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puddleduck · 21st November 2007, 22:59

Hi Ben
You are right there is no answer to your question.
I have spent 3 years deliberating your question and am a newly certificated CCR diver. Next year, with hours under my belt and lots of help and advice from other divers I hope to move from being a C card holder with delusions of competence to a ccr diver who is not a risk to others or myself. The switch from O/C to CCR is a big step; Until you have tried a rebreather you won't understand. Imagine going back to doing your openwater course and having to forget everything you know about how to dive.
Read everything you can, talk to every diver you see with a box on thier back [ If you are UK based the Cove is a great place in the winter to meet rebreather divers and despite the fact they look hard and have the equilevent of a hardware shop of bits dangling off their D rings they love to talk, usually after the dive!] I did and learnt masses.
The red sea dive experience I have no first hand experience of but I have a couple of mates who have done it and feedback very positive. The one proviso was that they felt that a couple of hours on a unit was not long enough to feel anywhere near comfortable with it. The next day they were trying something that dived and breathed differently and it was back to square one. Great fun by all accounts but they are still undecided as to go ECCR, MCCR or SCR.
Do your homework over the winter and think about how you want to dive, what you expect from your unit and how much time you are prepared to give up from "real diving" to become competent and safe on the unit of your choice.
I am going to be at the cove over the winter, relying on the goodwill of others, getting the hours in and dreaming of competence with a view to real dives in the summer.
Pm me if you want to dive a cold quarry with a ccr diver with no delusions of their ability at the moment but a clear vision of how they will dive next summer. I will probably be looked after by a divers on a variety of other units so you will see some of the differences between them.
Happy researching.

Mark

PS Puddleduck is a reference to happy days at Gildy. I will be there I keep telling myself.

21st November 2007, 22:59	#4 (permalink)
puddleduck New Member Current Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: May 2006 Location: norfolk uk Posts: 26	Re: The dreaded question? Hi Ben You are right there is no answer to your question. I have spent 3 years deliberating your question and am a newly certificated CCR diver. Next year, with hours under my belt and lots of help and advice from other divers I hope to move from being a C card holder with delusions of competence to a ccr diver who is not a risk to others or myself. The switch from O/C to CCR is a big step; Until you have tried a rebreather you won't understand. Imagine going back to doing your openwater course and having to forget everything you know about how to dive. Read everything you can, talk to every diver you see with a box on thier back [ If you are UK based the Cove is a great place in the winter to meet rebreather divers and despite the fact they look hard and have the equilevent of a hardware shop of bits dangling off their D rings they love to talk, usually after the dive!] I did and learnt masses. The red sea dive experience I have no first hand experience of but I have a couple of mates who have done it and feedback very positive. The one proviso was that they felt that a couple of hours on a unit was not long enough to feel anywhere near comfortable with it. The next day they were trying something that dived and breathed differently and it was back to square one. Great fun by all accounts but they are still undecided as to go ECCR, MCCR or SCR. Do your homework over the winter and think about how you want to dive, what you expect from your unit and how much time you are prepared to give up from "real diving" to become competent and safe on the unit of your choice. I am going to be at the cove over the winter, relying on the goodwill of others, getting the hours in and dreaming of competence with a view to real dives in the summer. Pm me if you want to dive a cold quarry with a ccr diver with no delusions of their ability at the moment but a clear vision of how they will dive next summer. I will probably be looked after by a divers on a variety of other units so you will see some of the differences between them. Happy researching. Mark PS Puddleduck is a reference to happy days at Gildy. I will be there I keep telling myself. __________________ As I lay in bed last night gazing at the stars I thought if I hadn't bought the rebreather I could afford a roof.
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