Regular Tech gear or Rebreather?

opie · Jul 2, 2012

i have searched and searched for the answer/opinions on this,to no avail.
So on to my question.....I am looking at getting into tech diving for the reason of diving wrecks. I am up in the air about equipment selection. Since i will be purchasing all new tech gear i was wondering if it would be feasible to look into starting out on a rebreather or spending tons of money on conventional gear and later deciding to sell off my kids to purchase more gear(rebreather)?

Scott L · Jul 2, 2012

opie:
i have searched and searched for the answer/opinions on this,to no avail.
So on to my question.....I am looking at getting into tech diving for the reason of diving wrecks. I am up in the air about equipment selection. Since i will be purchasing all new tech gear i was wondering if it would be feasible to look into starting out on a rebreather or spending tons of money on conventional gear and later deciding to sell off my kids to purchase more gear(rebreather)?

The trend certainly looks to be CCR...

Scott · Jul 2, 2012

Had I to do it all over again, knowing what I know now. CCR.

HowardE · Jul 2, 2012

opie:
i have searched and searched for the answer/opinions on this,to no avail.
So on to my question.....I am looking at getting into tech diving for the reason of diving wrecks. I am up in the air about equipment selection. Since i will be purchasing all new tech gear i was wondering if it would be feasible to look into starting out on a rebreather or spending tons of money on conventional gear and later deciding to sell off my kids to purchase more gear(rebreather)?

If you're going to be spending a bunch of money to get all kind of technical gear, then you could certainly spend as much as you would on a rebreather. In the long run, if you're diving a lot, and will be using Helium, there is a per dive cost savings that is immense.

Basic Rebreather diving isn't so incredibly technical that someone with 100 dives on OC couldn't start right now. I know someone who started diving rebreathers right away, and only dived open circuit to get certified. So it's not something that you need thousands of dives to learn. It's just a different way to dive.

Cave Diver · Jul 2, 2012

You might find some of these previous discussions useful:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/new-divers-those-considering-diving/339558-my-future-path.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/dive-ny/334220-rebreather-doubles.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/technical-diving-specialties/312409-why-ccr.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/rebreather-diving/285305-should-i-buy-rebreather.html

mathauck0814 · Jul 2, 2012

I encourage people to start tech diving on open circuit. It's just simpler. There are so many procedures and protocols that you're going to be focused on learning and committing to muscle memory, introducing the rebreather is not a trivial +1 skill. In reality, you need to be dedicated 100% to learning to operate your rebreather when you go that route, not worrying about shooting bags, rotating bailout bottles, executing primary/secondary tie offs, etc, etc etc.

Besides - you're going to need all of that open circuit gear when you switch to CCR anyway. Your doubles become your storage bottles to transfill from, your deco bottles and stage regs turn into your bailout gas. There's no shortcut in terms of what you're spending.

opie · Jul 2, 2012

Thanks Howard. I will be having to purchase all new tech gear,so that's why I am considering going rebreather.

mathauck0814 · Jul 2, 2012

opie:
Thanks Howard. I will be having to purchase all new tech gear,so that's why I am considering going rebreather.

Spend some time talking to other rebreather divers. In order to do it safely, you'll need your rebreather AND all the open circuit equipment necessary to do the same dive (you carry more gear, not less on CCR) for when/if you have to bail out.

PfcAJ · Jul 2, 2012

Imo, you need to learn to tech dive on OC before moving to a RB. If (when) the RB ****s the bed, you're right back on OC, and you need to be good at it.

BoneCrusher · Jul 2, 2012

I have gone through the OC Tech route for a while now and am just switching over to a rebreather. Although annoying that getting the rebreather will be like starting over in training, I think there are huge advantages doing OC tech first then rebreather. Many of the concepts in both are the same, but not having the added task loading of flying the rebreather made learning the dive skills easier and built into muscle memory.

Also, as many have said, the gear isn't a one or the other kind of decision. Instead, much if not all of the OC gear will be used with the rebreather. Instead of the one or the other mentality, it is more appropriate to say is an an addition to.

Regular Tech gear or Rebreather?

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opie

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Scott L

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Scott

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HowardE

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Cave Diver

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mathauck0814

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opie

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mathauck0814

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PfcAJ

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BoneCrusher

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