Hi Folks,
I just recently purchased a YBOD and completed my Mod 1 up in Malin Head, Ireland with 4 of my dive buddies this week. Thanks to Mark Hooson and Simon Townsend who took us through a really thorough course (IART). We were all exhausted after it but learned a heck of alot (including deep respect for our units!).
I've been diving for about 5 years and dabbling with Trimix (mainly Normoxic to 50 mtrs) for the last year. Helium bills diving on the dark wrecks of the Irish sea (getting noticable narcosis from 35 metres onwards due to darkness and cr&p viz) has pushed me towards rebreathers. However, having done the Mod1 course I'm fully converted to (almost) bubble free diving :-)
Overall the YBOD seems like quite a good unit, although I'm not very impressed with the engineering of the bottom of the case. Clearly wasn't designed for punishment on the average Irish RIB in either the Irish sea or the North Atlantic (Malin Head). Bottom of mine cracked rolling off the RIB for my first boat dive
So, I'm gonna be looking at ways to re-inforce it in time
Anyway, as befits a newbie, I'm gonna do alot of reading and not alot of posting for a while. Thanks everyone for the great information on this site that makes me keep coming back!
regards,
Doug O'Hanlon