Quote: (Originally Posted by Gillenvy)
We typically dive no-deco and we’d like to venture deeper with little to no deco as we don’t see ourselves becoming deep tec divers. We realize that with the requisite experience and training our comfort zone may expand, so we are thinking it would be best to puchase a unit that has a largish gas capacity, while on the other hand are a little leary of having a big gulky unit. And we are planning trips that would take us away from our vehicles for several days at a time, so having larger and fewer bottles seems logical. We are planning on taking 40 cft bail out. From the outside looking in, it is hard to get a real good idea of weather we should be going with a smaller unit and larger bail out or a larger unit to extend depth/time number of dives per set of chemistry and gas. Gill Envy
Hello again Gillenvy, I wrote my reply to your post before you edited it and included the additional info above, hence all the speculation about bailout. If you want to occaisionly go deeper or longer than recreational limits, the size of the onboard gas supply becomes less critical and more a matter of convenience. At this point the scrubber then becomes the limiting factor in dive planning.
As for cylinder capacity, on my Prism, a stock full 3000 psi 19cuft O2 cylinder will give me at least 10 hrs of diving. However, unless you have a booster pump, you might not be able to get a full O2 fill to 3000 as it is hard to find anyone who pumps it that high due to safety concerns. Anyway, your particular situation might necessitate a unit which can take bigger cylinders. Both the Meg and the Prism can be fitted with larger cylinders, the Prism up to 40cuft's, sans cowling. Or you could just get another spare pair of the smaller 19s and save yourself a back ache.
I still think the CCR converted Drager is a great simple recreational unit, as I mentioned above due to the small cyls for the O2 and dil, with the stock Drager cyl functioning as a good sized bailout. They can handle up to a 5 ltr. But I also think the Prism is a good bet as in stock form it's got the best scrubber duration and except for the Sport Kiss, is the smallest and lightest. Mine is 47lbs ready to go. The Prism also has the lowest WOB and can be tricked out for tech stuff easily. I think it's also the safest because it can be flown with no battery power, due to the passive secondary gage. Take your time deciding and things will become clear-Andy