When to start considering CCR training

[DA Aquamaster]

I have a good friend who nearly died from hypoxia.

He was fiddling with a piece of grass that got caught in his gear and woke up in a hospital. No warnings no nothing.

It's accurate to say there were no warning signs that he noticed.

Your description suggests he was distracted. If he was monitoring the loop, there were warnings he missed. Even if he was not properly monitoring the loop, my point is that experiencing hypoxia under controlled circumstances in high altitude chamber may have enabled him to recognize physiological warning signs that he missed - after he missed the signs presented by what ever he was using to monitor loop PPO2.

I agree it's always diver error as even if the equipment fails it is diver error to miss the signs of that failure. But the more warning signs you can train a diver to recognize the less likely it is that they'll miss all of them.

The reality is that when things go wrong in the loop, they go wrong over the course of minutes, not seconds.

 

[Dish]

Chamber rides are intended to attempt to demonstrate hypoxic symptoms. As you correctly state, the purpose is to help you recognize the symptons of hypoxia and take corrective actions. I have done my fair share of chamber rides flying for the Navy and my symptoms were different most every time... some more noticable than others, but I always ended up pretty stupid. I've also watched my buds go lights out when I couldn't sense any effects.

My point is, that how your body reacts to hypoxia can be very different from one day to the next (why? I don't know) and there is the possibility that one day, that reaction is simply "lights out".

 

[rjack321]

I started CCR when I wasn't able to do everything I wanted on OC anymore. So I had hundred+ full cave dives, many hundreds of trimix dives, hundreds of scooter dives.
Sure I could have done it earlier and I kinda enjoy the challenge of CCR diving now so I use it for dives that don't entirely require it.

I would suggest doing at least through full cave on OC plus at least 100 non-class cave dives. Then consider CCR.

 

[OMANDIVER]

The first time I saw a pair of divers sporting CCRs was when I was diving in a spring cavern near Ocala Fl. Since then it has been a dream of mine to one day get to dive bubble-free further into the freshwater caverns. I am an engineer and a very techy person.The whole idea of breathing a closed system intrigues me. Not to mention having the ability to get the perfect gas blend for any depth to extend bottom time.

Currently I am AOW and EAN certified with most of my dives in a overhead environment and a good portion to 100 ffw. I feel like I have really fine-tuned my breathing, buoyancy control and dive skills in general (I don't mean to sound arrogant there because I know I still have tons more to learn before I can even conciser to call myself an experienced diver).

My question is at what point should I start considering becoming a CCR diver? I don't want to be that guy who shows up completely unqualified, but I do feel like I could handle a more advanced rig. I am quite used to being methodical and checking multiple systems at a time (I am an experienced pilot and hold a high-performance multi-engine aircraft licence with an IFR endorsement). At the same time switching to a CCR and obtaining the proper training with it will likely cost upwards of ten grand, a big investment. I don't want to start down the rebreather path if I am not ready for it.

Should I start looking into CCR training? If not, what should I do to be better prepared and obtain skills for a CCR course?

Certainly worth exploring, something I did and glad I did it. I spent some money on an introduction day, morning of theory and tried two units in the afternoon.To my complete surprise i really disliked this type of diving and decided it wasnt what i wanted to do. Personally I wouldnt look at this kind of diving unless i was diving frequently and had some tec open water experience.

 

[BenjaminS]

You should get a CCR when your doubles get to be too much to handle or gas prices get to be too high.