CCR or DPV? Or Why you need a Scooter.

[jadairiii]

For those of you considering moving from open circuit to an RB for more bottom time consider this. My buddies and I did a nice dive yesterday on open circuit, double Alum 80's using Suex XJ 37 scooters: (spoiler alert, my SAC ended up being a .39)

We dropped in on the Lady Luck wreck, deck is about 110' and bottom is about 120', great conditions, we tied off the torpedo float and we shot down to the sand to check out an 8' bull shark that showed up to check us out. We did a whole circuit of the wreck along with a bit of penetration, the took a compass heading and scootered our way to the Rodeo 25, there we were greeted by a very large black grouper and lots of cuda and a ton of reef fish, we tied off the float again, did a circuit of the wreck (the recent hurricane really beat it up) then, off again to the 3rd reef. South Florida reefs are in 3 basic reef lines, but those 3 each are in a couple of sections each. We come into the deep reef, lots of fish and some huge lobsters, then onto the main section of the 3rd where a very large Lemon shark buzzed us. We traveled across the 3rd, then through the sand, to a deeper section of the second reef (or shallower 3rd?), lots to see, then off to the next reef line, do a bit of north/south running to check out this rarely dove reef, then on to some super white sand, it looked like diving in a swimming pool! Scooter some more checking out all those critters that live in the sand area, which can be at times more exciting than diving the reef, very few dive this section, too bad for them. We finally get to the true 2nd reef where the reef balls are, we do some north/south running and then, for fun, do some skill work, valve drills, gas switches and such, just to stay in shape. Total run time was 2 hours, and we surfaced with 1200 psi still in my back gas (30/30). Also nice is the boat being right there, within feet of our torpedo float.

Hard to argue the joy of diving a quality scooter and the "safety" of open circuit. The sea life you can see on a 2 hour dive covering that distance is amazing (google earth it), plus starting in 120' of water and ending your dive in 18' with 60 cuft of gas left is pretty fun. Not to mention not having to spend the next 6 hours cleaning your RB.....anyway, that is diving in the "fast lane"!

 

[tomfcrist]

6 hours cleaning a rebreather post dive? Not so much.

I find that for a person that is anal retentive about cleaning their gear, it takes an hour to clean up a CCR. It takes me just as long to clean up a set of doubles and a Scooter.

But to your point, a Scooter is an invaluable addition to both CCR and OC divers...it makes life a hell of a lot easier in any kind of current, or when long travel distances are nessecary. The best part is that they are relatively cheap used...and really not even that expensive new.

 

[JohnnyC]

Scooters are great, for OC or CC, but the dive you mentioned isn't really something I'd consider a CCR for in the first place. That's not say I wouldn't ever use a CCR for that dive, but unless guys are diving exclusively on CCR, that's not really a dive I'd expect anyone to make on the loop anyway. At least among the other CCR divers that I know personally.

Where I would use a CCR for shallow reef dives is something like a week of those dives, where you're getting 3 or 4 days of diving on a single scrubber, top up on O2 and dil when necessary, dry the head and the loop out between days. It's lighter and more compact than a pair of twins.

I know you were hyperbolizing, but it seriously takes me 20 minutes to clean and disinfect my CCR. Let's not overstate the complexity of what's going on.

 

[jadairiii]

Forgot one item, at the end of the 2 hours the battery life indicator on the Suex was at 71%.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

swimming is for chumps.

 

[hroark2112]

6 hours I could overhaul all of my rebreathers.

 

[JohnnyC]

You could make a functional rebreather in that amount of time....
.

6 hours I could overhaul all of my rebreathers.

 

[Kevrumbo]

At 888'/270m length, the WWII Aircraft Carrier USS Saratoga at Bikini Atoll requires a DPV Scooter to motor about on a full "grand tour" to see the entire wreck. Depth ranges from around 30m at the Flight Deck & passageway decks below, to 55m max at where the bow meets the sand bottom. Unfortunately due to the blast effects of the atomic bomb tests and being submerged for over 70 years now, the flight deck is caving in and collapsed down onto the lower hanger deck space.


Normally -other than the usual penetration hazards in deep wreck technical overhead diving- as an external tour dive with fair visibility 21m and 29°C temp (June/July 2013), the only other hazard to be aware of are strong surface currents. Even with a scooter, it can be a physically demanding surface swim in CCR or OC twinsets & towing bailout/deco cylinders, jumping in from the stern of the liveaboard kicking AND scootering to the bow mooring line; and then descending/pulling down along the mooring line to the carrier's flight deck level below at 27m.

 

[Steve_C]

To each their own but rushing from one spot to another is not my cup of tea (or bottle of beer). I like to take my time and see what is in the nooks and crannies. Sounds kind of like a tour of Europe where every day you are in a different country. Some like that kind of tour. Not my thing.

 

[jadairiii]

To each their own but rushing from one spot to another is not my cup of tea (or bottle of beer). I like to take my time and see what is in the nooks and crannies. Sounds kind of like a tour of Europe where every day you are in a different country. Some like that kind of tour. Not my thing.

I think you are missing my point on the use of a scooter as a tool. Regardless if you are diving a recreational profile or a more technical profile, you can only spend so much time on a deep(er) wreck (or reef) checking out the "nooks and crannies". The benefit of the XJ 37 is once you have maxed out your dive time on the first location, hit the trigger and move shallower and find some more "nooks and crannies" to explore. On the dive above, I went into deco twice, but as we gradually ascended up the reef we enjoyed the view and off gassed. Each reef line we would stop and explore or if we saw something of interest stop and check it out. Not only will a scooter extend your gas, it really extends your range of what you can see.

Another common dive profile (and one we did Friday) is to drop on a deep reef and lobster, hitting all the "nooks and crannies" and when we get close, or hit a deco obligation, then hammer the trigger and move shallower, for more lobsters or whatever.

There is no "rushing" to do anything on these dive.