Kevin Carlisle
Contributor
Perhaps they need to make a safe expensive one before they can make a safe cheap one.. Right now I dont see there being a safe one period.
Why no poor man's rebreather?
- Thread starter ronski101
- Start date
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Not true. mCCR's have a very impressive safety record. In fact, I am only aware of one mCCR related death, and he was rumored to die of health issues, not of the rebreather.
The old saying "the rebreather is a device trying to kill you," is rather tiresome. A rebreather is not trying to kill you anymore than your automobile is trying to kill you. If you take your hands off the wheel, kick your feet up on the dash and start to take photos while you are driving on the freeway, then yes your car will kill you.
Likewise, if I stop watching my PO2, then yes my unit may kill me.
Don't jinx me, Dude! :doh2: If I do have a failure, I'll come looking for you!
This thing with the rebreather trying to kill you probably got started when some well-meaning instructor (or equivalent) told a student (or someone listening to a story) that the diver will remain safe if treating the rebreather like it will try to kill the diver if the diver stops paying attention to it, not that it is actually trying to kill the diver. Rebreathers are just objects. They are not trying to do anything, and they are certainly not trying to kill the diver.
The problem with dependable machines is that they are dependable . . . until they break. This can cause the inattentive diver to gain a false sense of security. If a rebreather has a subtle form of break down, such as a failure to inject oxygen, an inattentive diver can miss the event. The diver will pass out (after a long inattentive while) often without noticing anything. However, for the diligent diver, closed circuit rebreathers are safer than open circuit. (Tom Mount) It's all in the user.
Kevin Carlisle
Contributor
Sorry man.. I dont buy it.. Too many good divers are dead because of them.. I know most was diver error ( as with most dive accidents ) but still throwing so many things at someone is asking for that. I know many people use them safely every day and thats great but I think the safety record could use some major improving. They would pay for themself quick when dealing with trimix. I have been diving with people on them and think it is pretty cool. I am just not sure if the additional risk is worth the price.
Well please name me these good divers who died on mCCR units.
Kevin Carlisle
Contributor
Are you speaking of a meg rebreather.? If so you can read about a few on this site. One of which was a friend to a lot of us in this area. Its not very hard to find anyone who has died on megs, optimas, kiss, diverite. I know a ccr instructor who loves his unit and I talked to him a lot about them. I did a lot of looking and pondering so to speak and thats how I know about the deaths.
I can't give you a name, but my tec instructor told me a good friend of his (also a tec instructor) dies a couple of weeks back inside a virgin wreck when his rebreather failed. I don't know the guy, but I believe my instructor when he says that this guy was a "bloody good diver".
I don't think there are many unit's that are still immune to deaths on them, for those that don't have any I wish them the best.
On the other hand how many fatalities have you read about on this board regarding normal open water divers being seriously injured or dying from "recreational dives".
When looking at rebreather safety how often do you get a report that absolutely without a doubt sites the rebreather as the cause of death? Usually it is a combination of things which the rebreather may or may not play a part in. The conditions where rebreather deaths happen, in general, are in demanding environments (see RM's note "virgin wreck") and if you compared apples to apples OC to CCR fatality situations/locations/activities/number of dives I bet it would be fairly even across the board.
Kevin Carlisle
Contributor
Yeah but as I stated most are human error. I realize that.. Not arguing that but that doesnt make them safer than open circuit. And for the other divers, I generally chalk that up to going too far too fast. They should know their limits before they break them.
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