Just Bought a Sport Kiss

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

Yeh, It was kinda weird how it all went down.

I been talking about the Kiss for about a year, and that was the direction I wanted to go. I started diving the Dolphin again, started buying tanks etc, went diving the other day and couldn't believe how much I missed diving Rb's.

I sold the Dolphin, and between that, and the tanks etc, I got close to $3k.

Then came along a brand new Sport Kiss on the forms on here, from Jill, who was local, and I said to myself, $3,800.00 , and shes including the tanks, thats a hell of a deal, and its new ! Plus she was local, and met me half way, so I didn't have to mess with shipping it etc, and not knowing what I was really getting before it arrived.

I was going to go back to open circuit, sell the Dolphin, and save little more, and in about 6 months make the plunge, and decided to do it now, when i saw her selling a brand new Sport Kiss.

Yeah, i need to pay for training, and buy a B/P and wing, so theres little more cost there, but then I'm hopefully done for a while, and my next upgrade possibly down the road will be something like a Optima, which is also what I wanted.

If I didn't spend so much on my DSLR camera set up a couple of months back, I would have went with the Optima.

I thought the SK would be a great way to get into recreational diving with a CCR re breather, and I could start shooting pics again, once I feel comfortable using the SK.

I been bouncing back and forth for the past several years between O/C and the Dolphin, and hopefully the mCCR isn't to task loading on me, with carrying around the camera, and it works out. I'm really looking forward to the interaction with the fish again, and diving CCR , as opposed to SCR, I'm sure it will be really different UW.

 

[scubanimal]

Congrats, seems like that is the tradional path, OC-SCR-CCR. Having done plenty of SCR diving the transition should be straight forward. You're already up to speed on the care, setup of a close loop system. Good luck.

 

[SFLDiver3445]

Congratulations! Sounds like you got a great deal on the rebreather. I've had the good fortune to dive a few times with Doug on Florida S.C.R.U.B.'s trips - Besides being an all around great guy, I've also heard nothing but good things from his students, and he'll probably be able to give you a few valuable pointers about snapping pictures with the rebreather.

I look forward to diving with you on a future Florida S.C.R.U.B.'s trip.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

Thank you both!! I appreciate it, and am very happy, and can't wait.

Douglas did my instruction on the Dolphin and the Azimuth SCR, and I really liked the fact that he was an instructor for the Sport Kiss. I think he's not only a great guy, but a excellent instructor as well, and I'm happy that he can help me with the training on the Sport Kiss.

About 2 years ago, I have dove a few times, my friends mCCR Dolphin that was converted over, which entailed a Kiss Valve also on his conversion, and all though set up is different , it should be the same principle.

Its been a while though, and back then I was reading for hours on diving re-breathers, I kinda forgot allot of it, so once again I'm trying to gain as much knowledge before taking the class, to help the class move along, and hopefully I'll feel comfortable UW diving the unit.

I know one of the biggest issues for me was my bouncy , It takes a while getting used to that.
Diving some 400+ dives on O/C , everything changes with a CCR re-breather, and that will take some time, as I like to hover only a few feet above the reefs usually to get the best shot,.


SLFDiver, I joined the Florida S.C.R.U.B.'s , and looking forward to that as well.

Scubadadmiami emailed me the link, and I was very happy to hear that I can join other RB divers, as it will be very exciting for me.

Looking forward to doing some diving, and thanks for your replies

 

[H2O Photo Pros]

Any update on your training? How are you liking the KISS??

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

Sadley, I had to sell the unit before taking the training.

My job had a recent lay-off, and It came to dam close this time to myself getting laid off. I'm in construction here in Florida, and the construction came to a halt.

Between the unit, the VR3 I bought fot it, and the training, plus the tanks, and all the other extras you have to buy, I was close to $9,000.00

So I talked it over with the wife, and it just wasnt a good time right now.

I just invested over $7K into my UW camera set up ( DSLR ) a few months ago also, and we coulnd't justify spending close to 20K between both in such a short amount of time.

So I kept the camera set up, and sold the rebreather.

Part that hurt the most was, I sold ALL my open circut gear, as I had no intentions of going back. So i had to buy everything I just sold all over again, tanks, computers, my B/P and wing, I sold everything, crossing over to the S/K

I'm hoping to give it a year, and if it picks up, I will be sure to go down the road again.

I can't thanks Douglas enough for his support, he is one of a kind

Thanks for asking, it breaks my heart just talking about it

 

[Dr. Doug Ebersole]

Marco:

Thanks for the kind words. I finished up the class for Cheryl Carroll (who bought your Sport Kiss) and Bill Parks last weekend. They both did great and "your unit" performed flawlessly. Hope the economy turns around soon and you can get back into CCR diving.

Doug

 

[caveseeker7]

Sorry to hear it didn't work out as planned.
I feel your pain, I've been there a time or two, and had to delay the RB purchase for a while.
Not an easy choice, but likely the better decision. Better luck next time around.

 

[Mr.X]

Sorry to hear that too. The economy in the housing sector is simply dreadful, but like anything it'll cycle. If anything, the SK, or comparable units will have evolved even more making your next purchase quite value-oriented and far more dependable! Trust me, I have a Megalodon with the original Shearwater electronics in it. This means I will effectively lose 3K because it will die....soon. The newest model(s) of RB's are always better.

Cheers,

X