When I first started diving rebreather I bought a used draeger dolphin got properly trained and enjoyed the semi quitet world of semi closed rebreather technology. It was not long before the limitations of the rebreather became apparent so I looked for ways to improve it. Fortunately a good friend of mine had just gone down the same path and was able to lead the way to a hybrid KISS/Dolphin marriage that made my Dolphin far more versatile. The problem was I now owned a rebreather that I was no longer qualified to dive. I was able to pass off my Draeger cert card to less rebreather savvy operators or others who knew me and were OK with what I was doing. I eventually sought out this same friend who was also a KISS rebreather instructor and did the training. Unfortunately I was still uncertified although properly trained to dive my unit with its modifications because no agency recognizes what is considered a homebuild.
Every rebreather starts out is someone's basement, garage, back room as a homebuild until the concept takes off and you sell a hundred of them and are able to convince a training agency to certify divers and instructors.
Since most units are based on similar principles this certification should be more generic. It is time that rebreather training become less specific and recognize the fact that a rebreather builder is probably more qualified to dive his unit than many trained off-the-shelf rebreather divers.
This unit specific attitude is akin to making an open circuit diver get a different c-card when they switch from apeks to scubapro regs. Is generic RB training is being rejected by agencies because they make less money off multiple certs? Is it the insurance companies who want a company with deep pockets to go after when a rebreather fails to support life.
I recently saw a guy on a forum trying to buy blank c-cards to address this problem. This just illustrates how desperate some people are to get certified on their home made rebreathers. I suggest anyone who can build one and dive it is probably qualified to hold a valid c-card.
Every rebreather starts out is someone's basement, garage, back room as a homebuild until the concept takes off and you sell a hundred of them and are able to convince a training agency to certify divers and instructors.
Since most units are based on similar principles this certification should be more generic. It is time that rebreather training become less specific and recognize the fact that a rebreather builder is probably more qualified to dive his unit than many trained off-the-shelf rebreather divers.
This unit specific attitude is akin to making an open circuit diver get a different c-card when they switch from apeks to scubapro regs. Is generic RB training is being rejected by agencies because they make less money off multiple certs? Is it the insurance companies who want a company with deep pockets to go after when a rebreather fails to support life.
I recently saw a guy on a forum trying to buy blank c-cards to address this problem. This just illustrates how desperate some people are to get certified on their home made rebreathers. I suggest anyone who can build one and dive it is probably qualified to hold a valid c-card.
