My very first rebreather...

[Todd]

Hello all:

This is the first thread I have started on ScubaBoard, and I think I have an appropriate occasion. I just bought my very first rebreather.

I would first like to thank all of the ScubaBoard members who have taken the time to share their insight and experience in this forum with those of us who are simply trying to learn–you have been an invaluable resource. I would also like to thank Joe "padiscubapro" and Sharon "shas" for going beyond the call of what could be considered reasonable in their willingness to assist me in my learning and my decision making process.

I am at DEMA in Miami, sleepless, after a most rewarding and emotionally exhausting day. It took all of the patience I could muster, a few timing issues, and some practical experience for me to wait until DEMA to buy my rebreather, and I am so glad that I did.

Many rebreather companies are represented at DEMA this year. Gordon Smith is here with the KISS, Barney Lambert with the FROG, Peter and Sharon Ready with the PRISM, Leon Scamahorn with the Megalodon, Jarrod Jablonski with the RB80, Nicki Finn with the Inspiration, and others including the Azimuth and something new from the folks at Delta P. I am sure that there are other rebreathers here as well that I missed. One rebreather that was not here, at least on Wednesday, was the all-illusive Infinito.

So which one did I buy?

Well, none of them. One of the first booths my friends and I stumbled upon by sheer luck was manned by the nice officers from NEDU (Navy Experimental Dive Unit). They have Mk 16 on display, and it was love at first sight, at least on my end. I have never seen any piece of diving equipment so well designed and engineered, although I admit my experiences are quite limited, that it just made me teary. I remembered seeing months earlier a brand new, never in the water Mk 15 online, and a few hours later we became family.

I know that the Mk 15 has a few drawbacks, and the technology is a bit dated, but it is unquestionably the right unit for me.

I would greatly appreciate comments, questions, words of encouragement and the like (a bit needy?). I will start training in just a few weeks, and am hugely looking forward to the process.

Thank you, all, again.

Best,

Todd.

[caveseeker7]

I think ... I certainly hope you'll be happy with your choice. I had the chance to dive an original MK16 this summer, one of Peter Ready's, after taking a spin with the Prism. While I was very excited diving that legendary unit, I also realized that I rather not have one. The breathing comfort isn't close to either Prism or Inspiration, spares can be hard to source and are usually fairly expensive. Out of the three MKs I'd prefer the 15.5, with the smaller 15's case and the updated 16's breathing loop.

You might want to see if Kevin's at the show to get some decent electronics. Peter might also be able to help in that regard, he used to install Prism electronics and turn MKs into SM1600. Both might be able to help when you need parts, too.

As for MK users, I don't know if there are any on this board. Maybe 'saturated'. 'JasonM' and 'SteveP' at Dive-Oz dive them, the latter converted it to KISS though.

Good luck and be safe
Stefan

[Todd]

caveseeker7 once bubbled...
I think ... I certainly hope you'll be happy with your choice. I had the chance to dive an original MK16 this summer, one of Peter Ready's, after taking a spin with the Prism. While I was very excited diving that legendary unit, I also realized that I rather not have one. The breathing comfort isn't close to either Prism or Inspiration, spares can be hard to source and are usually fairly expensive. Out of the three MKs I'd prefer the 15.5, with the smaller 15's case and the updated 16's breathing loop.

You might want to see if Kevin's at the show to get some decent electronics. Peter might also be able to help in that regard, he used to install Prism electronics and turn MKs into SM1600. Both might be able to help when you need parts, too.

As for MK users, I don't know if there are any on this board. Maybe 'saturated'. 'JasonM' and 'SteveP' at Dive-Oz dive them, the latter converted it to KISS though.

Good luck and be safe
Stefan

Hi Stefan:

I know, it certainly does have a few drawbacks. I was able to try a PRISM in Dallas a few weeks ago, and tried to take work of breathing into consideration before making my purchase. It will be a while before I know for sure :( .

I do think, however, that all of the rebreathers out there have some sort of drawback within the design. I like one of the first pages of Gordon's website, where he states that you can have it one way or the other, but not both. My goal was to identify the things I thought important with the rebreather that most closely matched my criteria.

I talked to both Peter, who is at DEMA, and Kevin, who will be at DEMA on Thursday. I have decided to dive, and really get to know, the unit as is before making any changes. Part of the fun for me with this particular unit is that it is completely unmodified at this point.

I hope to run into, not literally, you at some point tomorrow.

Thanks.

Todd.

[DennisS]

Just curious. How much does a MK15 rebreather sell for?

[RavenC]

Congratulations. I am so jealous. I watched a special on the military influence on dive gear and there was a segment on rebreathers. I would love to dive one. That's so very cool. R

[BigJetDriver]

:D Welcome to the world of silent diving! If I may toss in a caveat, set yourself a mental task of ALWAYS doing your preflight checks, including your pre-breathe! ALWAYS know your PO2, and always do your postflight maintenance. If that becomes routine, diving a CCR is a breeze.

Try also Tracy Robinette for parts and advice.

<http://www.divenet.com/divematics/>

:D

[saturated]

Welcome,

First things first. The marks are great units, they are however like an old harley......they work well, get attention and require a good bit of maintenence. The down side is cost and parts availability. For a new rebreather diver an Inspiration or even a topaz may have been a better fit. (just my opinion). If you havent purchased it yet I would do a great deal of research prior to the purchase. They are great and I love mine to death, but to be honest the huge majority of my dives are spent on the inspiration. Parts are reasonable(and available for that matter). If I go down its usually only a couple days before I can get parts in to repair it. Tanks are easily filled anywhere that has pure O2. Alot of shops will give you fits about filling the spheres. It will be best to get a small booster and fiull them yourself at home. Either way way you will be happy, maybe happier with the "mark", but the inspiration is definately a more practical daily diver...just my .o2

[Todd]

Hello:

Thank you all for the great notes. I just arrived home for DEMA, exhausted and excited. I leave for Los Angeles on November 3rd to start my training.

A picture of my new child can be seen at:

http://www.electricfilm.com/sale.htm


RavenC once bubbled...
Congratulations. I am so jealous. I watched a special on the military influence on dive gear and there was a segment on rebreathers. I would love to dive one. That's so very cool. R

Thank you so much.

Todd.

[Todd]

DennisS once bubbled...
Just curious. How much does a MK15 rebreather sell for?

Truthfully, I am not very sure. Peter mentioned that he recently sold a Mk 15 for $5,000, and I think that would represent the low end of the spectrum. There is an unit in Europe with Kevin's electronics for sale for $9,000. I think they can easily exceed $10,000, but I don't know by how much :) .

Todd.

[Todd]

BigJetDriver69 once bubbled...
:D Welcome to the world of silent diving! If I may toss in a caveat, set yourself a mental task of ALWAYS doing your preflight checks, including your pre-breathe! ALWAYS know your PO2, and always do your postflight maintenance. If that becomes routine, diving a CCR is a breeze.

Try also Tracy Robinette for parts and advice.

<http://www.divenet.com/divematics/>

:D

I just hope after a *lot* of practice in beautiful Lake Travis (sarcasm alert) that you might consider letting me dive with you in the Gulf sometime :) .

I plan on some sort of formal pre-dive checklist. I like to laminate things :) . If there is only one thing in life that I need to know, I know that it is my PO2 :) .

Todd.

[Todd]

saturated once bubbled...
Welcome,

First things first. The marks are great units, they are however like an old harley......they work well, get attention and require a good bit of maintenence. The down side is cost and parts availability. For a new rebreather diver an Inspiration or even a topaz may have been a better fit. (just my opinion). If you havent purchased it yet I would do a great deal of research prior to the purchase. They are great and I love mine to death, but to be honest the huge majority of my dives are spent on the inspiration. Parts are reasonable(and available for that matter). If I go down its usually only a couple days before I can get parts in to repair it. Tanks are easily filled anywhere that has pure O2. Alot of shops will give you fits about filling the spheres. It will be best to get a small booster and fiull them yourself at home. Either way way you will be happy, maybe happier with the "mark", but the inspiration is definately a more practical daily diver...just my .o2

I am planning on a field trip to visit Kevin and learn how to tear things down and put them back together. I really want to learn just exactly how everything works. I am just hoping that Kevin, Patrick, Tracy et al. can keep me in parts. Please let me know of any other good sources for parts.

I am good to go for local fills. For when I travel, I think Gordon's mini booster might be just the ticket :) .

I have never been accused of being practical, and I think that sometimes shows. I have a feeling that I am about to take on quite a project in just about every way. I do already own the Mk 15–it should arrive on Wednesday :D .

Saturated, one thing I need to figure out before training is how to attach a harness and wing to the unit. If you would be willing to share, how did you accomplish this? Have you heard of other solutions? I would really appreciate any help you might be able to give.

Todd.

[caveseeker7]

Okay, a brandspanking new MK15 IS very nice. Almost sad to go diving with it. ;)

With Peter I asume you mean Ready. He still has a couple of spares listed on his site for sale, and might be able to point you in the right direction for sources. Again, in Australia there are a couple of those rigs, and they've got their own supply of spares down there. You might want to touch base with them. One of the guys had a pretty nasty accident, and posted a good report on it. See if you can find it, or PM me, I will.

Also on your list should be Dave Sutton.
http://www.nobubblediving.com/mark-15.teardown.htm

Other sites to look at are:
http://www.metacut.com/rebreathers/mk15_manual.htm
http://www.deepdiving.net/15/15v155.html
http://www.cybermaps.co.uk/cyberbarics/

Dive safe
Stefan

[Otter]

I was wondering how many OC dives you have? Rebreathers are not for the faint of heart......don't take care of them and before you know it, you won't. Read Stefan's signature carefully.

Dive Safe

P.S. How did you get into DEMA?

[caveseeker7]

(she's got blonde hair ;) )

[Todd]

Otter once bubbled...
I was wondering how many OC dives you have? Rebreathers are not for the faint of heart......don't take care of them and before you know it, you won't. Read Stefan's signature carefully.

Dive Safe

P.S. How did you get into DEMA?

Hi Otter:

I have 114 dives so far, and should be over 125 dives before I start my Mk 15 training. I feel very comfortable with what I have been doing to date, and plan on driving very slowly and carefully down the rebreather road. I have done my research, the next step is quality training, and then I will see where things go from there.

Thanks for your concern.

Todd.

[caveseeker7]

Todd once bubbled...
... I start my Mk 15 training ... the next step is quality training ...


Who are you signed up with for your training?

[Todd]

caveseeker7 once bubbled...


Who are you signed up with for your training?

Hi Stefan:

I met Jeff Bozanic at DEMA, liked him, and signed up the next day.

My Mk15 is in transit, and I am waiting patiently (yeah, right) for its arrival. I just want to see what I am getting myself into :) . The first step is to figure out the backplate, wing, and harness situation...

Todd.

[Bob3]

My very first rebreather...

With a header like that, I almost thought I'd see some pics of an old Jack Browne DESCO unit.
http://www.divedesco.com/fyi_page_2.htm
I had a "B lung", still have the "bunny suit".
I just got back from DEMA last night, minus luggage.

[Hootis]

Hi Todd....
Met you at DEMA....congrats on your "new" 15!
I have a couple of 15's that I bought from Kevin, too. I have replaced many parts on my 15's...I woudn't worry about the parts thing as much as some people say....most of the parts can still be sourced or converted to current "standards." The plumbing is mostly Swagelock....if you can bend the tubes (or know someone who can) you can replace every pneumatic piece. Some of the "toughies" might be some of the canister pieces and the counterlung. Dick King has a bunch of parts still, too. I've built a couple of parts (sealed nut for Fischer connectors and working on the O2 sensor bridge....I'll build many of each while I'm at it for others) I don't expect many of the stainless canister items to be failure points with proper maintainance. We'll stick together to keep these things in the water!
Good luck.
Ryan

[Todd]

Hootis once bubbled...
Hi Todd....
Met you at DEMA....congrats on your "new" 15!
I have a couple of 15's that I bought from Kevin, too. I have replaced many parts on my 15's...I woudn't worry about the parts thing as much as some people say....most of the parts can still be sourced or converted to current "standards." The plumbing is mostly Swagelock....if you can bend the tubes (or know someone who can) you can replace every pneumatic piece. Some of the "toughies" might be some of the canister pieces and the counterlung. Dick King has a bunch of parts still, too. I've built a couple of parts (sealed nut for Fischer connectors and working on the O2 sensor bridge....I'll build many of each while I'm at it for others) I don't expect many of the stainless canister items to be failure points with proper maintainance. We'll stick together to keep these things in the water!
Good luck.
Ryan

Hey Ryan:

Good to hear from you, and thank you for the great news regarding parts–it is seriously nice of you to build extras :) . I have contact information for Dick King, and should likely start building up a small stash of spares.

The Mk15 leaves for Los Angeles tomorrow, and I will be a week behind. I am very much looking forward to the start of training.

Todd.

[Hootis]

Good luck with your training....let us know how it goes!

[Todd]

Hello:

I need to find three oxygen sensors, and am trying everything I can think of. If anyone knows anyone who might have three Teledyne R-10DS or R-10DN oxygen sensors that they would be willing to sell, well, I sure would be most grateful. Oxycheq and, apparently, Teledyne currently have no stock, and my training starts a week from today ;-0 . I know the odds are long, but just thought that I would try...

Thanks in advance.

Todd.

[saturated]

I ordered a set about a month ago. I'll call and see if mine are any closer than a fresh order would be. If they are you can take over my order and I'll order 3 more.

[Todd]

saturated once bubbled...
I ordered a set about a month ago. I'll call and see if mine are any closer than a fresh order would be. If they are you can take over my order and I'll order 3 more.

Good morning Saturated:

If your order is also with Patrick, though, then I doubt that your kind offer would offer any hope :( . I placed my order the Monday after DEMA and he has had no luck, in spite of his best efforts, in this pursuit. If, however, your order is elsewhere, well, then any effort on my behalf would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks much.

Todd.

[saturated]

Todd

Check out

http://www.oxygenanalyzer.com/sc/index.htm

PSR-11-33-NM1 0xygen Sensor

that may get you by

Sales & Technical Support 781-367-5515

[Shas]

The SMS202 has an 18-22mV output range and will work in the CCR1000/Mk15/Mk15.5 sets.
You'd have to attach Winchester connectors but the sensors are in stock and we could supply them with molex fittings if that would help you.

Your taking training with Jeff on Monday?

Shas

[Todd]

Hi Saturated and Shas:

Thank you both for the information. The folks at Analytical Industries are amazingly nice. A couple of hours ago, I was, however, able to obtain three of the Teledyne R-10DS sensors for my class.

I am finally in good shape, as the sensors, the absorbant pads, the batteries, and the Mk-15 should be in Los Angeles on Friday. And I start training with Jeff on Monday.

Now, I am starting to get excited :) .

Any advice on the training process?

Thanks again.

Todd.

[BigJetDriver]

Todd once bubbled...
Any advice on the training process?
Todd.

Todd,

You will be getting outstanding training from Jeff! Just train yourself into the mindset of ALWAYS, ALWAYS doing your pre-flight
checks. ALWAYS, ALWAYS check your gauges, (PPO2 foremost), during flight (the dive) and ALWAYS, ALWAYS do your post-flight checks. Once you make this behavior second-nature, you'll find that CCR diving is a piece of cake!

Have a great time!:D :D

[saturated]

Do everything the same way everytime. Dont hesitate to ask the "what if questions" ask as many as you can possibly think of. After class, hang in the shallows for a good # of dives. Continue to practice drills for the rest of yor days. Always know your ppo2.
Alway carry enough open circuit gas to bring you home.
Always prebreathe your unit for a good deal of time before diving.

Your going to have a blast! Better find some ccr friends so the bubblers dont ruin all your photo ops!

[caveseeker7]

Hootis once bubbled...
Good luck with your training....let us know how it goes!

Hi Todd,
I was wondering how things are going. Did you finish the training with Jeff?
How is the rig holding up? Had a good time in SoCal?
Hope all's well
Stefan

[BigJetDriver]

:wacko: So Todd is MIA? Did Jeff work him over so badly that he ran off?:D

Apropos of nothing at all that's being discussed, does anyone know what happened to FinsWake? He's been missing for some time now!

Cheers, folks! :D

[Todd]

BigJetDriver69 once bubbled...
:wacko: So Todd is MIA? Did Jeff work him over so badly that he ran off?:D

Apropos of nothing at all that's being discussed, does anyone know what happened to FinsWake? He's been missing for some time now!

Cheers, folks! :D

Hi all:

Thanks much for asking. I just got back from Los Angeles late last night, and am pretty much exhausted.

Sadly, Murphy took the class with me, so I have to go back and spend some more time with Jeff :( . More details to follow...

Todd.

[Todd]

caveseeker7 once bubbled...


Hi Todd,
I was wondering how things are going. Did you finish the training with Jeff?
How is the rig holding up? Had a good time in SoCal?
Hope all's well
Stefan

Hello:

I think that I have sufficiently recovered to actually write about my training experiences. To the kind individuals who sent private messages, well, thank you.

There were two other students in my class–one diving a Mk-15.5 and the other a PRISM. Between the three of us, we made an ideal student (my only contribution would be the academics).

Speaking of which, the first two days of the class were dedicated to academics, which were extensive and exhausting. Fortunately, I was well prepared so this part actually went really well for me, though I had to spend some time "translating" the proper equations into "Todd-equations."

The next three days were dedicated to getting the rig ready to dive. Tools are not my friends, and never was this more evident than during this class. The rig needed some love, as it had mostly been untouched for twenty-three years. Let me put it this way, I know the route between Jeff's house and Steam Machines by heart. Peter and Sharon, at Steam Machines, were a life-saving source of support–emergency batteries (as mine did not fit), new absorbent pads (lost, but later found), new secondary display meter, new hoses, new DSV and more new hoses, a part of the electronics pod that obviously had feet and walked away in a huff, a giant piece of rubber (more on this later),...

I think you get the idea.

At this point, I should mention that an *average* day for me during this class was in the sixteen hour vicinity.

The next three days were my fault and only my fault. I assembled the rig incorrectly, and thus spent seventy-two hours from hell fighting carbon dioxide hits in the water. I finally figured out that I omitted a piece from the puzzle (see rubber reference above) and that I was allowing some of the gas to bypass the scrubber. I would really rather not go into details here, but suffice it to say that my experiences were unpleasant, to say the least. The best thing that happened was that a hose completely gave at the beginning of a dive, but the unit did not flood. Oh, and I flooded the battery but not the electronics–orings work much better in the appropriate groove than at the bottom of the battery pod.

Now I am one day over the normal run for the course, and I have two dives to my credit. Jeff and I headed over to Catalina, the day starting at five in the morning, which is when I typically think that I only have five hours left to sleep :) . We got two dives in Catalina before I just gave out from exhaustion. The third dive lasted two mistakes and two minutes before I decided to get the hell out of there before I, or the Mk-15, got hurt.

The next day, the last day, I got sick (congested) and there was no way that I was going to finish the class before having to catch my fight home, so I took the day off.

I was unprepared in a lot of ways. It was my first time using a rebreather. It was my first beach dive. It was my first time in cold water. It was my first time wearing that much wet suit, hood, and gloves, it was my first time wearing that much weight, by a huge margin, and it was the first time using a new configuation–new wing(s), bailout (second) in a new place, inflator in a new place running off a stage bottle. Plus, I was stressed, so other fun things happened like my mask constantly leaking (bought a new one but no help) and wasting a whole lot of gas. If everything else would have gone smoothly, I would have had my hands more than full. Where I was not unprepared, I was underprepared, and the effects after a time, added up to way more than I could handle. My fault.

Jeff throughout all of this was patient and wonderful. I cannot say enough good things about him and about the class.

There were some good things that came out of the class. I had a great attitude and no matter what happened, I just kept working. I learned a ton, and easily passed the two tests. And I had one moment in Catalina of total and complete peace, when I understood that one day this would all be worthwhile. I learned to assemble and disassemble ninety percent of the unit, and will get the other ten percent with Kevin in the spring.

I leave again in a eight days to hopefully finish the class, and I hope that I have better experiences to report.

Thank you again for your advice and kind support.

Todd.

[MikeR]

It will all be worth it in the end:) I think its a good thing to have experienced the problems you did. You will no doubt have a better understanding of the unit and more respect for it than you would've had everything been flawless. Congrats and enjoy your next trip.

[caveseeker7]

... it's an adventure !

Thanks for the post, Todd, what a trip ... :wacko:

Sorry to hear the rig didn't work quite as well as hoped for. You got lucky with the location, having Peter fairly close by comes in handy when having MK problems.

Good to get feedback on Jeff's training, I only know him socially and want to do the Prism training with him ... one of these days. :rolleyes:

You really had a full plate just due to the new location, congrats on getting as far as you did considering all the problems you described.
Mike made a good point about the relation of flaws and complacency.
Good luck with the next trip and the remainder of the training

Stefan

[BigJetDriver]

Thanks for the post, Todd, what a trip ... :wacko:

Todd,

As Stefan said, "It's not a trip, it's an adventure"!!! =-)

We've all have sessions like that! Glad you're back! I know you learned a lot in a short time!

Cheers!;)

BJD

[madmole]

Great Instructor!!!!:wacko:

So after watching his pupil spend 3 16 hour days repairing a dinosaur to get it working he then doesn't watch while he assembles it for its first dive in 23 years :(

He then lets him suffer multiple CO2 hits for 3 days and still doesn't investigate the assemblage of the unit enought to notice a large critical component is missing and O rings elsewhere on the unit are misplaced :rolleyes:

All this while teaching two different RB classes at the same time

mmm personally that doesn't sound like a good Instructor imho

Caveseeker I think you'd be better look elsewhere for your Prism training

Todd, glad your still alive and with us despite all this. At least you know your unit very well now and I bet you can calculate OC bailout requirements real good. Bet your thinking the MK maybe wasn't such a good deal, must of cost more to repair than a new unit. The good news is of course that youve spent the money now and have a great unit that should last you ages

Be very interested to hear more of your hypercapnia, symptoms and how you resolved it during the dive

[pwfletcher]

Todd once bubbled...


The next three days were my fault and only my fault. I assembled the rig incorrectly, and thus spent seventy-two hours from hell fighting carbon dioxide hits in the water. I finally figured out that I omitted a piece from the puzzle (see rubber reference above) and that I was allowing some of the gas to bypass the scrubber.

Todd.

Your fault? It is the instructor's responsibility to make sure that you assemble the rig correctly. After all, that is what you are paying him for. If you had have died and it was later discovered that your rig was put together incorrrectly in a class, I guarantee that he would have been held legally responsible.

[MikeR]

Whoa,

I was a bit slow on that. Your unit assembly should have been a joint effort with very descriptive instructions and verification and re-verification of assembly. You assembled this alone? That should not have happened. Madmole is absolutely correct. After 1 co2 episode the unit should have been stripped down and the problem found and resolved. End of Story.

[padiscubapro]

pwfletcher once bubbled...


Your fault? It is the instructor's responsibility to make sure that you assemble the rig correctly. After all, that is what you are paying him for. If you had have died and it was later discovered that your rig was put together incorrrectly in a class, I guarantee that he would have been held legally responsible.

couldn't agree more...

I also believe the unit should have been broken down and re assembled completely more than once.. I don't care how long the scrubber is supposed to last packing is important, the more times you disassemble it the better...

The "hard to breathe" and "head-ache" descriptions are classic CO2 symptoms and should have been immediately realized by the instructor... no excuse..

[Danny D]

I agree with what everyone above has said. The entire point of instruction and training on rebreathers is to prevent accidents and educate the pupil on his unit.
The instructor is supposed to walk you through all the steps and saftey checks of taking apart and then rebuilding your equipment so that you fully understand it.
The instructor is supposed to inform you of the signs of O2 hits and other dangers associated with rebreather diving and gas diving..Also he/she should inform you what to do if you show signs of hits....

So basically your instructor was really kind to you and put up with all your mishaps great !!!! Well actually he did't help you put your equipment together, but I can imagine he must have been busy with all the other students (Oh wait in rebreather classes there are usually under 5 students so he should have helped youstep by step). Then when you were gettin O2 hits he didn't end your dives or check your equipment.

My question now is what did you pay over $1000 for a rebreather class when you weren;t really instructed? You could have Died and you are saying it was your fault...NO it isn;t your fault!!!! You were a student ,it is assumed that you have no idea about the class and the functions of a rebreather. You go into the class knowing nothing and it is the Instructors job to teach you everything from the ground up.

If I were you I would demand my money back for the class...then retake it elsewhere.. I can only imagine what else you instructor left out of your instruction.

[padiscubapro]

Danny D once bubbled...
I agree with what everyone above has said. The entire point of instruction and training on rebreathers is to prevent accidents and educate the pupil on his unit.
The instructor is supposed to walk you through all the steps and saftey checks of taking apart and then rebuilding your equipment so that you fully understand it.
The instructor is supposed to inform you of the signs of O2 hits and other dangers associated with rebreather diving and gas diving..Also he/she should inform you what to do if you show signs of hits....

So basically your instructor was really kind to you and put up with all your mishaps great !!!! Well actually he did't help you put your equipment together, but I can imagine he must have been busy with all the other students (Oh wait in rebreather classes there are usually under 5 students so he should have helped youstep by step). Then when you were gettin O2 hits he didn't end your dives or check your equipment.

My question now is what did you pay over $1000 for a rebreather class when you weren;t really instructed? You could have Died and you are saying it was your fault...NO it isn;t your fault!!!! You were a student ,it is assumed that you have no idea about the class and the functions of a rebreather. You go into the class knowing nothing and it is the Instructors job to teach you everything from the ground up.

If I were you I would demand my money back for the class...then retake it elsewhere.. I can only imagine what else you instructor left out of your instruction.

The symptoms were of CO2 problems not oxygen..

[Danny D]

Ok fault me there , but the point I was trying to get across is that a hit is a hit..you shouldn't be getting them anyways your instructor should be watchful of those situations.

[padiscubapro]

Danny D once bubbled...
Ok fault me there , but the point I was trying to get across is that a hit is a hit..you shouldn't be getting them anyways your instructor should be watchful of those situations.

The mistake should have been caught before the unit hit the pool.. if it was missed here it should have been caught within a few minutes of being in the pool.. the symptoms are text-book..

[Danny D]

Excactly...he should get his money back

[DrMike]

Glad you survived your training Tod. :)

Looking at this in a slightly different way, at least you have really thoroughly leant the lesson to always check you have correcty assembled your scrubber!!

Valuable lesson probably well learnt now. Bet you wont make that mistake ever again!

So training was actually...... good! :)

[caveseeker7]

Hi guys,
took me a while to get back here, my Mac had several severe RAM hits. :upset:


madmole once bubbled...
... doesn't sound like a good Instructor imho
Caveseeker I think you'd be better look elsewhere for your Prism training ...

In all fairness, so far I've only heard one side of the story, and not quite as detailed as I would like. Before I decide for or against anyone or -thing I always try to get both sides of it.

Even Todd wasn't entirely unhappy with the training, so the detailed story might come across a bit different. He knows it, after all. You guys paint him like a moron, which I doubt he is, and that's not fair to either him or Jeff. I for one appreciate Todd's report, and hope he clears a few things up and stays here.

I'm also a bit suprised that while y'all tearing up Todd and Jeff nobody's mentioned the seller of the rig. You Hammerheads don't wanna upset the big Kahuna? KJ sold the rig, he services MKs, and is an instructor for them.

I wonder why bits and pieces were missing, the rig undivable.
Todd, did the rig come with a list of parts to be replaced? Where you aware how many of them were missing or in unusable condition? Or were you left with the impression that this was a new rig with some dust on it ... ?
Makes wonder how the two other divers and their rigs did. And while I'm usually more intrested in Prisms than MKs, in this case I'm more curious about the 15.5 as it is closer to Todd's.


madmole once bubbled...
Be very interested to hear more of your hypercapnia, symptoms and how you resolved it during the dive
So am I. How long before you noticed, how severe where the symptoms, how long to recover? Where you the only one realizing you got hit while still UW?
Was it caused by the same missing/missassembled/damaged part both times?

Add-ited: Joe, how do your posts stay as objective and seemingly as unemotionless as they are? Is there a course we need to take?
I had to pull myself together again not to give every bit posted before some close and personal attention, flatten feet while I'm at it. :rolleyes:

[Todd]

Hi Stephen:

First off, thank you very much for your comments.


madmole once bubbled...
Great Instructor!!!!:wacko:

So after watching his pupil spend 3 16 hour days repairing a dinosaur to get it working he then doesn't watch while he assembles it for its first dive in 23 years :(


I took a class that was scheduled to span seven days, and took nearly half the class just to get my unit in working order. I assume that most instructors expect students to show up to class with a working rebreather. I put the whole class way behind schedule...

With reflection, the error should have been identified before I got in the water. It took a set of very unique and very specific events for the error to have occurred at all, and I accept that what happened, well, happened.

Jeff has a lot of experience with the Mk-15 and Mk-16 series of rebreathers, and continues to dive them on a regular basis. This is a very fluid set of rebreathers, and changes were made to the model(s) as time progressed. The simple truth is that when Jeff dives in this series, he typically dives a Mk-15.5, and not a Mk-15. If I wanted an instructor who dives a Mk-15 day after day, then I would have taken the class from Joe Dituri, whom I like very much. I knew this up front. I decided to take Jeff's class based on schedules (November versus December), cost (Los Angeles versus Honolulu), and the fact that I personally am significantly more comfortable with a warm and fuzzy (to me) versus a military approach (Joe is a Lieutenant in the Navy). Hey, I give all my instructors a "hug-test" before taking a class with them (last step in the process). I cannot resist added that Michael Kane, MHK on this board, passed his "hug-test" easily (I told him I was working my way up to George :) ).


madmole once bubbled...
He then lets him suffer multiple CO2 hits for 3 days and still doesn't investigate the assemblage of the unit enought to notice a large critical component is missing and O rings elsewhere on the unit are misplaced :rolleyes:


I think that I may have unintentionally overstated my experiences. Also, things were not as linear as I made them to be for the sake of simplicity (two days of this, two days of that,...). I certainly suffered at least two "hits," but the rest of the experiences were more frustrating than painful. I would like to address this further in response to Joe's (padiscubapro) post below.


madmole once bubbled...
All this while teaching two different RB classes at the same time


In large part, this was in response to my request to locate additional students to help defray costs.


madmole once bubbled...
Caveseeker I think you'd be better look elsewhere for your Prism training


Stefan, after my experiences, I don't think that you will be able to find a better PRISM instructor anywhere on the planet. Jeff dives the PRISM more than any other rebreather (he owns at least the four that I saw) and he literally wrote the class. The academics are top-notch, and my in-water experience was the exception, not the rule. The PRISM diver in my class had no problems at any time.


madmole once bubbled...
Todd, glad your still alive and with us despite all this. At least you know your unit very well now and I bet you can calculate OC bailout requirements real good. Bet your thinking the MK maybe wasn't such a good deal, must of cost more to repair than a new unit. The good news is of course that youve spent the money now and have a great unit that should last you ages


I think that I have learned a lot about my unit. I think that I still have a lot left to learn. I can calculate bailout three different ways, two of them in my head, thanks to Todd-equations. There certainly were times when I thought that the Mk-15 was not the best choice for me. Right now, I have an open mind, and am actually looking forward to finishing training, hopefully, next week. All the things that I liked about the Mk-15 that led to my purchase, I still like those things a whole bunch. My repair bills, with some improvements tossed in, came to a little more than a thousand dollars. It could have been a lot worse...


madmole once bubbled...
Be very interested to hear more of your hypercapnia, symptoms and how you resolved it during the dive


More to follow regarding this soon, I promise.

Todd.

[padiscubapro]

caveseeker7 once bubbled...
Add-ited: Joe, how do your posts stay as objective and seemingly as unemotionless as they are? Is there a course we need to take?
I had to pull myself together again not to give every bit posted before some close and personal attention, flatten feet while I'm at it. :rolleyes:

Some things require an emotional response and others do not..

When I first heard the description of the events (actually before Todd posted it), before the person finishing his first sentence "CO2" immediately comes to mind, as the information grows it becomes more and more obvious.

I have no room for compassion when it comes to poor instruction.. Some things are more important than others. RBs have very little room for error and when it comes to this type of training I am a Bas***d. I don't believe in letting the smallest infraction getting by.. People can easily kill themselves.. Th Biomarine series needs attention on scrubber assembly and even experienced divers screw up(check the rebreather archives a very experienced diver from austrailia would have died if it wasn't for his buddies).. A newbie should never be allowed to do this alone..

As to the Rig that Kevin sold... He has it on consignment, it was never dove and was in the original state it was delievered.. If I purchased it I know things would have to have been overhauled, which should have been with the instructor since this type of unit requires the user to maintain him/her self.

I would have expected the sensors to have been changed and the regs overhauled at minimum.. All o-rings with the unit probably also needed replacement.

[padiscubapro]

Todd once bubbled...


I took a class that was scheduled to span seven days, and took nearly half the class just to get my unit in working order. I assume that most instructors expect students to show up to class with a working rebreather. I put the whole class way behind schedule....

EVen new units fail out of the box.. The unit has to be inspected regardless of its age.. Buying a rig like a MK 15 I would have expected atleast a day tearing apart and rebuilding the unit.. I am not a MK 15 diver but I do know the complexity of them.. Rebuild and teardown is part of the class.. Individual days should have been scheduled for both the prims diver and yourself. The actual diving and pool work and most of teh academics can easily be shared. The breakdown really can not..

I wasn't trying to criticize your instructor.. You have spoken to me in person and on the phone and you know how I feel about training issues.. Money and time should not be a factor, safe and complete training is the goal..

My criticism was that you complianed about being difficult to breathe and you couldn't stay on the loop.. Being told that the breathing resistance is higher than OTS rigs (which is true) wouldn't have made it hard for you to stay on the loop..

I don't know if you had rapid breathing (you probably did), I wasn't told if you had any chest pains (probably). But this should have been covered in academics about CO2 symptoms..

Also once in the water your motor control skills should have been degraded somewhat and is usually visable to other divers, and if they know what to look for its clear as day..

I am glad you got alot out of this learning experience, but my problem is that CO2 "hits" are serious.. You are lucky you didn't pass out.

I tried to keep my previous responses short and not bash someone where I had only one persons recollection, and just state facts as I was told but now I find myself defending my criticism..
If even one of the above is true its the responsibility of the instructor to prevent when possible and correct it immediately..

I am no rebreather God, just someone who has alot of experience and am supposed to be able to evaluate both diver and potential instructor competance on a particular rig. I tell it the way I see it and hold no punches...

[Todd]

MikeR once bubbled...
Whoa,

I was a bit slow on that. Your unit assembly should have been a joint effort with very descriptive instructions and verification and re-verification of assembly. You assembled this alone? That should not have happened. Madmole is absolutely correct. After 1 co2 episode the unit should have been stripped down and the problem found and resolved. End of Story.

Hi Mike:

I did not assemble the unit alone. Jeff was always there and whenever something did not make perfect sense, I asked questions. And Jeff checked my work. This one piece did fall through the proverbial crack, and that is unfortunate. All other areas of assembly went correctly (often after a trip to Steam Machines :) ). The carbon dioxide issue will be in my next post.

Thanks for your note.

Todd.

[Todd]

pwfletcher once bubbled...


Your fault? It is the instructor's responsibility to make sure that you assemble the rig correctly. After all, that is what you are paying him for. If you had have died and it was later discovered that your rig was put together incorrrectly in a class, I guarantee that he would have been held legally responsible.

Hello:

Thanks. And I do agree. It should not have happened. The real world is far from a perfect place, and things happen from time to time, no matter how diligent the efforts involved, no matter what may be at stake (e.g., NASA). I can look back and understand the exact chain of events that occurred; unfortunately, not everything is foreseeable.

As far as liability is concerned, I signed a waiver which included everything from bathroom breaks (kidding) to gross negligence (which I am *not* implying). I have always believed that you should understand the document that you are signing and if you are not willing to accept the terms therein, you should walk away. Waivers exist for a very specific reason.

Thanks again.

Todd.

[Todd]

caveseeker7 once bubbled...

In all fairness, so far I've only heard one side of the story, and not quite as detailed as I would like. Before I decide for or against anyone or -thing I always try to get both sides of it.

Even Todd wasn't entirely unhappy with the training, so the detailed story might come across a bit different. He knows it, after all. You guys paint him like a moron, which I doubt he is, and that's not fair to either him or Jeff. I for one appreciate Todd's report, and hope he clears a few things up and stays here.


These are very well reasoned sentiments, irrespective of my potential level of moronality :) . Is too a word. I have heard Jeff's "side" of the story. I accept it. I did not write about my experiences so that Jeff would come off badly or that I was somehow wronged. In fact, I *tried* to write my class report attempting, and failing, to minimize those exact points while still sharing my actual experiences. I have learned so much at ScubaBoard. I know that there will be some folks who might be interested in rebreathers that read through all of these posts, as I did, to gain some information or insight. I just tried to write what happened to me so that others might take away a few examples of what not to do :) .


caveseeker7 once bubbled...
I'm also a bit suprised that while y'all tearing up Todd and Jeff nobody's mentioned the seller of the rig. You Hammerheads don't wanna upset the big Kahuna? KJ sold the rig, he services MKs, and is an instructor for them.

I wonder why bits and pieces were missing, the rig undivable.
Todd, did the rig come with a list of parts to be replaced? Where you aware how many of them were missing or in unusable condition? Or were you left with the impression that this was a new rig with some dust on it ... ?
Makes wonder how the two other divers and their rigs did. And while I'm usually more intrested in Prisms than MKs, in this case I'm more curious about the 15.5 as it is closer to Todd's.


Kevin gets off unharmed. He sold me the unit and told me about its exact condition. The missing piece is actually a giant rubber band, which was included in with the unit. Kevin told me that many Mk-15 divers used electrical tape instead of the rubber band. I just put the electrical tape in the wrong place :) . Duh. If I had it to do over again, I would have paid Kevin to completely service the rig before shipping it to me. The reality is that it *is* a new rig with some dust on it–some of the parts just sat a bit too long in the case.

The other two divers did great in the class, neither having any problems whatsoever. The Mk-15.5 diver had a completely different scrubber, so he did not face the issues that I did.


caveseeker7 once bubbled...
How long before you noticed, how severe where the symptoms, how long to recover? Where you the only one realizing you got hit while still UW?
Was it caused by the same missing/missassembled/damaged part both times?
So am I. How long before you noticed, how severe where the symptoms, how long to recover? Where you the only one realizing you got hit while still UW?
Was it caused by the same missing/missassembled/damaged part both times?


The general story:

By the time we got to the pool, I was a giant ball of stress. Every, single day was both long and intense. I was delaying the other two students from getting in the pool, and felt quite badly about that. There were parts issues, as in if I, or, more accurately, Peter, could not locate a certain part then I would not be able to participate in the class at all.

Another factor in all this is everything that I have heard and read about the breathing resistance of the Mk-15 (not good). So, I am a stressed diver who thinks his rebreather likely breathes like a pig, especially with the Scott (original) mouthpiece.

Given these two parameters, what happened in the pool could make sense in a way that is unrelated to carbon dioxide buildup. I was stressed in the water. I found the unit hard to breathe. It does make some sense. I was not in any pain nor did I experience any headaches as we were in the pool, and if I got "stressed" or found the unit "hard to breathe," then I just popped up. I typically would stay down about six to eight minutes at a time in the pool.

The first open water dive did not go well, but in a sense it went better than the pool. I stayed down twenty minutes before calling the dive, thanks in large part to that leaky mask :) . I did not feel great coming out of the water but the scrubber, as it would just have to be, was on the last dive before its scheduled change. Hey, things went better, might have had a little break through at the end. I said these things, Given the circumstances, it all made sense.

The next day, a new scrubber, and a very unpleasant dive. I called it. I had a headache. I was angry at everything. At this point carbon dioxide was the obvious culprit. I went back to the dive shop and followed the path of the gas, and realized where bad things were happening.

It was always the same part. The worst headache went away in a little over a hour. And I was the only one who noticed underwater.

By the way, the unit now breathes quite nicely, thank you.

Todd.

[Todd]

Hiya Joe:


padiscubapro once bubbled...

EVen new units fail out of the box.. The unit has to be inspected regardless of its age.. Buying a rig like a MK 15 I would have expected atleast a day tearing apart and rebuilding the unit.. I am not a MK 15 diver but I do know the complexity of them.. Rebuild and teardown is part of the class.. Individual days should have been scheduled for both the prims diver and yourself. The actual diving and pool work and most of teh academics can easily be shared. The breakdown really can not..


Everyone seemed to have a different idea of who should be responsible for the large-scale overhaul, or at least I got that impression during the relevant conversations.


padiscubapro once bubbled...

I wasn't trying to criticize your instructor.. You have spoken to me in person and on the phone and you know how I feel about training issues.. Money and time should not be a factor, safe and complete training is the goal..


Joe, I think this is my reality. I really like Jeff. I think that he is a great person. And I have no interest in criticizing Jeff or, for that matter, anyone else. I am a beginner. I have no idea what someone should or should not have noticed. I took the class, I reported what happened, and I have been very interested in what y'all (I try to be pseudo-Texan once a week) have had to say. I just don't know what to say anymore...


padiscubapro once bubbled...

My criticism was that you complianed about being difficult to breathe and you couldn't stay on the loop.. Being told that the breathing resistance is higher than OTS rigs (which is true) wouldn't have made it hard for you to stay on the loop..


It surely was difficult to stay on the loop :) .


padiscubapro once bubbled...
I don't know if you had rapid breathing (you probably did), I wasn't told if you had any chest pains (probably). But this should have been covered in academics about CO2 symptoms..



I don't know if I would say rapid breathing as much as shortness of breath. The difference could very well be my semantics. I didn't have any chest pains, but I did have some general discomfort. And, yep, all this was covered in the academic portion of the show.


padiscubapro once bubbled...

Also once in the water your motor control skills should have been degraded somewhat and is usually visable to other divers, and if they know what to look for its clear as day..


I did feel as though my motor control skills were compromised. I also found it a bit hard to concentrate.


padiscubapro once bubbled...

I am glad you got alot out of this learning experience, but my problem is that CO2 "hits" are serious.. You are lucky you didn't pass out.


I think that I only know what did happen to me, not what could have happened to me...


padiscubapro once bubbled...

I tried to keep my previous responses short and not bash someone where I had only one persons recollection, and just state facts as I was told but now I find myself defending my criticism..
If even one of the above is true its the responsibility of the instructor to prevent when possible and correct it immediately..


Joe, I hope that you did not think that I was being critical of anything that you wrote in any way whatsoever. It simply is not true.

Thank you as always for your comments and insights.

Todd.

[MikeR]

Hi Todd,

Sorry your getting beat up a bit. Granted we dont know the entire situation, but via your description there are a few issues. As an instructor when a student brings a unit to me for instruction (by all rights your unit should have gone directly to your instructor) it is my responsibility to verify integrity and operation of the unit. Given your circumstances and the age of the unit involved I would have been inclined to repair and refurbish the unit prior to your arrival. I also believe a unit under those circumstances should have been dove by the instructor prior to your arrival to class. Not badmouthing anyone, but the units divability and function shifts from the seller/manufaturer to the instructor once instruction begins. On an older inactive unit alot of flags should have gone up. Anyway be careful and I hope the second trip goes better:).

[saturated]

Todd,

All the arguments above are relevant and should be taken to heart. But I wont beat that horse anymore:)

1.) Something to think about. Your unit had never been dove. So at some point in time it was probably prepared for storage. The entire pnematic system must be removed disassembled inspected and cleaned. I've seen them completely disassemled and all parts completely coated in a preservative and reassembled. Any residuals of these chemicals would not have a good effect on your body. Remember if you see any red on the connections it needs to be tightened. For complete disassembly a camera is your friend.

2.) The all cells must be new (your should not have had any if properly stored).

3.) The electronics must me completely gone through and connections verified and reverified. I personally would get an updated set of electronics. You should have 1 anaog and L101H display.

4.)Throw away the naural rubber seal in the scrubber and replace it with a truck tire innertube. Not pretty but works much better than the original. Again while I was not there I suspect this is the peice you were missing "cannister seal" and was causing you grief later on. You should replace this on a contnous basis. I make a new one everymonth, but would do it at least every other month. We all know the effect chemicals have on rubber, better safe than sorry.

5.) the spheres are very fragile. Never hot fill them. The need to be fully submerged in water and filled very, very slowly. I generally never fill mine past 2500. Never drop them! If you do you need to inspect for cracks as this happens often and easily.

6.)Always do your pos/neg tests and prebreathe the unit for at least 5 preferably 10 mins before diving. Not working (sitting on a boat) it takes longer for CO2 to become evident. I generally feel pretty good about my unit with a 10 min breathe. I have had problems in the past and they have showed themselves in this time frame.

7.)Never trust it:) And enjoy diving it:D. It wall always require a fair amount of tinkering but is a good unit. Once you get the bugs out you should be very happy. Take 1 seriously. You can only imagine what a guy who does not dive these when given the task of prepping it for storage may have used.

[pwfletcher]

One thing that this thread does bring up is the need for a cost effective C02 monitor for rebreathers. We have at least double and sometimes triple redundancy for everything else such as gas supply (oc bailout on diluent and sling bottles), PO2 monitoring devices (two sets of electronics and three O2 sensors on the inspiration), backup power supply (separate batteries on the inspiration and analog backup on the prism). It seems like CO2 monitoring is the last piece of the puzzle ... especially since CO2 problems are difficult to detect and there is little time to react once you do experience the symptoms.

What can we do?

[caveseeker7]

Todd,
thanks for the long and detailed posts.
While I agree with the rest of the board that your fault in this case was not entirely yours, considering you're just starting out, I find it very refreshing that you're willing to take responsibility for it.

In '97 Richard Pyle made a pretty harsh and eye-opening post, that centered around his motto
************************************************** **
" WHATEVER happens to you when you willingly go underwater is
COMPLETELY and ENTIRELY your own responsibility!
If you cannot accept that responsibility, stay out of the water!"
************************************************** **
I have to agree with him, and it seems you take that responsibility. It says a lot about you and your state of mind.
I wish you good luck with the remainder of your training,
dive safe.


Saturated,
do you use the Tavco steel spheres or the Inconels? Are they equally fragile?
I thought the Tavcos were a bit sturdier.
Which electronics do you have in our MK?


PW,
build 'Twinspirations', or RB Twin80s?
Seems the only thing we can do at the moment ... :(
I still hope that eventually something better than chemical absorbant will be developed ... molecular sieve, something like that. Hydrophobic, non-caustic, smaller in size so we can get redundancy without the bulk and expense ...
Dreeeeeeam, dream, dream, dream ... :rolleyes:

[saturated]

Caveseeker,

I have Biomarine electronics. I originally had the "O" but have the revision "G" Electronics. Next time I have even the smallest issue Jurgenson (spelling?) will be getting some business from me . My suggestion is that if Todd is having problems I would consider updating to their setup as well. Might be cheaper than band-aids over the long haul.

I hove both sets of spheres. I asume that by the age of Todd's he has the "more fragile" inconel spheres. I'm also guesing but he probably has a revision "O" electronics. The tavco cylinders are a definate improvement, but I would still be dilligent in my inspections and care. Slooooooow, cool filling should be the standard. No reason to take any chances with either model.
Just MHO.

[BigJetDriver]

Sat's back! Welcome back to the Motherland!

BJD:D

[caveseeker7]

BigJetDriver69 once bubbled...
Sat's back! Welcome back to the Motherland!
BJD:D
He was gone? I figured he just dropped his PC into the sorb or spilled Betadyne on it ... :wacko:

Motherland??? You gotta lay off the Wodka! :D

In Germany it's Fatherland (so noch much used in the past 50 odd years) and Mothertongue (native language). Do the Russians have a Fathertongue, or do just most fathers have one?

[saturated]

Finally back on land:D I've been breathing helium for so long I forgot what my voice sounded like:D.

I need to go to bed for a month or so, I'm starting to feel my age.

[pipedope]

sound like Donald Duck? :D

[BigJetDriver]

caveseeker7 once bubbled...

...Do the Russians have a Fathertongue, or do just most fathers have one?

Dobre utro, Tovarisch! Most fathers in the Motherland speak in extremely rough tongues!

BJD=-)

[DrySuitDave]

PWFletcher, what you can do to get C02 monitoring is get an Infinito, coming Evolution or an Inspiration with the coming new scrubber with C02 monitor

[caveseeker7]

DrySuitDave once bubbled...
PWFletcher, what you can do to get C02 monitoring is get an Infinito, coming Evolution or an Inspiration with the coming new scrubber with C02 monitor
Or the current Megalodon, which will give you the temperature in the scrubber (as raw data rather than APD's bar graph).

Or you can just fill and use the scrubber to and within manufacturer guide lines. Some people already dive past those. That's the worry with scrubber monitoring: Some people will exceed scrubber times and believe it's justified to do so because they trust the display will be right. APD includes data download of all kind of parameters, including warnings, depth and run times as well as temps and other stuff. If you exceed the rating time and dive yourself into an accident they'll have proof of your goof ... .

Although staying within tested/recommended scrubber times won't help if you srew up assembling your rig. Diligent pre-dive testing and pre-breathing should take care of that.

[Todd]

Hi all:

I am happy to report that I just returned from Catalina an officially certified Mk-15 diver :chicken: !

My next twenty dives are in the swimming pool... :demented:

Thanks again for all of your support and advice.

Todd.

[DrySuitDave]

Hi all:

I am happy to report that I just returned from Catalina an officially certified Mk-15 diver :chicken: !

My next twenty dives are in the swimming pool... :demented:

Thanks again for all of your support and advice.

Todd.

Oh, you are not going to get let off that easy! Do tell!

[caveseeker7]

I just returned from Catalina an officially certified Mk-15 diver :chicken: !
That was a long road (literally, from TX to CA twice) ... glad to hear you got through the training.


Oh, you are not going to get let off that easy! Do tell!
Get in the holiday spirit and give, Dave, in this case a guy some time to breathe. He just left CA 24hrs ago.
Like that submersible Santa suit of yours, but what happened to the beard ?

[DrySuitDave]

That was a long road (literally, from TX to CA twice) ... glad to hear you got through the training.


Get in the holiday spirit and give, Dave, in this case a guy some time to breathe. He just left CA 24hrs ago.
Like that submersible Santa suit of yours, but what happened to the beard ?

Submersible Santa, lol......if he had time to gives us a teaser, he has time to spill his guts, lol.....

[Todd]

Submersible Santa, lol......if he had time to gives us a teaser, he has time to spill his guts, lol.....

Yum, gut-spilling...

This trip was difficult but uneventful. I had two equipment problems–several metal rivets had to be replaced and a wire came loose in the electronics pod. The rivets were replaced with nuts and bolts; the wire will get repaired over the upcoming weekend. I have to get much better at the travel part of rebreather diving.

The diving was cold. Very cold. We did two dives a day for three days. At times, I may not have been even remotely pretty (both in and out of the water :) ), but I managed to complete all of my assigned tasks. I had a fight with a reel, and won, lost a bag on the ocean floor, and somehow, but not through the mouthpiece, got a little salt water in the loop on the last day.

Now that I am home, I can go back to, for me, square one, and get buoyancy and trim squared away. Everything gets easier from that point forward. I passed on a trip in four weeks to Cozumel because I need more practice in a controlled environment before I go forth, and I do not want to go back to open circuit :froggy: .

It all seems, in a way, very anticlimatic. I now feel as though I have a very basic set of skills that need to be rigorously practiced before much of anything else takes place. And that's where I'm at.

In the end, the class spanned 205 hours over fourteen days, including six pool dives and thirteen open water dives, many of which were at least a hour in duration. The class was an adventure in and of itself, and also the beginning of a much larger adventure. I learned *a lot* from Jeff.

Todd.

[caveseeker7]

This trip was difficult but uneventful. I had two equipment problems...
I have to get much better at the travel part of rebreather diving.

Difficult, uneventful, and succesful ! Again, congrats.
It'll take a while to iron all the kinks out of your rig, but by the time you're done you'll really know it. And it'll keep complacency away.
Same for the travel part, you'll get the hang of it. Though the 15s are not the most convinient rigs to travel with ... .



The diving was cold. Very cold. We did two dives a day for three days.
At times, I may not have been even remotely pretty ...

That may well be the reason for all those drysuits out here. I know I don't go without mine. Hope you got a 'fun' dive or two in, while you might not be pretty at all times our uw world is.



... I can go back to, for me, square one, and get buoyancy and trim squared away. Everything gets easier from that point forward. I passed on a trip in four weeks to Cozumel because I need more practice in a controlled environment before I go forth, and I do not want to go back to open circuit :froggy: . ... I now feel as though I have a very basic set of skills that need to be rigorously practiced before much of anything else takes place.

Good move. You should dive CC for a year or so without going OC, to get 'thinking CC' and proficient with all those new skills. Once you got those down all you have to find is shops and bases that support CCRs, and off you go. Back to warm water.



In the end, the class spanned 205 hours over fourteen days, including six pool dives and thirteen open water dives, many of which were at least a hour in duration.

Any extra time you can get in with an instructor as experienced as Jeff is a good thing. Doesn't really matter if it's because you need it or just get a chance to.

Thanks for sharing the remainder of what has been quite an endeavour.
Hope you'll stick around on the board.

Dive safe
Stefan