Rebreather or Open Circuit?

[Crock]

I never used a rebreather. Is it any good? which do you prefer?

 

[claymore]

Yes they are good for what they do, long technical dives and or silence when diving (no bubbles). I would prefer a rebreather but can not justify the expense of training, equipment and supplies. I do not want to have to spend the maintenance time and be as aware of what is going on with my equipment as you do with a rebreather.

 

[fireted]

It all depends why you would need to or want to dive SCR/CCR. Akin to choosing a Ford over a Volvo because one has a different type of Seat Warmer..
I dive both open circuit and ccr. It all depends on what and where I am diving. I have no real preference to either.

 

[HowardE]

I never used a rebreather. Is it any good?

Rebreathers are great tools.

which do you prefer?

The right tool for the job. Sometimes it's rebreather, sometimes it's scuba, sometimes it's surface supplied.

 

[PfcAJ]

They are good tools for the right application. The also kill people more easily than OC, and those people that get killed diving them usually don't need them.

 

[TSandM]

Open circuit is wonderfully simple. You breathe what's in the tank on your back. As long as you know what's in that tank (and getting carbon monoxide or other toxic things in your gas IS a risk) then that's what you breathe, and while your regulator is working, life is good.

Rebreathers, which come in a variety of designs, all share one problem: The gas you are breathing has the possibility of not being anything like what's in your tank/s, and may vary from those contents in ways that are dangerous to you. Therefore, rebreathers require a degree of vigilance from the diver that is well in excess of what's required for the same dive on OC.

In addition, the setup and breakdown and maintenance for at least the rebreather I'm familiar with is WAY more than my OC gear. And you must always carry gas to bail out to OC with, anyway.

Rebreathers have advantages, which is why people use them. The lack of bubbles is appreciated by photographers, who feel they can approach sea life more closely. The extension of gas supply is appreciated by people doing deep or long dives, or traveling to areas where getting OC fills is a problem. The small amount of helium actually consumed is a bonus for people doing technical dives using expensive, high helium mixes.

Closed circuit rebreathers require retraining your buoyancy control reflexes, and at least my first dive on one was quite humbling.

For my money, unless the dives you are doing shift the equation, OC wins hands down for the vast majority of divers.

 

[mania]

I have made up my mind - have a look at my avatar

 

[TechBlue]

They are good tools for the right application. The also kill people more easily than OC, and those people that get killed diving them usually don't need them.

Not completely accurate

Everything is relative, what kind of diving would you like to do? Secondly bear in mind that diving breathers with those noisy bubblemakers can be troublesome because charters catering to OC mainly aren't too crazy about long runtimes when everybody is back on the boat waiting for you, so you also need to consider who you will be diving with, fortunately there are many breather divers out there so this is becoming less of a problem, maintenance is not really a big deal as it becomes part of the routine.

Depending on your long term goals for diving a breather can end up saving you quite a lot of money in OC equipment.

 

[Rhone Man]

I do believe long term we will all eventually be diving rebreathers. But that day is still aways off, both in terms of cost and reliability (sorry, but that's my view). For most people OC is going to remain the sensible choice for quite some time.

 

[HowardE]

and those people that get killed diving them usually don't need them.

Did you know them?