Rebreather Experiences, Try-outs & Intros!

Rebreather Experiences, Try-outs, Intros!
By Stefan Besier



Rebreather experiences, try-outs and intros; the chance to get a look up close and spend some time in the pool (at least here in the US) on a rebreather.

A rebreather intro is the best way to get a good idea about a rebreather and rebreather diving, and they're fun. I highly recommend doing it to anyone playing with thought of purchasing one, and everyone who has an interest in them.

I did three of them, with three different instructors and 4 different rebreathers.


I had done a fair amount of reading on rebreathers, and had two excellent conversations with the late Garrett Weinberg that lasted several hours each. We talked about rebreathers, caves in Florida and the Bahamas, his new VR3 (the brick) and more about rebreathers. Mostly about his Inspiration, which he took apart and explained in detail. I wanted one.

My first intro was with ANDI instructor Wayne Miller in Riverside, CA. An hour and a half driving east into what used to be desert I arrived at Wayne's shop, a Harley parked outside. I knew I'd like the place. I walked in, and there were Dolphin, a Ray and an Azimuth on display. An Inspiration, a UT240 and another Dolphin were leaning against the wall separating the pool from the shop. Yes, I did like it there.

Wayne took me upstairs, past his MK15.5 into the classroom, where "my" Inspiration was waiting. He quizzed me a bit to get an idea about me, my diving, and knowledge of rebreathers, and then filled in blanks (there were plenty) for the better part of an hour. Next, he prepped the rig, filling the scrubber, doing the pre-dive, and off we went to the pool.

I was a bit nervous, and a lot excited. He helped me into the harness and adjusted it. Next thing I know I was bobbing in the pool like a cork. After adding plenty of lead to what seemed like a pretty big and heavy piece of machinery I submerged ... underwater ... quiet ... weird. Very, very weird. I had done it years before with a friend's Dolphin, but I didn't remember it being anything like this. Almost no noise, I could hear the solenoid firing, myself breathing (not the machine, me), and Wayne's instructions. And I could hover in place without moving at all. Once I got past my awe of automatic setpoint control, watching the handsets and listening to the solenoid, I started swimming around the pool. And really enjoying myself. Adding gases manually, switching from the loop to bailout and back a few times, and turning more circles than a vulture over prey. An hour went by before I left the pool and watched Wayne do the post-dive. The drive home went by fast, as my thoughts were occupied. Now I really wanted one.

Alas, my funds didn't allow me to spend $6,200 on a CCR, and another $1,000 on training.... So all that was left was read more, learn more, and meet people who dove those things to get their feedback.

A few months later, I saw an announcement for a PRISM intro, and signed up. After the shop cancelled twice finally, Steam Machines held an intro, and I would be there. Shas Readey "knew" me from the boards. I had her met briefly the summer before at the Aquarium Of The Pacific where several PRISM divers where diving the Pacific Exhibit Tank on Diver's Day. After the disappointing attempts with the local shop, she promised me a little treat. I like treats.

This intro was in a group of people, with about half of them with rebreather experience, either SCR or CCR. Eight people or so, plus Peter and Shas Readey and their son. Peter, a NAUI instructor, gave a lecture on rebreathers (with Shas adding in dates and details of their history) and then presented and prepped a PRISM. Three more were already set up and good to go by the pool. They helped the first batch of divers into their rigs. I managed to do this myself, passed Shas' inspection and figured I was off to a good start.


Again, there was that odd sensation of silence in the water, even with four people in close proximity. The truly neutral buoyancy. Awesome. For 55 minutes, I did the same as I had done before, watching the gauge, adding gases manually, marvelling the HUD display and thoroughly enjoying myself. During the switch to OC for a breath or two (what a racket that makes) I watched the DSV floating in front me. Neutrally balanced.

While we were in the pool, Pete gave one of guys the run-down on a MK16 CCR, as he came to try that rig out. So when he approached me underwater wearing this large, old, rig I was mighty surprised. Cool. Better than watching fishes. After the dives breathing hoses and counterlungs were disinfected and the second batch of went into the water. The guy with the MK16 emerged, and Shas said with an evil grin, "You're next. If you want." Does the rain fall? Of course I wanted.

Having just come from a PRISM, the MK16 felt big and heavy. I liked the harness, though, simple. Once in the water, size and weight pretty much went away. But the breathing was all wrong, a lot harder than I thought. After a few minutes, that became more natural, nothing like over-the-shoulder mounted breathing bags, but not bad really. Depending very much on position. The MK series has sweet spots were the breathing is fine. Inverted on your back is not one of them. My cheeks were as round as the spheres that held the gas. More swimming about, enjoying the stares of the other divers, manually adding gases, watching the wrist mounted LEDs of the primary and the digital secondary. I exited the pool after about 40 minutes, the last one out. That was a treat, diving with a legendary rebreather. While I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, I like the PRISM better ... better than the Inspiration, too.

The third intro I took was with Rusty Berry, another ANDI instructor. Rusty offers free intros (the other two set me back $90 each, money well spend) several times every year either at SSA in Woodland Hills or his shop in Montclair, CA. I had already decided on the PRISM, but Rusty offered me to join them anyway. Mike, our H2O Photopro, was there, too. The room was crowded with people, and Rusty gave his lecture on rebreathers, particularly the Inspiration and Dolphin we would dive. I was actually more curious about the Dolphin, as I only remembered the Atlantis I dove a couple of times vaguely. And it had the ExtendAir cartridge, which I was curious about. I ended up for about 15 minutes on the Inspiration, annoyed by the harness and DSV before I ever submerged. Others were keen on diving it, so I passed it on. I enjoyed playing with the Dolphin. WOB isn't very good in comparison to the Inspiration, and made worse by the mostly full exhalation lung. Less quiet too, of course, as little bubbles "burb" every few breaths. This one was equipped with the Oxy2 and I wore the AirZO2 computer to go with it. That's a combo I really liked, giving both pO2 as well as calculating and displaying the actual mix in the loop in addition to the dive computer info. I ended up scooting around the pool for half an hour, again trying all positions and switching to OC and back. It's a pretty neat little rig after all, not for me, but I enjoyed it.

What all of these intros had in common is that I learned something new, got a feeling for each unit, and their differences, and most of all, had lots of fun. It helped me bridge the time until I started my own training without that time going to waste.

I truly believe that anyone who has even a passing interest in rebreathers should take an intro, or if you're down to an option or two, intros on each of them.

If you take one, make sure you're around for the pre- and post dives. Rebreathers do take more time and effort to prepare and maintain, and seeing what is involved may well be an eye-opener. At the least it is part of rebreather diving, so you might as well experience it, too.

There are plenty of rebreathers I haven't had a chance to try but would like to. The Meg and Sport KISS lead the pack, but when it comes right down to it, I would do an intro on most of them. Just for the experience and the fun.