Question CCR for recreational depths

[Snusmumrik]

???
My Technisub Aralu twin set weights 24 kg. It features that fantastic spring-loaed reserve, which ensure no risk of getting caught OOA, even if you forgive to watch your SPG.
Having such a nice air tank was one of the reasons for which I gave up using a CCR for recreational shallow dives.
Amd I see no reason for coming back...
I understand using a CCR for deep technical dives with Helium.
But frankly, for normal dives at less than 40 meters with light deco (so still fully recreational) my lightweight twin tank is perfectly adequate and providing me with plenty of dive time, limited by duration of deco stops, not by lack of gas.

Mwah... My rebreather weights 16 kg. It gave me 2 to 3 hours underwater, limited by my physical conditions.
No risk of getting caught OOG. Plenty of oxygen. Warm and wet breathing gas.

As i started to dive rebreather at very beginning of my underwater career, i see no reason for coming to OC side.
Pack can of sorb, pair of 2l 200bar O2 bottles, and go for at least 5 hours underwater for normal dives at less than 40 meters with light deco (so still fully recreational).
No need to carry compressor, no need to worry about how to fill tanks, no need to worry about OOG (yes, offboard bailout also servers as DIL source).

But if your Technisub Aralu twin set somehow gets an HP o-ring break or LP freeflow or fantastic spring-loaed reserve get stuck closed - you're dead or heavily injured by DCS/barotrauma/something else (you choose).

Main reasons for me to dive recreational rebreather:
1. Lot of gas relative to OC.
2. Easy to go away from filling station for a lot of time.
3. Can stay underwater much longer.
4. Less risk to get OOG.
5. Warm and wet breathing gas.
6. Last but not least. Silence. Often i've heard OC divers before i can see it.

Yes, rebreathers look a bit complicated relative to OC.
But it's like driving a car with manual gearbox vs automatic transmission.

Also.

This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.

Substitute rebreather for rifle.

 

[Wibble]

This thread may be of relevance when discussing dive weights

Weight of rebreathers -- Ready to dive?

Am curious about the weight of rebreathers in a ready to dive state. This means it's fully packed with oxygen & diluent cylinders plus scrubber, any additional weight, full harness, spare light, cutting devices, batteries, drysuit inflate... Everything except for bailout. If it's a...

scubaboard.com

 

[L13]

But it's like driving a car with manual gearbox vs automatic transmission.

This! For CCR the "automatic transmission" is in early days. In the early days of cars, driving as was for professionals and advanced hobbyists only, now driving is for the masses.

 

[formernuke]

View attachment 781178
Just a heads up for anyone considering rebreathers. There is a lot to know and understand and its nothing yo enter into lightly. Mel Clark is an amazing source for information and probably o ne of the best instructors on the planet. Her informative and easy to understand manual should be your first step. You probably need to search the internet to find her or the manual. She is a TDI instructor and lives in Seattle, Washington, USA. WWW.silentscuba.com; Email-Scubagrunt@gmail.com; Flyingcash@gmail.com.
Good luck and happy diving

Those of us that have survived her classes are thinking of starting a support group.

 

[Angelo Farina]

But if your Technisub Aralu twin set somehow gets an HP o-ring break or LP freeflow or fantastic spring-loaed reserve get stuck closed - you're dead or heavily injured by DCS/barotrauma/something else (you choose).

As the Aralu is Yoke, not DIN, I effectively had a couple of O-ring extrusions. I simply closed the affected reg and continued the dive using the other one. No problem!
You do not understand how the spring loaded reserve works. If it gets stuck, it will NOT block air passage, leaving you the full capacity of your tank.
This indeed never happened on my tank, as the spring-loaded reserve is a really simple mechanism, requiring no maintenance. My tank was manufactured in 1973, and the valves are still working perfectly!
Said that, when I started diving, CCR were used for low-depth recreational diving. Both I and my wife used them during a vacation of one week at Isola D'Elba, in 1979. We were at a location where there was not any air-filling available, se we did get two additional oxygen tanks and some additional soda lime canisters, and we managed to dive for one week with our two Cressi ARO rebreathers.
Still the depth was limited, and we really wanted to come back in that fabulous sea using a proper twin tank. So I was a recreational CCR diver! Having done it, the decision to give up was based on first-hand experience.
I continued looking at the evolution off CC rebreathers, as we did love the silence of not releasing any bubble, and the breathing-invariant buoyancy. I even ended up working for SIEL, a company making CC rebreathers for military corps (they did purchase OMG), and trying to make them even more silent.
Here you see me in the SIEL test tank making noise measurements with one of their CC rebreathers:

Unfortunately these devices became progressively more complex (and more performant, of course), but never gave me the confidence for bringing them back in use for recreational diving with my wife and our two children.
We trained them diving with small air tanks, not with CC rebreathers, as was instead my and my wife's training when young.
Sorry, the time for CC rebreathers is gone for us...

 

[Snusmumrik]

Said that, when I started diving, CCR were used for low-depth recreational diving. Both I and my wife used them during a vacation of one week at Isola D'Elba, in 1979. We were at a location where there was not any air-filling available, se we did get two additional oxygen tanks and some additional soda lime canisters, and we managed to dive for one week with our two Cressi ARO rebreathers.
Still the depth was limited, and we really wanted to come back in that fabulous sea using a proper twin tank. So I was a recreational CCR diver! Having done it, the decision to give up was based on first-hand experience.

Man, the only thing i can say - Cressi ARO is a toy. You can't span your ARO experience to all rebreathers.
Me own DIY KISS. Dove it for 13 years up to 40 meters deep with slight deco.

depth was limited

This makes your eyes blind.

 

[TTPaws]

Interesting! That is not the distribution I would guess from SB posts.

So here in paradise, not counting visitors I know of 5 AP divers (including myself) and 1 Meg diver.

 

[kimh]

CCR gear is quite pricey, but my main concern is being able to use it frequently enough to really build/maintain CCR skills & muscle memory. And you can't put a CCR in the garage & leave it there like you can with OC gear.

I know enough about CCR to have a healthy fear of not getting everything right.

 

[Celt]

Mwah... My rebreather weights 16 kg. It gave me 2 to 3 hours underwater, limited by my physical conditions.
No risk of getting caught OOG. Plenty of oxygen. Warm and wet breathing gas.

As i started to dive rebreather at very beginning of my underwater career, i see no reason for coming to OC side.
Pack can of sorb, pair of 2l 200bar O2 bottles, and go for at least 5 hours underwater for normal dives at less than 40 meters with light deco (so still fully recreational).
No need to carry compressor, no need to worry about how to fill tanks, no need to worry about OOG (yes, offboard bailout also servers as DIL source).

But if your Technisub Aralu twin set somehow gets an HP o-ring break or LP freeflow or fantastic spring-loaed reserve get stuck closed - you're dead or heavily injured by DCS/barotrauma/something else (you choose).

Main reasons for me to dive recreational rebreather:
1. Lot of gas relative to OC.
2. Easy to go away from filling station for a lot of time.
3. Can stay underwater much longer.
4. Less risk to get OOG.
5. Warm and wet breathing gas.
6. Last but not least. Silence. Often i've heard OC divers before i can see it.

Yes, rebreathers look a bit complicated relative to OC.
But it's like driving a car with manual gearbox vs automatic transmission.

Also.

Substitute rebreather for rifle.

You’re watching to many movies, if you think people are going to believe a rebreather is as simple or reliable as OC. There’s a reason you carry bailout with a rebreather. It’s ridiculous pointing a finger at an oring failure on OC when carrying a rebreather with multiple failure risks.

 

[MidOH]

They're ridiculously simple once you figure them out. But that's not why we bring a bailout.

Its the same reason OC has a bailout bottle.