Advice needed for wantabee newbee

[brewmasher]

I am an advance O.W diver with a passion for diving Great Lakes wrecks. My goal is to go tech in 3 years. Looking at the equipment costs to go twin 120 steel, it looks like going the rebreather route would be the most versitile and could be cheaper in the long run. What is your advice for a plan of action? I am thinking of taking nitrox classes over the next year, diving nitrox next season, then rebreather classes, diving rebreather at recreational level the following season, then starting deco/ tech. Or do you think I can skip diving nitrox tanks and go right into a rebreather?

How do you pay for equipment? Save? Finance? Rob a bank?

 

[hnladue]

I have just started rebreather training. I couldn't see spending the $$ on doubles and such when going to a rebreather, in the long run, is actually cheaper(and easier!).

To start, get your Advanced Nitrox Course. You'll need it to start diving rebreathers. My instructor can get you a evolution to rent if you'd like to go with that rebreather. You can get your cert done in one week! It about 8 hours of diving however, maybe more. Used rebreathers are available. The prices aren't bad. Or start saving!!! I'm currently training on the inspiration with the vision electronics. After diving with this, I can't see buying anything else!!

Check out rebreatherworld.com good forums.

Check out A+ Pro divers for rebreather training. He can do training in the St Lawrence (warm water!) www.bottomtimecharters.com

Good luck!
Heather.

 

[wedivebc]

I am an advance O.W diver with a passion for diving Great Lakes wrecks. My goal is to go tech in 3 years. Looking at the equipment costs to go twin 120 steel, it looks like going the rebreather route would be the most versitile and could be cheaper in the long run. What is your advice for a plan of action? I am thinking of taking nitrox classes over the next year, diving nitrox next season, then rebreather classes, diving rebreather at recreational level the following season, then starting deco/ tech. Or do you think I can skip diving nitrox tanks and go right into a rebreather?

How do you pay for equipment? Save? Finance? Rob a bank?

I did a breakdown of average costs comparing the OC vs CCR route and posted it on another forum. The bottom line is if you are doing 20-30 trimix dives a year the RB will pay for itself in 3 years on gas savings alone. The big question to compare is where the RB will take you and for how long. If you consider I frequently dive wrecks that a charter operator charges $120 for 2 dives. If I get twice the bottom time as the OC divers I have substantially increased my cost advantage.
I also like the fact I don't feel time pressured by dwindling gas supply and I don't get as cold when diving RB. I prefer the quiet aspect and for those reasons usually seek out other CCR buddies.
I seldom dive OC anymore.

 

[Gill Envy]

I went streight from advanced recreational diving to CCR. Got the nitrox cirt in order to dive CCR and barely used it before starting my CCR class. One trip to honduras and i was simultaniously convinced of the benefits of nitrox and even more so of it's limits on OC. i think of nitrox as a gateway gas, as soon as I got using it I begin truly feeling the advantages of cutting nitrogen out of the mix and soon after realized how much more valuable it would be to be able to adjust the mix to match my depth. I quickly began to experience what a pain it is to be limited by MOD of a fixed mix/variable po2 and exhaling so much of that o2 out with each breathe. I quickly came to see the advantages of constant po2 diving, no MOD's, hours worth of volume in much smaller bottles, drastically excellerated off gassing on ascent with a nifty nitrox blender able to make the perfect mix for every depth, on the fly. I lug 13 cf tanks around now, not 80's. doubles were not a possibility for me as my back was beginning to give me some serious grief...at 35 my lumbar discs were showing signs of wear.

I used to get really tired, cold and achy diving OC air, more so than most of my buddies. now I can do a 2 hour dive and still feel pretty energized without the aches and pains.

My advice: go streight to CCR ASAP, IMHO, if you know you will be diving enough to make it worth while...it's not for everyone. it will take some time before you will likely feel ready to really take it deep. I'd suggest getting lots of hours in up front doing some relatively simple dives and gradually extending your limits and training.

I got a good deal on a credit transfer between cards, baught it on one card and swapped it over for very low APR and paid it off in a year...a hundred plus hours into it and I still don't feel as confident as I did on OC.

Also, I would recommend not getting too caught up in trying to figure out what the perfect rebreather is, better to assume your first one won't be your last. It takes getting some experience to really begin to shape your preferences. Buying used, starting out on mCCR are viable options. there are some serious advantages to manual control if you don't really need a set point controller. rebreathers keep their value and you can always resell and get a different one down the lines...that's what i've done.

my first one was a full eCCR, my second one is a somewhat tricked out mCCR and was on the work bench the day I bought it. I had come to want a configuration that no one offered as stock so I modified it with different electronics, rewiring the head from day one (with a fair amount of guidence, mind you). there is no way i would have been comfortable doing that the first time around and no way I would have known what suited my needs until I got 100 hours under my belt.

take some time, decide if you are going mCCR or eCCR and then learn as much as you reasonably can about the various ones available and then just take the plunge with one and go have fun!

hope that helps!

 

[stevewirl]

id take as much time to do the courses the whole way up . nitrox , addvanced nitrox , extended range (deco) , tri mix , and then rebreather , this means that you would have the full knowledge behind you .
as rebreather diver its the way to go . do the courses but you dont have to go down that road . the extra knowledge will stand to you along the way .
bail outs and the like are better covered in the tri mix course .
make sure you do the course with a reputal center no matter how much it costs . and keep the traing and drills practiced in the shallows .

in short take your time no rush and do it right .

 

[padiscubapro]

id take as much time to do the courses the whole way up . nitrox , addvanced nitrox , extended range (deco) , tri mix , and then rebreather , this means that you would have the full knowledge behind you .
as rebreather diver its the way to go . do the courses but you dont have to go down that road . the extra knowledge will stand to you along the way .
bail outs and the like are better covered in the tri mix course .
make sure you do the course with a reputal center no matter how much it costs . and keep the traing and drills practiced in the shallows .

in short take your time no rush and do it right .

With the right instructor and agency there is no need to take the oc path.. all the knowledge gained in OC classes can be taught along side the CCR stuff..

I have several of my past CCR students doing dives near 150m that never had ANY oc advanced experience.. I trained them fully on CCR, I personally think they were better off since they did all the dives they would have had to do on oc (along with the required dives for the ccr certification) but since they were trained on CCRs the dives were much longer and they gained additioal experience they would not have gained were they on OC..

 

[Jeff Toorish]

Excellent advice so far on this thread.

The benefits of CCR over OC are clear --especially as you are planning to move into more techincal diving. There is another element to rebreather diving that I believe is important --awareness. Diving CCR simply requires you to be more aware of your diving, from the quiet nature to the more precise buoyancy requirments. You have to far more fully understand all aspects of your diving --and that will make you a better diver.

I went CCR earlier this year --did massive research on rebreathers. PM me if you're interested on what I discovered.

Jeff

 

[scubanimal]

One thing I would add, is when you seriously are considering getting into a CCR is that you evaluate yourself. CCRs require a very detailed oriented person, most of us are considered anal by our friends. This is required because the technology for RBs has not reached that of OC. Gill's comment about still not feeling as confident after 100 hrs I think would be echo'd by everyone. Not just because of the learning curve but in part because we just don't trust these things that much.
RB diving is wonderful, but very unforgiving of errors. As you may have read already, way too many very good people have met their end while RB diving. So as much as I love diving these things, and really want more folks to do this, you owe to yourself and those that care about you to be honest if you have the right mindset to be safe. If you're happy with your decisions then go for it, find the best instructor you can, try several different types, listen to the pros and cons and relate them to what is best for you.

I wish I had started earlier, it would have saved me a lot $$$$$$$.