Recurring Costs

[123frankie]

Wow,Why not just buy a sub?I never knew that rebreathers cost that much.I love diving,but to me it doesnt seem worth it. Yes less bubbles in caves,less weight,more time under water.But what do they put in for gas that gets you that high? Ive heard you also need to be real carefull and more people dye from these than you would think.It just seems to me that its alot of work,money and would take the fun out of diving.I dont know alot about these things. But to me,it seems like its not worth it.What makes it worth all this? Yes,in caves nothing falling from above from bubbles,or yes you dont scare fish. But what am i missing here?Thanks Frankie

 

[Gill Envy]

Wow,Why not just buy a sub?I never knew that rebreathers cost that much.I love diving,but to me it doesnt seem worth it. Yes less bubbles in caves,less weight,more time under water.But what do they put in for gas that gets you that high? Ive heard you also need to be real carefull and more people dye from these than you would think.It just seems to me that its alot of work,money and would take the fun out of diving.I dont know alot about these things. But to me,it seems like its not worth it.What makes it worth all this? Yes,in caves nothing falling from above from bubbles,or yes you dont scare fish. But what am i missing here?Thanks Frankie

You raise some good points and I would sure hope people resist any kind of fad mentality when getting into rebreathers, you should seriously think about whether all the expense and hassle is truly worth it for you. It's a very personal thing. People tend to move to rebreathers once they reach the limits on OC in what they are doing. For me, it was not a matter of depth, Originally, I mainly wanted to stay down longer and enjoy the zen of fishness. Eventually I ventured deeper too.

here's what makes it worth it for me:

-Warmer, moister air.
-Much longer NDL's for recreational diving (been on quite a few 130 ft max dives, an hour in to find I'm still at 80 ft. with zero NDL, try doing that on OC.)
- substantially reduced nitrogen burn post dive, due to the hyperberic oxygen treatment that is diving CCR.
-for air diving, it's really not that complex... recreational diving unleashed! Imagine a nitrox blender on your back!
-virtually no MOD
-much more feasible gas management for tech dives (it was not worth it to me to do tech diving until I got a rebreather... too many tanks, too short a time at depth... CCR has opened things up quite a bit!)
-Much more managable gas volumes for multi day trips beyond the range of a dive shop or compressor.
-more efficient use of trimix
-the same back up tank fills are typically used for many, many dives... minimal tank refilling
-minimal cost to banking and trans filling gas
-luxuriously long dives
-wonderful photographic and wildlife observation opportunities
-can pack in more dive sites per dive/dive trip

the one main downside:
-complacency kills. you need to know yourself and be realistic about how absent minded humans are by nature and plan with wide safety margins and not rely too much on the rebreather taking care of you. Choose a system that keeps you engaged.

 

[JDostal]

It is expensive, no wady around it. But at a certain point doing dives on OC is juts not practical. This summer I was doing dives at 170 for 60 minutes with 90+ minutes of deco. So easy on a rebreather but I'd hate to do that on oc.

Posted from my phone.

 

[Gill Envy]

It is expensive, no way around it. But at a certain point doing dives on OC is juts not practical. This summer I was doing dives at 170 for 60 minutes with 90+ minutes of deco. So easy on a rebreather but I'd hate to do that on oc.

Posted from my phone.

I found diving recreational OC even to be expensive when I took into account the cost per minute of diving I was paying overall per trip for those fleeting moments under water. even with the cost of tec gear, the bulk of cost per dive trip is in travel and lodging and boat/staffing. If you look at the overall cost of diving per hour, a rebreather substantially increases the amount of hours of quality dive time one can get per trip. For even avid OC recreational divers who just can't get their fill with OC, CCR's are an attractive way to substantially increase bottom time and peak experiences without adding that much to the overall cost of diving per hour. For me, life is short, the opportunities to get away are limited and I want to make the most of each trip.

for recreational and even tec CCR most of the expense is up front, and yes, it's not cheap and enough of a hassle that it will only ever be worth it to the truly avid diver.

g

 

[bletso]

I found diving recreational OC even to be expensive when I took into account the cost per minute of diving I was paying overall per trip for those fleeting moments under water. even with the cost of tec gear, the bulk of cost per dive trip is in travel and lodging and boat/staffing. If you look at the overall cost of diving per hour, a rebreather substantially increases the amount of hours of quality dive time one can get per trip.
g

Yep, try 3 hrs in 15-20 msw with only 11 mins deco at the end, and that we cut that in half by switching to O2. Try that on OC. Just 20 kilo of gear and used only 5ish cf diluent and 6 cf O2.

Dale

 

[bracko]

You raise some good points and I would sure hope people resist any kind of fad mentality when getting into rebreathers, you should seriously think about whether all the expense and hassle is truly worth it for you. It's a very personal thing. People tend to move to rebreathers once they reach the limits on OC in what they are doing. For me, it was not a matter of depth, Originally, I mainly wanted to stay down longer and enjoy the zen of fishness. Eventually I ventured deeper too.

here's what makes it worth it for me:

-Warmer, moister air.
-Much longer NDL's for recreational diving (been on quite a few 130 ft max dives, an hour in to find I'm still at 80 ft. with zero NDL, try doing that on OC.)
- substantially reduced nitrogen burn post dive, due to the hyperberic oxygen treatment that is diving CCR.
-for air diving, it's really not that complex... recreational diving unleashed! Imagine a nitrox blender on your back!
-virtually no MOD
-much more feasible gas management for tech dives (it was not worth it to me to do tech diving until I got a rebreather... too many tanks, too short a time at depth... CCR has opened things up quite a bit!)
-Much more managable gas volumes for multi day trips beyond the range of a dive shop or compressor.
-more efficient use of trimix
-the same back up tank fills are typically used for many, many dives... minimal tank refilling
-minimal cost to banking and trans filling gas
-luxuriously long dives
-wonderful photographic and wildlife observation opportunities
-can pack in more dive sites per dive/dive trip

the one main downside:
-complacency kills. you need to know yourself and be realistic about how absent minded humans are by nature and plan with wide safety margins and not rely too much on the rebreather taking care of you. Choose a system that keeps you engaged.

what a fantastic response. thanks for that... I think i need to read into CCR and SCCR a lot more. it's something that greatly interests me

[for some reason i couldn't "thanks button" your reply.]

 

[netmage]

Wow,Why not just buy a sub?I never knew that rebreathers cost that much.I love diving,but to me it doesnt seem worth it. Yes less bubbles in caves,less weight,more time under water.But what do they put in for gas that gets you that high? Ive heard you also need to be real carefull and more people dye from these than you would think.It just seems to me that its alot of work,money and would take the fun out of diving.I dont know alot about these things. But to me,it seems like its not worth it.What makes it worth all this? Yes,in caves nothing falling from above from bubbles,or yes you dont scare fish. But what am i missing here?Thanks Frankie

Tempo......

 

[123frankie]

Tempo......

Your right! It's up to each person.But when you add up the cost to learn the right way of using a rebreather and the cost of your regular scuba gear. I wouldn't think it's much cheeper.What's the cost of getting into something like this? I heard it cost about$7,000 plus to learn to do this. I find that hard to believe. But penny candy cost a dime now.So i wouldn't put a $7,000 price tag past learning to do this. Then i heard its like another $10,000 for gear. Anyway im probley wrong on the cost. But your talking like $17,000 plus for everything. Im sure it depends on what type of gear you get also.Then if your spending that kind of money,whats a extra thousand to upgrade to a better system. If i was getting one of these systems. I proubly wouldnt want the basic systems. Im sure it would be to your benifit to spend a little extra on gear,to get alot more gear for the money. Like i said . I know nothing about this. But someone said it might work out to be cheeper with more bottom time.But as far as the money goes. When you add up getting started in each system. I would think that the extra $13,000 would go a long way. This sport is great,but it's not cheep no matter how you look at it. I was getting fitted for my drysuit and felt bad for this guy who was buying fins and a mask for his dive class in two days. It was going to cost him a couple hundren just for the basics. He was taking his classes in two more days and couldnt buy his gear yet.I myself am trying a hookah.It might be cheeper,but you still have alot of mainstance. Change the oil every 2-3 hundren hours.Need to add additive to the gas every dive.If your not going to use it for a couple of weeks. Then you have to run the gas out of the engine,plus use two drain holes to drain the rest of the gas.Then use a spray protectant on the engine after each dive. Even these hookahs cost time and money.Then i havent bought tank air for awhile. I noticed that even that went up in price. WoW!This isnt a cheep sport.But its worth every penny.And thanks for the information on rebreathers. No one uses one that i know of. Plus you don't hear much about them,unless you go to the rebeather site. And then,its only on whats going on with a couple of guys. I dont heard much on cost,or alot of information in one post like you did. Their interesting,but cost.Then who's going to fill them up? And what happens if you need work done on them. We only have a couple of dive shops in my area. Im sure they dont anything on rebreathers.So if i got one,i would proubly running to the welding shops.Thanks frankie

 

[Tienuts]

A hookah? You can't be serious.

In addition to all the maintenance issues you brought up, with a hookah You can only use it for local shore diving, as no boat captain would ever allow you to bring that kind of thing on a dive boat. I imagine those things are a PITA to carry from your car to the water's edge. You can't travel with the thing. What's the point?

Is there any good shore diving in Cape Cod? 3 hours even at the best dive sites can get old quick. You get tired, or hungry, or just bored. Doing drift dives on the great reefs Palm Beach, I'm pretty much done after 3 hours.

Do yourself a favor, and take the $3k and buy a nice set of doubles. Much more useful than a hookah

Tony

 

[Black Jack]

I'd second that! I can't imagine going off the eastern US with a hookah. The only folks who use them around my area are some of the golf ball divers. $3k will get you a decent set of gear and some doubles.

Diving is expensive, rebreather diving even more so! Of course it does not help that the guy who makes my rebreather seems to come out with an even more cool, new model about every 18 months!

Ed