Rebreather World - View Single Post - Maybe eCCR's really aren't the wave of the future for recreational divers?

gtzavelas · 8th June 2007, 18:42

Some months ago I was convinced that mCCRs are much safer than eCCRs and was leaning to purchase a COPIS. (my reasoning was mostly based on the “statistics” and the failures I kept hearing/reading about)

My decision to finally go for a eCCR and not for a mCCR was made after carefully considering my specific diving needs (cave diving) and why I really wanted a rebreather.

In normal situation the diver SHOULD closely and frequently monitor his handsets (or HUD) . No major deference’s here between mCCR/eCCR
In normal situations a properly tuned mCCR needs minimal intervention (manual additions) so no major differences in task loading between mCCR/eCCR.
The preparation/calibration / setup time that some people mentioned was irrelevant for me.

Where I saw a big difference was in the very few and rare occasions where “the shit hits the fan”. In these very few occasions where you get stuck in a restriction, up side down, with both your arms stuck and in zero visibility and high flow while you loose your mask and ...(ok ok I stop you get my point). This of course happens once in hundreds of cave dives BUT this is when you really need a eCCR to keep you alive even if your O2 consumption escalates and you can see nothing.

One of the (main) reasons why I finally chose a Rebreather versus OC for my caveding is that if you run into trouble the RB gives you more time to solve the problem. I believe this is done best when there is something making sure you are on setpoint and during this extreme high task loading moments you have one less thing to worry about.
Now if you are unlucky enough and your controllers fail at that particular point then that’s it…finito! But you must be really unlucky…

PS. In my worst experience in cavediving (zero visibility AND lost line due to a cut line (!) at around 60 meters depth) I calculated afterwards that I had 7 (seven!) minutes left to find the line before running out of gas. I would have loved to have a Rebreather back then….This was one of my main arguments for choosing to cavedive with a RB.

8th June 2007, 18:42	#43 (permalink)
gtzavelas RBW Member Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon RB80 / Clone Other Rebreather/s: RB80 / Clone Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Athens,Greece Posts: 284	Re: Maybe eCCR's really aren't the wave of the future for recreational divers? Some months ago I was convinced that mCCRs are much safer than eCCRs and was leaning to purchase a COPIS. (my reasoning was mostly based on the “statistics” and the failures I kept hearing/reading about) My decision to finally go for a eCCR and not for a mCCR was made after carefully considering my specific diving needs (cave diving) and why I really wanted a rebreather. In normal situation the diver SHOULD closely and frequently monitor his handsets (or HUD) . No major deference’s here between mCCR/eCCR In normal situations a properly tuned mCCR needs minimal intervention (manual additions) so no major differences in task loading between mCCR/eCCR. The preparation/calibration / setup time that some people mentioned was irrelevant for me. Where I saw a big difference was in the very few and rare occasions where “the shit hits the fan”. In these very few occasions where you get stuck in a restriction, up side down, with both your arms stuck and in zero visibility and high flow while you loose your mask and ...(ok ok I stop you get my point). This of course happens once in hundreds of cave dives BUT this is when you really need a eCCR to keep you alive even if your O2 consumption escalates and you can see nothing. One of the (main) reasons why I finally chose a Rebreather versus OC for my caveding is that if you run into trouble the RB gives you more time to solve the problem. I believe this is done best when there is something making sure you are on setpoint and during this extreme high task loading moments you have one less thing to worry about. Now if you are unlucky enough and your controllers fail at that particular point then that’s it…finito! But you must be really unlucky… PS. In my worst experience in cavediving (zero visibility AND lost line due to a cut line (!) at around 60 meters depth) I calculated afterwards that I had 7 (seven!) minutes left to find the line before running out of gas. I would have loved to have a Rebreather back then….This was one of my main arguments for choosing to cavedive with a RB.
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