the wet sorb was still doing something. After this experience, I have considered adding an OPV/dump to the bottom of the counter lung opposite the canister attachment, but I worry about damaging it while clipping stages to my drop D's.

 

[rddvet]

I'm new to RBs and don't have anything to compare, but when mounted and positioned properly I can't tell the difference between breathing on the loop and sitting on the couch with my SW.

This isn't meant as a slight to you. It's a generalization:

This is one of the problems with the SW. Because it's considerable cheaper than many units and it's become a social media darling, it's being bought by new rebreather divers. Then these new rebreather divers get on forums and facebook and extoll how amazing their sw is. The problem is they have nothing to compare it to, and everybody thinks their first rebreather is the best rebreather ever. I'm in this category too. I absolutely love my rebreather, but it took me learning 2 other units to realize that my love for it is warranted and not just the first rebreather love affair. So the sw continues to grow due to all of these newby rebreather divers going on and on about how amazing it is, but then the seasoned rebreather divers who see the flaws and negatives of the unit don't want to say it out loud because they'd get eviscerated. After taking the sw course because so many people talked about how it was the second coming of Jesus, I left the course hating the unit for many reasons. It wasn't until I wrote a long explanation of my issues that the experienced rb divers started coming out of the woodwork to tell me they have the same issues with the sw. Of course, the grand majority say it in PM's or in person because they don't want people to know they're bad mouthing the sw.

The reality is the sw should not be the first unit for most new reberather divers because they have no basis of knowledge to compare the pros and cons of the units. Unfortunatley it's been marketed to new rb divers. I've even had 2 instructors reach out to me in response to these comments, and both tried claiming they would never ever sell or train someone on the sw as their first unit or without a long talk about the negatives. But then you speak to their students and not a single one ever got that talk.

 

[Wibble]

Revo... It's very sensitive to small amounts of water in the lungs especially if you dive flat in the water -- any fluid in the exhale lung will tip back down into the exhale loop, gurgle gurgle.

There is a mitigation as far as I'm concerned; half a cloth in the exhale lung seems to be enough to resolve this.

The Revo cannot tolerate a full flood, e.g. open mouthpiece. Some boxes allegedly can. However, don't flood your unit: a Revo has well-pretected internal lungs and only has two connectors: loop in & out -- no T-pieces and external lungs that eventually fail.

 

[Dumper]

As I said before I have low hours on breathers.
I have had a " gentle" , caustic cocktail and for anyone who has had one , its a bloody big wa kke up call, your RB diving career is before CC and then after CC.

So I am on high alert when on aloop.

Jvogt, assessment seems to me to be honest and concise.

If I had a SW , with my CC experience , I would plumb a t piece into the inhale hose after the scrubber connected to a small counterlungs to act as a water trap , easy , Cheap, still reliable.

As far as the SW , being overrated ,

I am poor, so never driven a high performance car.
In m y youth I had a ducati bike, t h at had t h e power to Wei g ht r a Rio of a Ferrari.

So I have some idea how rewarding a top car would be to drive.

In my youth I lost my licence for a y ear from being a bit of a ratbag.

Now I a m quite content just to have a licence and any relireliaable vehicle.

The best car in the world is a hire car , you can flog it and give it back.

I see fellas with experience on top end breathers who downsize to a SW , a n d don t see it as a backward step, it is what iit is.

reVo gurgling,

The 1950 s dc55 breather has t h e simple cure.

On this breather the dsv HAS NO CHECKVALVES

The check valves are located where the breathing hoses connect to the counterlungs.

So no fluid can exit the exhale lung and go back up t h e hose and gurgle.

Unlike single hose pendulum system , there is no residual co2 in in inhale hose
Elegant design

4am in the morning here ,

I go

Kick the cat!

 

[Dumper]

As I said before I have low hours on breathers.
I have had a " gentle" , caustic cocktail and for anyone who has had one , its a bloody big wa kke up call, your RB diving career is before CC and then after CC.

So I am on high alert when on aloop.

Jvogt, assessment seems to me to be honest and concise.

If I had a SW , with my CC experience , I would plumb a t piece into the inhale hose after the scrubber connected to a small counterlungs to act as a water trap , easy , Cheap, still reliable.

As far as the SW , being overrated ,

I am poor, so never driven a high performance car.
In m y youth I had a ducati bike, t h at had t h e power to Wei g ht r a Rio of a Ferrari.

So I have some idea how rewarding a top car would be to drive.

In my youth I lost my licence for a y ear from being a bit of a ratbag.

Now I a m quite content just to have a licence and any relireliaable vehicle.

The best car in the world is a hire car , you can flog it and give it back.

I see fellas with experience on top end breathers who downsize to a SW , a n d don t see it as a backward step, it is what iit is.

reVo gurgling,

The 1950 s dc55 breather has t h e simple cure.

On this breather the dsv HAS NO CHECKVALVES

The check valves are located where the breathing hoses connect to the counterlungs.

So no fluid can exit the exhale lung and go back up t h e hose and gurgle.

Unlike single hose pendulum system , there is no residual co2 in in inhale hose
Elegant design

Obviously you could leave the rego dsv as i s and retrofit extra decisive where breathing hose joins lung.
Any machine shop could make up an adaptor luckily split.

4am in the morning here ,

I go

Kick the cat!