CCR max depth?

asimpkinsjr

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• Oct 10, 2013

• #1

So today on the Military Channel they aired a show called "secrets of seal team 6" and so while Im cleaning up the kitchen Im listening to this and i was stunned at what I heard...now I dive BP or SM, have never used a CCR or partial CCR but I was in the Navy, and in submarines when the Seals were using the old Draeger systems....something I never heard and which the commentator said that stopped me in my tracks what that Seals could make 1000 ft depth dives on a "mixed gas CCR" and it frankly caught me off guard...is there anyone who can see or conceptualize how this is possible, even with military tech? to me it just seems to be too much of a stretch. The commentator literally said "divers have gone further than 1000 feet....I almost fell off my damn chair...thoughts?

 

Cave Diver

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• Oct 10, 2013

• #2

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/technical-diving-specialties/403892-new-ccr-world-record.html

I've personally been past 300' on a stock unit (Meg). I know others that dive beyond that on a regular basis, and a few people here have been to the 600' realm.

Possible, yes. Practical, well that becomes another issue. I'm not sure *why* Seals would be that deep as I would expect them to use rebreathers for shallower recon or tactical entries.

 

Dr. Lecter

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• Oct 11, 2013

• #3

Someone took OC to 300+ meters back in 2005, and I've read about some CCR dives past 280 meters. But not on a Draeger I'm sure

 

JohnN

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• Oct 11, 2013

• #4

asimpkinsjr:

So today on the Military Channel they aired a show called "secrets of seal team 6" and so while Im cleaning up the kitchen Im listening to this and i was stunned at what I heard...now I dive BP or SM, have never used a CCR or partial CCR but I was in the Navy, and in submarines when the Seals were using the old Draeger systems....something I never heard and which the commentator said that stopped me in my tracks what that Seals could make 1000 ft depth dives on a "mixed gas CCR" and it frankly caught me off guard...is there anyone who can see or conceptualize how this is possible, even with military tech? to me it just seems to be too much of a stretch. The commentator literally said "divers have gone further than 1000 feet....I almost fell off my damn chair...thoughts?

Click to expand...

A quick Google search turned up this site: Scuba Diving World Records - Deepest Longest - Dave Shaw - Nuno Gomes - Verna Van Schaik - Pascal Bernabé - Mark Elyatt - Johan Beukes

330 M (> 1000 ft) on OC. Given the support team required, I'm not certain what military use this might have. . .

 

luscioman

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• Oct 11, 2013

• #5

Read this story on Dave Shaw. It is long but really really good.


Dave Shaw | South Africa | OutsideOnline.com

 

C

Centrals

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• Oct 11, 2013

• #6

Home page
The site is still alive after all these yrs!

 

kwinter

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• Oct 11, 2013

• #7

Personally I think when speaking about record-depth dives, it is best to avoid citing people who died doing them. But maybe that's just me.

 

Tortuga68

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• Oct 11, 2013

• #8

Sheck Ex... er, nevermind

 

Doppler

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• Oct 11, 2013

• #9

I cannot speak with ANY authority for military applications using CCR, but missions deeper than 80 metres are unusual. Deeper than 300 would be research diving and although military personnel might be part of the team, the end goal would not likely be a tactical military one, and there would seem to be no reason to involve Navy Seals, Special Boat Service, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, or any other unit of military "frogmen."

Also, several civilian CCR units are available with over-the-counter capabilities to function at depths of 150 metres.

 

down4fun

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• Oct 11, 2013

• #10

1000 foot dives are possible on ccr as Cave Diver's link shows.

There are a couple of issues that come into play when planning a dive of this magnitude. 1) It requires an enormous amount of bailout gas, that can be very hard to manage in an ocean dive. 2) Scrubber duration. A dive to that depth is going to require 7+ hour of decompression. I don't know all the units, but off the top of my head 8 hours is the longest scrubber duration i know of. So, in order to complete the dive ccr you almost have to be running a dual rebreather. Something very few people are doing.

For the military I suppose it is possible they are putting the divers out deep then retrieving them to a decompression chamber so there is no underwater deco, thus eliminating the need for a second rebreather.