Why are ARO units almost extinct?

[jale]

So instead of stuffing the plumbing in and around a wine cooler
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You make it look recognisable so no one needs wonder about it's pedigree
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Everything has been done before including Daves more than twenty years ago worlds smallest rebreather
When did your UK diving chaps do what they did and what did they did and who are they that did it
I have read Hans Haas rebreather exploits and emulated some, also many years ago, have to learn somehow
ARO
and here's the rEvo inception

Yes of course, everything has been done before but Dave with his old site at the beginning of Internet gave people the feeling that he got all these ideas on his own. But a lot of non-English speakers were doing similar stuff also. Crazy people are everywhere
Therebreathersite was/is also a good stop to get ideas and you can find there the UK chaps I was talking about.
The Paul R mod with an IDA was also a popular mod. I did play with one but it was not a 64 but a 59. I dived also with a mod based on the east german escape Rguf
As for your machine, it just needs a big smiley sticker on the front now

 

[Angelo Farina]

maybe not so much with those bloody Y valves

I love Y valves simply because with them I can use my twin reg set without modification when switching from twin-tank to single-tank...
Luckily enough, here in Italy most serious diving centers provide 15-liters single tanks (my favourite size) with twin valves, which avoids me the hassle of moving the secondary second stage onto the primary first stage.
Sorry for the off-topic, we should be talking ARO here...

 

[JMBL]

All units are fully operational without dil (maybe not the Poseidon ).
Good to know they are still selling the "original" bare set-up. Is this unit come with the CE marking? Merci

Read the description again, and you'll notice the CE near the end. Et pas de quoi.

 

[telemonster]

I actually own an O.M.G. / Castoro C96. Jale - you mention you have the same unit? I may need to order parts for mine.

I thought the design looked cool so set an eBay alert on it. Years passed and it triggered. One finally showed up. Turned out the prior owner used it to escape the country of Dubai when they took his passport. He wrote a book about it, Escape from Dubai which he included in the sale when I bought it. I think it was my first CCR that I dove? Or 2nd. Read the Mastering Rebreathers book and the NOAA stuff first.

It's interesting in principal but the downsides for me:
- WOB isn't as good as my Prism 2.
- Depth limit
- No easy place to add weights to it. I would use a weight belt.
- No easy place for bailout

I suppose I need to re-rig it somehow. Mine has something of a tactical BCD thing that has a small tank used for inflation (no burst disc, no hydro.) The Optima2 front mount is pretty similar in in idea but looked to clip off to D rings where the C96 has plastic clips. It might be a better experience with a place to sling a bail out and a way to attach weights. I do notice that the non-military version just has simple strap around the neck and waist versus harness.

The valve assembly on mine with the MAV for the o2 needs rebuilding bad and I don't know any place in the US to service, and when I emailed regarding parts before I didn't get much of a response.

I have had it at Lake Phoenix (quarry outside Richmond VA) a few times and in a pool twice I think.

 

[Angelo Farina]

OMG has been acquired by SIEL.
You can contact them for spare parts...
They are still manufacturing the Castoro C96, and most parts are the same as the Caimano IV...

 

[jale]

I actually own an O.M.G. / Castoro C96. Jale - you mention you have the same unit? I may need to order parts for mine.

I thought the design looked cool so set an eBay alert on it. Years passed and it triggered. One finally showed up. Turned out the prior owner used it to escape the country of Dubai when they took his passport. He wrote a book about it, Escape from Dubai which he included in the sale when I bought it. I think it was my first CCR that I dove? Or 2nd. Read the Mastering Rebreathers book and the NOAA stuff first.

It's interesting in principal but the downsides for me:
- WOB isn't as good as my Prism 2.
- Depth limit
- No easy place to add weights to it. I would use a weight belt.
- No easy place for bailout

I suppose I need to re-rig it somehow. Mine has something of a tactical BCD thing that has a small tank used for inflation (no burst disc, no hydro.) The Optima2 front mount is pretty similar in in idea but looked to clip off to D rings where the C96 has plastic clips. It might be a better experience with a place to sling a bail out and a way to attach weights. I do notice that the non-military version just has simple strap around the neck and waist versus harness.

The valve assembly on mine with the MAV for the o2 needs rebuilding bad and I don't know any place in the US to service, and when I emailed regarding parts before I didn't get much of a response.

I have had it at Lake Phoenix (quarry outside Richmond VA) a few times and in a pool twice I think.

Hi
For the c96, if you have a all metal small canister, you may contact Sanosub. If you have the larger metal-platic canister contact SIEL as Angelo said.
But what parts do you need?
Regarding your machine, it is indded from a famous escape
It looks you have the military harness and it is quite sought after.
It seems you also have the original blader with the small emergency bottle.
Keep these two items are they are part of the whole set.
Now to dive the unit, it is true that at the beginning the tendency is to weight a bit more but with experience it is back to "normal" weighting. you can use the harness you got to put weight or you can use a "Polish harness" to get weights on your shoulders.
With the harness you can clip the unit but personally I prefer, the strap around the neck and the belt at the waist.
Regarding tanks. The best is to use the 1.5L alu tank coming with the machine but youcan also SM a 3L or even a S40 of alu if you cannot get high oxy pressure.
For the valve, just use a simple MAV and add when you need.
It is also good to not use a bcd to get neutral and just play with the oxy but it is good to get the configuration you like.