Brief Report - MOD 3 in Switzerland (with Dave Cooper and Phil Sudan)

vlada · 29th July 2008, 03:44

My brother and I did the mixed (MEG/ Boris) unit MOD3 course in Lake Geneva with Phil and Dave just couple of weeks ago. Due to where we live (Canada and Cyprus), we decided to go to Europe to split the flying time. We were also joined by Bruno diving his Inspiraiton.

I chose Dave and Zero Gravity mostly due to their Rebreather World postings and their training philosophy. Location was a secondary bonus as, having done my MOD1 in a quarry in the UK, I wanted a change of scenery. And scenery we got in abundance, as Switzerland was an astoundingly beautiful country.

Both my brother and I were already experienced full trimix OC divers prior to switching to our respective rebreathers (Boris for me and Meg for my brother). Thankfully, our instructors took that into account, so, once they have established we could in fact dive without a danger to selves (and them

) and do basic MOD1 skills, the course became less “this is step by step how you dive trimix and do deep dives” and more “here’s something you may not have thought of” and “here some procedures that should be part of every hypoxic dive” along with the requisite skills and drills. In the end, the course was exactly as I envisioned and totally worth the trip.

It was a truly mixed unit class with us diving MEG and Boris, Bruno diving his Inspiration and instructors and the dive master wearing rEvos, Boris and Sentinels. This was the most of different flavors of the rebreathers I have ever been in the water with at the same time, which was an added bonus.

After the completion of the course (we all passed), the three of us went diving in Lake Thun, one of the 2 lakes surrounding Interlaken.

We drove by and stopped at Interlaken in a way in as I read about it and really wanted to see it. While driving around Lake Thun, I noticed the diving facilities (benches, etc) and thought it’d be so cool to dive in a mountain lake like that. Turns out that Bruno knew that dive site and he suggested we go there instead of Lake Geneva again.

So we took the deep trimix bailout we used on a course and did a wall dive there and it was really neat. The visibility was limited in the shallows but opened up hugely below 30 meters and we could see a long way in front and below us. Another group descending from the top in front of us made for quite a show with their HID’s. Deco was uneventful and soon we were breaking the surface of the emerald blue lake to see the clouds lifting out of surrounding mountain ridges – perfect end to a diving portion of the trip.

No underwater pics as I was already over the weight limits, but some surface ones:

Me, prepping the unit

Zipping up my brother

Bruno, ready to dive:

Pre-dive checks:

We then toured a bit of a country and I uploaded the shots to my land photography collection linked here: Switzerland Part 1 and Part 2.

Cheers!

Hyper-limits · 29th July 2008, 05:22

Excellent report Vlada, thanks for sharing.

Cheers

Al

Nad · 29th July 2008, 08:30

Hi Vlada,
Nice reports. It's a pity that you didn't see the South part of the country.

Cheers

Nad

mathias · 29th July 2008, 09:47

Hi Vlada,
Very nice report ! Congratulations, you have see the nicest part of our country ;-)

Mathias

Phil · 29th July 2008, 10:17

Hi Vlada,

I really enjoy having your guys around and I am glad you did too! We could have had better weather for this time of the year but by the look of the pictures it finally cleared-up.

Dive safe!

schnappi · 2nd August 2008, 00:06

yup, these were four very good days that i really enjoyed. thank you all again!
hope you had a good trip back home...

sunday i will go back to the lake of thun again

cheers
--bruno

***Decodiver*** · 3rd August 2008, 18:35

Great students always make a great course.

Thanks for your commitment, I really enjoyed your company and attitude.

Dive safe.

Dave.

dive2dive2000 · 5th August 2008, 00:52

Hi Vlada,

Very nice report, thanks for sharing. I was curious on your thoughts of the Sentinel. I dive a PRISM, but this rebreather has caught my attention.

**DeepBlueInnovation** · 5th August 2008, 01:30

Quote: (Originally Posted by dive2dive2000)

Hi Vlada,

Very nice report, thanks for sharing. I was curious on your thoughts of the Sentinel. I dive a PRISM, but this rebreather has caught my attention.

I'll tell you what the transition is like later in the year when I transition to the Sentinel. After going over a friends I can really appreciate the quality and consistency of engineering.

Cheers,

Ben.

29th July 2008, 03:44	#1 (permalink)
vlada Diver with a camera Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Ouroboros Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Toronto Posts: 72	Brief Report - MOD 3 in Switzerland (with Dave Cooper and Phil Sudan) My brother and I did the mixed (MEG/ Boris) unit MOD3 course in Lake Geneva with Phil and Dave just couple of weeks ago. Due to where we live (Canada and Cyprus), we decided to go to Europe to split the flying time. We were also joined by Bruno diving his Inspiraiton. I chose Dave and Zero Gravity mostly due to their Rebreather World postings and their training philosophy. Location was a secondary bonus as, having done my MOD1 in a quarry in the UK, I wanted a change of scenery. And scenery we got in abundance, as Switzerland was an astoundingly beautiful country. Both my brother and I were already experienced full trimix OC divers prior to switching to our respective rebreathers (Boris for me and Meg for my brother). Thankfully, our instructors took that into account, so, once they have established we could in fact dive without a danger to selves (and them ) and do basic MOD1 skills, the course became less “this is step by step how you dive trimix and do deep dives” and more “here’s something you may not have thought of” and “here some procedures that should be part of every hypoxic dive” along with the requisite skills and drills. In the end, the course was exactly as I envisioned and totally worth the trip. It was a truly mixed unit class with us diving MEG and Boris, Bruno diving his Inspiration and instructors and the dive master wearing rEvos, Boris and Sentinels. This was the most of different flavors of the rebreathers I have ever been in the water with at the same time, which was an added bonus. After the completion of the course (we all passed), the three of us went diving in Lake Thun, one of the 2 lakes surrounding Interlaken. We drove by and stopped at Interlaken in a way in as I read about it and really wanted to see it. While driving around Lake Thun, I noticed the diving facilities (benches, etc) and thought it’d be so cool to dive in a mountain lake like that. Turns out that Bruno knew that dive site and he suggested we go there instead of Lake Geneva again. So we took the deep trimix bailout we used on a course and did a wall dive there and it was really neat. The visibility was limited in the shallows but opened up hugely below 30 meters and we could see a long way in front and below us. Another group descending from the top in front of us made for quite a show with their HID’s. Deco was uneventful and soon we were breaking the surface of the emerald blue lake to see the clouds lifting out of surrounding mountain ridges – perfect end to a diving portion of the trip. No underwater pics as I was already over the weight limits, but some surface ones: Me, prepping the unit Zipping up my brother Bruno, ready to dive: Pre-dive checks: We then toured a bit of a country and I uploaded the shots to my land photography collection linked here: Switzerland Part 1 and Part 2. Cheers! __________________ Vlada www.wrecksandreefs.com
(Online)

29th July 2008, 05:22	#2 (permalink)
Hyper-limits Al Delisle Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Victoria BC Canada Posts: 179	Re: Brief Report - MOD 3 in Switzerland (with Dave Cooper and Phil Sudan) Excellent report Vlada, thanks for sharing. Cheers Al __________________ "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear. And the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown" H.P. Lovecraft
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29th July 2008, 08:30	#3 (permalink)
Nad Rebel to the Bone Current Rebreather/s: Ouroboros Other Rebreather/s: Not Bought Yet Inspiration Classic Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Europe Posts: 1,041	Re: Brief Report - MOD 3 in Switzerland (with Dave Cooper and Phil Sudan) Hi Vlada, Nice reports. It's a pity that you didn't see the South part of the country. Cheers Nad __________________ The Impossible is often the Untried
(Online)

29th July 2008, 09:47	#4 (permalink)
mathias Ouroboros #31 Current Rebreather/s: Ouroboros Other Rebreather/s: Not Bought Yet Inspiration Classic MK 15.X Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Switzerland - Murten Posts: 190	Re: Brief Report - MOD 3 in Switzerland (with Dave Cooper and Phil Sudan) Hi Vlada, Very nice report ! Congratulations, you have see the nicest part of our country ;-) Mathias __________________ Our dreams are other people's nightmares ;-) Plus près du fond, plus loin des cons !
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29th July 2008, 10:17	#5 (permalink)
Phil RBW Member Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Ouroboros rEvo Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Inspiration Vision Evolution Megalodon rEvo Other CCR Join Date: May 2005 Location: Geneva-Switzerland Posts: 177	Re: Brief Report - MOD 3 in Switzerland (with Dave Cooper and Phil Sudan) Hi Vlada, I really enjoy having your guys around and I am glad you did too! We could have had better weather for this time of the year but by the look of the pictures it finally cleared-up. Dive safe! __________________ CCR/OC Mixed Gas Instructor CCR Training to Mixed Gas in Switzerland, France, UK & Germany on Megalodon/KISS/Ouroboros/rEvo/Inspiration/Evolution/Sentinel www.zerogravitydiving.com
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2nd August 2008, 00:06	#6 (permalink)
schnappi RBW Member Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Vision Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Vision Other CCR Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Zurich, Switzerland Posts: 39	Re: Brief Report - MOD 3 in Switzerland (with Dave Cooper and Phil Sudan) yup, these were four very good days that i really enjoyed. thank you all again! hope you had a good trip back home... sunday i will go back to the lake of thun again cheers --bruno
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3rd August 2008, 18:35	#7 (permalink)
*Decodiver* Administrator Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Other CCR Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Geneva Posts: 2,200	Re: Brief Report - MOD 3 in Switzerland (with Dave Cooper and Phil Sudan) Great students always make a great course. Thanks for your commitment, I really enjoyed your company and attitude. Dive safe. Dave. __________________ CCR/OC Trimix Instructor Trainer CCR Training to Mixed Gas in Switzerland, France, UK & Germany on Megalodon/COPIS-Megalodon/KISS/Sport KISS/Ouroboros/rEvo/Inspiration/Evolution/Sentinel www.zerogravitydiving.com Rebreather World Terms & Conditions Last edited by Decodiver : 5th August 2008 at 15:31.
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5th August 2008, 00:52	#8 (permalink)
dive2dive2000 PRISM DIVER & LUVIN IT! Current Rebreather/s: Prism Topaz Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 798	Re: Brief Report - MOD 3 in Switzerland (with Dave Cooper and Phil Sudan) Hi Vlada, Very nice report, thanks for sharing. I was curious on your thoughts of the Sentinel. I dive a PRISM, but this rebreather has caught my attention. __________________ Safe Diving, Martin
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5th August 2008, 01:30	#9 (permalink)
DeepBlueInnovation Learning to Kiss Current Rebreather/s: Not Bought Yet Other Rebreather/s: Prism Topaz Not Bought Yet Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 368	Re: Brief Report - MOD 3 in Switzerland (with Dave Cooper and Phil Sudan) Quote: (Originally Posted by dive2dive2000) Hi Vlada, Very nice report, thanks for sharing. I was curious on your thoughts of the Sentinel. I dive a PRISM, but this rebreather has caught my attention. I'll tell you what the transition is like later in the year when I transition to the Sentinel. After going over a friends I can really appreciate the quality and consistency of engineering. Cheers, Ben.
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