Technically-minded Wannabe Diver

[Spectre]

Scuba446 once bubbled...
Why would anyone want to spend $5,000+ for something so dangerous, when they can buy a set of twins, and dive safer, for 1/5th of the cost?

I talked to a guy for a boat-ride about his Inspiration rebreather. He was going through the reasons it adds up to being cheaper than running doubles. I forget exactly what all his points where, but a big part of it was the per dive cost.

Trimix around here is ~ $100 per set of doubles. He ran his rebreather with a 19 ft3 heliox bottle as a dilutent to end up with trimix. 19 ft3 of heliox is a hell of a lot cheeper than 200 ft3 of trimix.

 

[MikeFerrara]

When it comes to trimix it wouldn't take many dives to pay for the rebreather. Also you could dive for multiple days without having to lug many bottles and or compressors. They can also be a big asset for long penetrations. And then there is what a constant PPO2 does for your decompression obligation.

I want one!

 

[Spectre]

MikeFerrara once bubbled...
I want one!

I've been trying hard to ignore all discussions on rebreathers, but unfortunately no matter how hard I tried, I still ended up hearing enough for the worst to happen. The last thing I wanted was something else to _want_. Oh well...

 

[cavediver]

TheQuantumFishe once bubbled...
:doctor: I am a technically-minded person, interested in becoming a certified diver..

My question is this: Is it possible to get a type of diving-equivalent to aircraft "type ratings" (in which one would be certified on specific pieces of equipment), and bypass the usual OC certification; or is this step mandatory?

Ther reason I am asking is that, after reading about Open Circuit, Semi Closed Rebreather, and Closed Circuit Rebreather apparatus, it seems to me that , at least for me, I'd rather make one investment in one type of gear, keep it for a number of years, and upgrade to something more advanced when it becomes available.

I have no aversion to doing the standard open-water/OC stuff, it's just that I'm not planning on buying any of my own gear that will be OC when more mature technology is available for underwater life support.

Thank you for your replies.

Warm regards,
Stephen Brown
Traverse City, Michigan

rebreathers are a type of advanced diving. so the open circuit comes first to learn about diving. just like one has to solo in a plane before they fly by instruments