Quite a long time ago I joined Rebreather World. It was my goal to learn about rebreathers and make a reasoned choice as to the right unit for my diving needs. Over a year later, I succeeded in certifying on the Evolution after seven days of both strenuous, humbling, and edifying training.
I am not a rookie; I have been diving for 30 years, and have been doing trimix wreck diving for at least 7. My OC skills have been honed and I have come through some "interesting" experiences and am still here too talk about them and use them to keep me from getting too arrogant. Needless to say, I brought all those skills to my CCR training and suffered mightily as a result. I won't bore you with a long dissertation about bouyancy control problems, etc., about which the posts are replete with anecdotes. Rather I want to talk about something far more important: the quality of the training I received and the quality of the service provided by the manufacturer of the Evolution.
Learning to "fly" a ccr is not difficult, unlearning all of your oc habits is, and it takes a special kind of instructor to guide an old timer like me through the confidence destroying experience. It takes an instructor who has not only mastered his craft but who has the gift of empathy and who knows when to instruct and when to support. It also takes an instructor who can read the student and push when called for and ease off when necessary. And finally, it takes an instructor who is generous in imparting the tricks the instructor has learned and is patient with the bumbling of the newbie.
When I decided to take my training with Carrie and Richie Kohler, they both were at the end of their own teaching apprenticeships so there was a primary instructor and they were the assistants. Now they have "earned their stripes," and are teaching on their own, and the world of rebreather training is a better place for it. I am a Master Scuba Diver Trainer and A Tec Deep Instructor and was a school teacher in another life. So what I am about to say is done so with a significant amount of experience behind it.
I have never been trained by better. While my primary instructor may have been the direct imparter of skills and the final arbiter of whether I had passed the course or not, it was their understanding, encouragement, insight, and instructional skills that made my training a success. Anyone thinking of training on an Evolution will find no more expert team than they are and on top of that a pant load of fun to be around. When all the doubt creeps in, they will make it happen for you!
Finally, as to the service of Silent Diving Systems, I know that everyone has their horror stories but here is one with a very happy ending. The first day of training was theory and pool and my rebreather could not pass neg. or pos. tests. After checking everything, my primary instructor discovered a pin hole in the diver's right, oxygen side, counter lung bladder, directly under the zipper. We patched it with duct tape and it held for the remaining pool session, which ended about 4PM. "Magically" a brand new counter lung bladder arrived at the hotel as early as Fed Ex could deliver it the next morning. That to me speaks volumes about the manufacturer's dedication to service as well as designing and producing a great product. We all know that every ccr has its idiosyncracies and what is great for one diver may be less than satisfactory for another, but a high standard of service should be the norm for all. So far my experience with the Evolution makes me certain that I made the right choice.
By the way, I am not getting paid to say any of this.
