What is stopping you from switching to a rebreather?

[jagfish]

Choosing the right unit, and much like computers, wondering if I buy now what new feature/model that will soon to be released will I miss in my purchase now...

 

[StSomewhere]

I have had both an SCR (Dolphin) and CCR (Inspiration) and have sold them. I do a lot of cave diving and carrying the bailout for the longer dives started to get old with the added drag of counter lungs and all. I have been working on a CCR bailout system that does not increase the drag but the cost of development has held me back for now. When I get the CCR bail out sorted then I will stay primarily CCR. Deep dives same thing it gets task loading carrying bail out for bottom and deco mix. Non deco stuff the SCR IMHO is easier to do on the fly.

I was glad to read your response. I haven't used a rebreather (yet) but they really intrigue me. I really have little interest in hardcore tech diving, but I'd get a CCR in a heartbeat if they made one that incorporated some suitably sized bailout/deco in something like a backgas configuration. It wouldn't have to be over-the-top in terms of bottom time, since AFAIK the CO2 scrubber is the limiting factor anyway. If the Evo is basically a smaller Inspiration, there has to be a way to configure it (or something that size) to hold bailout/deco gas without slinging stage bottles. Doesn't there?

 

[HammerNoMore]

I would say that diving SCR was the highest barrier to entry of diving a CCR.

I trained on the Dolphin and rented them for a couple years but always felt like OC was so much easier from a hassle/benefit analysis. I think this dampened my enthusiasm for rebreathers, so to speak.

I'd agree with this. I also trained on the Dolphin, and I was not particularly impressed. To date I've done the dives for the specialty and none other. Why?

Well, I did it in a quarry under particularly low vis conditions and never had a chance to go below 20'. Never had time to begin to adjust to not being able to controll bouancy with my lungs. I also had the impression that I could do better breating an 80 demand, than the little constant flow tank. Add to that the hassle with assembly/disassembly/cleanup and I decided it was not for me.

If I ever get the chance to dive one in clear water I will. I imagine it would make a big difference on the bouyancy thing...

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

I am doing a little market research.

I for one would love to go all the way - and go rebreather - but, there are certain things stopping me (such as price for example).

What specifically is stopping you from making the change?

If you made the change, what influenced your decisions?

Thanks...

Good question !!!

Im making the "change" right now, and enrolled in a SCR rebreather class on Dec 18th and 19th, and really looking forward to getting into the rebreather world of diving.

For me, after getting into tech diving 2 year's ago, and only limited tech diving, im not even tri-mix certied yet, but after only two year's i had close to 10k of OC gear.

Way i looked at it, i just sold 3 set's of double's,. had $2,500 invested into just them, returned 2 new PSt 100's for another $700, don;t need, sold all my expensive reg's, have 5 set's = almost $2,500 alone in reg's, and so on, get the picture?

So i asked myself, is it really that much more expensive for the type of diving that
" I DO" , and the answere was no !!! Then after researching rebreather for the past month spending hour's reading each night, they have a ton of redundancey built into them, not that i know much yet about them , but only from what i read, and are quiter, warmer air, and i love the fact that i can get longer bottom times at depth for wreck dive's, i love diving wreck's, but on OC , you can't DIVE the wreck, you can only see a part of the wreck, like the Spiegal Groove, and after 25 min, your all ready starting your accent. For me,, if i can get over a hour of bottom times with as little deco obligation as possible, " CCR" and im safe, cause IM setting my PPo2, and it's constant, what more could i ask for!!!

I asked this very question here a few week's ago, and only seeing it more pricey if you had to pull out 5k to just buy one, luckey i had a ton of OC gear for tech , sold it, only to go into CCR for tech diving , getting longer bottom times, and less deco, i hate deco obligation's, now doing it, im getting those stupid little MP3 player's next just to pass time next time i deco, cause there's nothing excting about that part of the diving for me, lol, as you can read.

I see alot of benifit's to diving a rebreather,for recreational, or tech, just read up on them and talk to the people on the board, it's not for everyone, but for me it's alot easyer to carry 1 rebreather and dive it for a few hour's then carrying 4-5 tank's to do the same dive's, and who want's all those LOUD bubble's anyway? hehehe, im looking foward to my class, and have not bought a rebreather yet, but im definatley buying one here soon, and can't wait to dive warmer air, quite, LONGER bottom time's with less or little nitrogen build up, and all the other benfit's to diving a rebreather.

I'll keep you posted once i complete my class, as i'll probley start out buying my first rebreather as a SCR, like the Azimuth, i love that rebreather, but definatley going to CCR down the road, as i am only on the begging path to new and exciting diving, diving with a rebreather. Good luck

 

[jagfish]

I was glad to read your response. I haven't used a rebreather (yet) but they really intrigue me. I really have little interest in hardcore tech diving, but I'd get a CCR in a heartbeat if they made one that incorporated some suitably sized bailout/deco in something like a backgas configuration. It wouldn't have to be over-the-top in terms of bottom time, since AFAIK the CO2 scrubber is the limiting factor anyway. If the Evo is basically a smaller Inspiration, there has to be a way to configure it (or something that size) to hold bailout/deco gas without slinging stage bottles. Doesn't there?

The way I am thinking about it, if you will have to sling one or two stages for deco diving with doubles anyway, I don't mind slinging a tank of bottom mix and dec gas just in case my unit fails. Then I can just keep reusing these slung tanks instead of refilling them as with doubles.

In a balanced system (with doubles anyway) you really don't notice AL 40s.

JAG

 

[bruehlt]

Guys - thanks for the great info.....anything you can provide in terms of info would be great.

It seems a lot of you think that price is the largest determining factor. Additionally, most of you think that skipping a SCR and goind to a fully CCR is the best solution....

I agree that safety is important, but most of the designs out there are fairly safe....

Anything else anyone can think of??

 

[teksimple]

I just DID purchase a rebreather, but if I was not in Baghdad as a contractor spending your tax dollars, I certainly would not have been able to afford one before. I have wanted to get a closed circuit rebreather ever since that National Geographic article on Bill Stone and his Cis-lunar-enabled cave exploration in the early nineties. So it has been a dream of mine for over 10 years. I voted for price.

How is that? Some man's tax burden (not to mention death and destruction) is another man's closed circuit rebreather...

 

[Bobby]

This is only my opinion and some will disagree but I feel that if you are a recreational diver moving towards rebreathers then SCR to CCR is an important step. When you do dives (and are trained for) that require decompression with stages and gas switches then going straight to CCR may be considered. The reason for this is task loading. When moving into CCR's the task loading for monitoring all three to four of your O2 sensors as well as gas preassure's and boyancy issues can over whelm a recreational diver very quickly. It is not the 90% of the time that things go correct that is the problem. It is the 10% that a small issue gets out of hand due to task loading. I am not saying that one type of diver is better than the other what I am only trying to point out is that divers that do deco & stage have the type of experience that lends to what you need with a CCR. You can buy used dolphins in good condition for $1,000.00 to $1,500.00 and if you care for them sell them for about what you bought them for. A dolphin or other SCR will kill you just as quick if you do not fallow all of your procedures but when you get under water there is less task loading than on a CCR. Just my 2cents and take it for what you paid for it.

 

[BigJetDriver]

I'm making the "change" right now, and enrolled in a SCR rebreather class on Dec 18th and 19th, and really looking forward to getting into the rebreather world of diving.

Dang it, boy! I thought we told you to go to ECCR instead of messin' around with these half-a## measures!

 

[Diver Mike]

BigJet,

I am sure you know the story about the horse, the water and drinking.

Mike...