From someone who knows nothing!

[ScubaBaby]

Right.

I know nothing about rebreathers at all except they dont make bubbles unless its semi-closed or something!

I dont even plan to use a rebreather (esp. Buddy Ins. considering the amount of deaths) but that doesnt mean I dont want to know about them.

Could someone just explain the basics of how they work? Like i said, i know very little - near enough nothing.

 

[roakey]

Here's an excelent site that describes the three basic types:

http://www.bishopmuseum.org/bishop/treks/palautz97/rb.html

Roak

Dr. Richard Pyle, the author of this article, deserves part if not all the credit for discovering the benefit of "deep stops" when decompression diving.

 

[ScubaBaby]

Thanks roakey

That looks like a great site - will have to print it all off tho - the computer screen is giving me a headache!!! Its very useful as a reference anyway.

But another question. Why is the Buddy Ins. so dangerous? Its caused many to die.....whats the cause of it?

 

[roakey]

Here's my opinion, and it's worth every cent you're paying for it.

Not just the Inspiration, but all CCRs in general have one glaring fault: Electronics and water have never mixed well. Don't get me wrong, I love complex machines, but not when my life depends on them. I then turn to simplicity.

I don't know if it's a software bug or a mechanical design flaw, but something's going wrong, very rarely, with the Inspiration and folks are either going hyper or hypoxic. My guess is hypoxic given what little I know about a recent death. When they work they work great, I've buddied with a friend that dives an inspiration and it's a joy to behold. But when it fails, the results are disastrous.

If I ever take the plunge, I'll go the mechanical (read: plays well with water ) SCR route. More time and constant PPO2s aren't worth the risk of a CCR.

Roak

 

[ScubaBaby]

I wouldnt feel comfortable diving with someone on the Buddy Ins. simply down the the fact, if it causes a problem - i dont know enough about it to help other than normal procedures!

I guess thats why I want to learn a bit about them....Belushi tried one of his mates out once...dont know what it was tho - i dont think he wasnt too impressed so i'm safe from having him on one!

 

[TAM Dive]

even though the technology has been around for years, and people actually build there own and dive them??? You go to any diving trade shows, or talk to any of the biggies in the dive world, their all saying rebreathers are the way to go, that you'll see a big push/gains in the next 5 years. I don't know, it seems so easy to just pick up your tanks (filled of course) and with in a very short period of time you are in the water. Rebreathers on the other hand......you have to be totally anal about how you deal with them, the prep time for a dive is somewhat extended, I've heard / read, it's like for every hour of use there is 1/2 to 3 hours of maintenance required........my experience in the industry, it would seem that most people don't want to take the time, they either want it done for them, so they can spend the rest of there time experiencing or doing something else, not having time to sit and maintain equipment. You see this in just your basic diving kit, I have a number of customers that don't take the time to clean the salt off there gear, never mind the process involved with maintaining the CO2 absorbants, cleaning the hoses etc............More bottom time ??? One customer of mine has a couple of rebreathers, (Draiger), we both dive the same part of the lake, the bottom times he is getting (90 minutes in this case) I too get but on a tank, being cold water here in Canada, hypothermia is an issue, some longer bottom time isn't really an advantage...........Another side to this issue..........some of the biggies I have spoken with wouldn't give you a nickle to dive on the sport model rebreathers, not enough safe gaurds, the name that keeps coming up is the Cis Lunar, big bucks compared to the Draegar Ray or Dolphin, or other sport targetted rebreathers, but the Cis Lunar has an amazing track record, can be totally flooded with water and still work, and a triple redundant monitoring system........in short, no hyper or hypoxia and or caustic soda issues.
One comment that really sticks out when discussing rebreathers I've heard from a rebreather iinstructor........."you are diving with a system designed to kill you", food for thought, but I still remain open minded, just the bank account I can't have one.........yet

john

 

[Jonathan]

There was a guy (sorry forgot his name) that was an expert witness in a rebreather death 2 years ago and I believe the rebreather was cleared for causing the death on his testomony - it's not the rebreather but user error.

He died in a rebreather accident last June - I guess it was a short inquest..........

That aside I believe some countries (the UK) being one have quite strict laws on the disposal of the lime in the scrubbers which I guess would put some people off - please correct me if I am wrong.

I must say I am getting twitchy about giving them a try myself - I'm off tomorrow with a chap that claims to have the only Inspiration in Japan and judging by the reaction when he walks past I believe him.

Jonathan

 

[TAM Dive]

You do bring up an interesting point. Never even gave that any consideration.............given the present climate over here, where Recycle, reuse, don't contaminate is the enviromental buzz word.........I'm wondering if proper disposal would involve a hazardous waste treatment???
I did see something interesting at the local dive show last weekend, there are people designing, building and using even double redundant rebreathers. These guys are doing the deep deep penetration of cave systems in Florida. At the same show, this group was doing dives into ice caves on an ice island in the Antarctic, which will be featured in Decembers National Geographic. The beauty of using the rebreather in those conditons is the fact that the gas you are breathing is much warmer then what you could ever get on scuba tanks, this lowered the thermal exchange through your lungs, advantage ??reduced hypothermia and dehydration, which then equalled safer, longer and more productive dives.

john