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mempilot · 17th February 2008, 22:25

Mousa,

First, congrats on your decision to go silent and do so on the Meg. Like you, I did about two to three years of exclusive OC technical diving prior to buying a Rebreather. I did over two years of research before making my selection.

As for training, I did so with a well known cave diver/Rebreather diver. The idea was that I would do my MOD1, and then, when comfortable, continue on to Full Cave on CCR with that same instructor.

Like others have stated, OC experience is relevent, but the skills are different. Being comfortable underwater is paramount. The skills for Rebreather diving will make you feel like a neophyte again.

It took me about one year of Rebreather diving to feel comfortable enough to think about cave diving on one; however, it sounds like you dive more frequently than I. Therefore, time isn't as relevent as number of dives. I think about 50 dives for me, and I was comfortable doing deco. At 75, I felt like everything was coming together as I wanted. Most noteably in that time was the need to bailout on a few occassions for real issues. Practice and reality can often be quite far apart in how one handles a situation. These real life events are what gave me the comfort to move forward because the mystery of the unknown was gone at that point.

So, by the time I get around to doing Full Cave, hopefully this summer, I will have over 100 dives and about 18 months on the Rebreather. I will probably be a lot more comfortable in the cave than I would have been at dive 50, but this would be subjective.

This probably doesn't help you much, but hopefully it gives you a relatively new Rebreather diver's perspective on exactly what you are engaging in.

Good luck, dive safe,

Eric

17th February 2008, 22:25	#7 (permalink)
mempilot Eric Stadtmueller Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Megalodon Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Ft. Lauderdale Posts: 1,452	Re: Experienced Advice needed Mousa, First, congrats on your decision to go silent and do so on the Meg. Like you, I did about two to three years of exclusive OC technical diving prior to buying a Rebreather. I did over two years of research before making my selection. As for training, I did so with a well known cave diver/Rebreather diver. The idea was that I would do my MOD1, and then, when comfortable, continue on to Full Cave on CCR with that same instructor. Like others have stated, OC experience is relevent, but the skills are different. Being comfortable underwater is paramount. The skills for Rebreather diving will make you feel like a neophyte again. It took me about one year of Rebreather diving to feel comfortable enough to think about cave diving on one; however, it sounds like you dive more frequently than I. Therefore, time isn't as relevent as number of dives. I think about 50 dives for me, and I was comfortable doing deco. At 75, I felt like everything was coming together as I wanted. Most noteably in that time was the need to bailout on a few occassions for real issues. Practice and reality can often be quite far apart in how one handles a situation. These real life events are what gave me the comfort to move forward because the mystery of the unknown was gone at that point. So, by the time I get around to doing Full Cave, hopefully this summer, I will have over 100 dives and about 18 months on the Rebreather. I will probably be a lot more comfortable in the cave than I would have been at dive 50, but this would be subjective. This probably doesn't help you much, but hopefully it gives you a relatively new Rebreather diver's perspective on exactly what you are engaging in. Good luck, dive safe, Eric __________________ Eric Stadtmueller, otherwise known as, MEM "Da Pilot"
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