Diving a Rebreather, Good for a newbie?

[ScubaCollin]

Hey guys, im new to scuba, ive used a regular reg for not long but I was thinking of saving up for a rebreather? What are the risks. Because if one thing goes wrong you could be breathing carbon dioxide and pass out. Is maintnence high?

Any other suggestions are welcome

 

[GratefulDiver]

No. Stick with the basics untill you get MUCH more experience. Not a bad goal, just not for newbies IMNSHO.

Bob

 

[pipedope]

Keep diving OC (open circuit) build hours, experience and good skills.
Read, study and then do more. Knowlege of diving physics and physiology are important in OC but essential in RB diving.

Study the designs of scuba gear.

Become independently wealthy so you can afford the gear and training.

Here is a page of links that will give you something to read for a start;
http://www.jetsam.ca/mod.php?mod=weblink&op=view_category&cid=1&start_num=0

 

[pasley]

ScubaCollin once bubbled...
Hey guys, im new to scuba, ive used a regular reg for not long but I was thinking of saving up for a rebreather? What are the risks. Because if one thing goes wrong you could be breathing carbon dioxide and pass out. Is maintenance high?

Any other suggestions are welcome

Rebreathers are very technical and high maintenance. They require very careful use and maintenance after every use.

Too little O2 or too much O2, a little water in a canister or a whole host of other unseen problems and you could be in serious trouble, or even dead! At least with SCUBA, when you are out of air you know it. With a rebreather, you can be out of O2 and not know it.

I have read of at least 3 SCUBA INSTRUCTORS being seriously injured (2 died) in the past 12 months while using rebreathers.

I would also recommend diving for a time and getting a lot more experience under your belt and gaining more knowledge of SCUBA and rebreathers. The revisit the question in a few years.

These things are also not cheap. They range from a low of $3,000 to over $15,000!

Websites about the subject.

http://www.metacut.com/rebreathers/rbfaq.htm
http://www.therebreathersite.nl/

Now I also have to tell you I do not dive rebreathers and have never used one. So all I know is what I have read and heard about them. I am certain some of the actual users will come online and tell you more about them.

 

[RichLockyer]

Richard Pyle is able to share some valuable information:

http://www.bishopmuseum.org/research/treks/palautz97/rb.html

One of my favorite quotes from him is that after 10 dives on an RB, he thought he knew everything. After 100 dives, he had some questions. After 500, he realized that he really was a novice.

RBs are great. They can also kill you MUCH more quickly than simply running out of air on open circuit. I would not even consider looking into them until I had a solid 200+ dives in a challenging environment (most Cozumel and all Club Med dives don't count).

They are a very valuable TOOL for the diver, but you have to ask what your reason for wanting the RB is. If it is to extend your bottom time, then nitrox is an answer. If it is to extend your gas supply, then a bigger tank is an answer. If it is to reduce your decompression time, then multiple tanks with multiple gasses is an answer (and an answer that provides plenty of redundancy in the even of the failure of a regulator).

If bubbles are creating a problem for photography/videography, then an RB is a viable answer.
If you are doing extremely long cave penetrations that cannot be done on traditional double tanks with stages, then an RB is a viable answer.

To want to use an RB because it's a "cool toy" is just as "wrong" a reason as to want to dive to 150ft just to dive to 150ft.