narrow my options

[lermontov]

Im in the same boat as @rddevit -i have a couple of try dives booked - yes agreed im trying to get past the personal preferences and sales pitch to make as well an informed decision as I can

 

[tomfcrist]

I think try dives are indisputably nessecary...unless you are inherently wealthy and could care less about going through 4-5 different units to find what you like.

 

[rddvet]

Have you gotten in the water with your options? Set them up/broken them them down? It may (or may not) help your decision process some. If I recall the units you are looking at correctly, you will be happy with either decision.

OTOH, I spent a lot of time weighing pro's/con's of three units before I bought my first one, and today, I wouldn't consider buying one of those three units. . But you are looking at units that people with a lot of *real* experience have chosen (not just people who talk a lot on the internet).

I have done everything but dove them. I've been around both, played around with them dry, and been involved in the breakdown and rebuild. They both are basically equal on the pro and cons in the list that I've created. I know I won't go wrong with either, though I'm definitely leaning back towards the fathom now. Obviously test-diving them will be the ultimate final answer, but I'm pushing that off a little bit. I want to get a few dives back in bm doubles again and make sure that it comes right back to me. I want to be comfortable in bm again before any test-dives. But mainly I keep pushing it off because I know as soon as I test dive I'm going to be running to the bank to hand over all of my money like a grandma helping out the nigerian prince she got an email from. The SF2 is pretty easy to set up a test dive with. The fathom a little trickier since the only place to do that currently is with Jon (as far as I am aware).

 

[lermontov]

I have done everything but dove them. I've been around both, played around with them dry, and been involved in the breakdown and rebuild. They both are basically equal on the pro and cons in the list that I've created. I know I won't go wrong with either, though I'm definitely leaning back towards the fathom now. Obviously test-diving them will be the ultimate final answer, but I'm pushing that off a little bit. I want to get a few dives back in bm doubles again and make sure that it comes right back to me. I want to be comfortable in bm again before any test-dives. But mainly I keep pushing it off because I know as soon as I test dive I'm going to be running to the bank to hand over all of my money like a grandma helping out the nigerian prince she got an email from. The SF2 is pretty easy to set up a test dive with. The fathom a little trickier since the only place to do that currently is with Jon (as far as I am aware).

sounds like youve already decided

 

[kensuf]

I have done everything but dove them. I've been around both, played around with them dry, and been involved in the breakdown and rebuild. They both are basically equal on the pro and cons in the list that I've created. I know I won't go wrong with either, though I'm definitely leaning back towards the fathom now. Obviously test-diving them will be the ultimate final answer, but I'm pushing that off a little bit. I want to get a few dives back in bm doubles again and make sure that it comes right back to me. I want to be comfortable in bm again before any test-dives. But mainly I keep pushing it off because I know as soon as I test dive I'm going to be running to the bank to hand over all of my money like a grandma helping out the nigerian prince she got an email from. The SF2 is pretty easy to set up a test dive with. The fathom a little trickier since the only place to do that currently is with Jon (as far as I am aware).

You've probably got multiple options for test diving a fathom. Charlie will be back in the states within the week, I'm sure he and I could get together with you and let you test dive both the SF2 and Fathom on the same day.

 

[rddvet]

You've probably got multiple options for test diving a fathom. Charlie will be back in the states within the week, I'm sure he and I could get together with you and let you test dive both the SF2 and Fathom on the same day.

Thanks, I will likely take you up on that offer once the summer hits and my wife has some extra free time. I knew Jon could do demos, but he's always busy. I didn't demo my friend's who I dove with because he was actively tweaking his at the time, so it wasn't really an option. It would be cool to check them out side by side, plus talking to the unit maker in association with a try-dive would be really helpful.

 

[rjack321]

FYI for history...
I am someone who started in BM, went through OC through full cave and trimix over the course of almost a decade.

Started OC SM because I started diving caves where the carry was too dangerous in BM (they weren't small passages necessarily, just didn't want to trip and break a leg getting from the truck to the opening) Dove OC sidemount for 3 years - in caves. I think the SM everywhere fad is bunkus.

Added a BM CCR (a Meg) dove CCR for 3.5 years both wrecks and caves and almost 200 hrs - Personally I think hours in <50F water, in dry gloves and 8ft vis at 180ft should count for double cause the learning curve is steep there. But alas it doesn't work that way.

Adding a separate SM CCR (in progress) which will be for caves unless I am doing practice dives with it.

Ps If I was going to buy my first CCR today (new) it'd be a fathom. If I could only afford used it would be a Meg (same as I bought used almost 4 yrs ago). I think the revo, sf2, liberty and kiss classic are all capable units for most everything you might need or want as a CCR novice, but they aren't for me. The current optima is well liked, but I don't know enough about it to pass judgment. The only units I (personally) would avoid are the AP (not suitable for rigorous cave diving) and the various kiss spirits (not suitable for cold water).

 

[KevinNM]

You've probably got multiple options for test diving a fathom. Charlie will be back in the states within the week, I'm sure he and I could get together with you and let you test dive both the SF2 and Fathom on the same day.

I like his article on the Fathom in Quest. Could have used some better pictures of the assembled unit, but still good.

 

[mainedvr]

so I need help please from ccr divers on narrowing my purchase options-

My primary interest is wreck diving - im about to do a cavern course for future cave diving options so side mount ccr is a sensible option- however the advice from sales people is its hard to go from OC to a sidemount ccr without having a back mount first- not sure if this a sales pitch or genuine. The SF2 has a back mount option which can convert to side mount - not sure if theres any others.

secondly im keen to do some deep dives (70m+) on my overseas trips ( Solomon's- Truuk- Vanuatu) and need the CCR to be suitable for that so weight and deep diving suitability is important- is that asking too much?

Is side mount ccr with extra bottles a handful for the deep dives to is my best option to go back mount for this ie different tools for different diving

I am not a CCR diver but agree with those that are pointing you to getting what is best for what your doing now or near future and deal with the further out future when it arrives. I tried to get OC gear that would be a fit for various types of dives, and now find myself (like many others) with specific gear for specific diving situations it is a PITA to switch regs and BPW from doubles to singles and back again and so on and so forth. This is just my opinion. But I am sure everyone or most anyhow think this way when they are first getting into a new area of diving. Have fun and be safe.

 

[doctormike]

I would add one slightly contrary point of view to supplement the standard "try before you buy" advice. I think that the OP is not CCR certified yet, so sorry if I'm wrong about that. I found that I really wasn't in a position to understand the various tradeoffs between units until after I was certified. That's why I trained on a rental unit, and didn't buy until after training was complete. Yeah, it costs a bit more, but I'm a lot more comfortable with my purchase decision.

One more thing - if you aren't absolutely committed to sidemount and you have three buddies who are JJ divers, maybe take a look at that unit. Having buddies on the same CCR can be really helpful, both from working out all of the little questions you have over time, and dealing with gear issues. The JJ is an awesome rebreather, very simple but very solidly built. Lots of divers doing big dives use them.