The dreaded 'recreational rebreather' question!

Def

HELLO ... I HAVE A NAME !!! ;-)

silent running

Yes Dutchy, both my instructors have the same tendency to overlook the increased frequency and quality of wildlife interaction as a benefit of CCR. They are both wreck divers first and foremost, as are most CCR divers, and since they are looking so hard for rusty metal they barely even notice the fauna.

As for the suitability of CCRs to recreational diving, I think that if maximizing your interaction with wildlife, flexible dive planning and getting maximum bottom time on multilevel dives are important to you and you are willing to go through the training, then CCR is great. I will not go back to diving OC after enjoying the above benefits. And this is before we get to the possibiilties of diving past recreational limits and all the benefits of CCR for deco and exploritory diving.

As for the risks, if you have a simple, reliable CCR that is easy to calibrate, regularly test cell linearity to 1.6 and check your flapper valve integrity-things I do every dive day in less than 15 minutes-they are easily managable. But as CCR diving is evolving at fairly rapid pace, and because we are practicing hyperbaric medicine on ourselves everytime we dive, it's important to practice some form of continuing CCR education, like doctors do. I for one don't regard any of this extra effort as a burden as I find all of it very interesting, hence the 4 digit post count.

So if all this sounds like fun to you, it will be.

Tom Rose

Except for my short time restriction....

I've been diving rebreathers in the sports diving range for over 30 years, taking stills, film, and video as well as watching the critters. Often I just use an O2 rig in the shallows (wreck or reef). Nothing is as convenient as a rebreather in terms of weight, size, and dive time for really watching and picking on invertebrates. When you exhale there is no burst of bubbles that scare things back in their holes. You can lie there for a while and life goes on as if you are not there.

I agree with the following paragraph completely.

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The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime I have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability I'll get it wrong the first time.

www.atlimp.com

dteubner

Here's the link - Sport KISS rebreather - Jetsam - eBay, Other Scuba, Scuba, Snorkeling, Sport. (end time 21-Feb-08 08:16:02 AEDST)

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Dave T

Hanlon's Razor - Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

almity1

ALLRIGHT!!!!!!!

Steve Meet Cam, Cam meet Steve

Sorry Mate, I forgot your Rebreather World call sign.

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Cheers
almity1 - http://www.almity1.com

Nad

I quote what DrMike say but still people need to do some choices and why not a rebreather?
I also quote who say forget SCR and look for a used unit like KISS a rEvo or a Pelagian (the latter 2 not so easy to find used).
But if you're attracted by eCCR... well the Sentinel Level 1 is your choice. Good price, good service, eventually upgradable if even.

Just my 2 cents.

Nad

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The Impossible is often the Untried

digital_steve

Cheers for all the replies; there's some good reading for me here!
Thanks to the guys that have offered me a sport kiss as well, but i have to say that i'm not ready to up and drop some cash on a rebreather at this stage. I definately want to spend a lot of time reading and learning more about it before i even decide if i go the CCR route as opposed to OC.
Someone also suggested try-dives which would be great, except as far as i'm aware there is no one in my state that runs them and i'm aware of a guy called bazza that runs them in Sydney, but due to work projects i have trouble getting interstate for even a day.

It's interesting to read the different schools of thought regarding the risk versus reward. I guess i expected a lot more people with dr mike's view.
One thing i'd certainly have to consider is the fact that about a 3rd of my diving is solo... i'm sure CCR solo diving is a whole other thread though

I guess it always comes back to what dr mike said... do you want one or need one? Definately in my case i don't need one, but i do want one. I love learning about new things, getting new experiences and trying new technology in any area, so no different for diving. I think diving a mCCR would be an awesome experience and would love to do it and it would suit me, but once again i really need to weigh up the costs... financial and otherwise.

For now i'll just keep diving and reading and occasionally asking!

Thanks for all the replies, no doubt this is all old territory to you guys

diverreb

All very valid points....

My opinion differs in that I don't do dives that "require" a rebreather. Yes they would be lower on the risk ladder doing OC, as well as less complex, however other factors weighed in my decision to go with a rebreather.

At 59 carrying all those doubles around and climbing ladders with all that weight on was really getting old, like me.

While it's a lot of bucks to go with a breather, the bulk of it is an upfront outlay. Filling high He trimix into 2 sets of double 120's is getting to be outrageous. Helium prices are going through the roof here in the States. Filling a single 20cf bottle is nice. Also a lot quicker filling tanks for a day or weekend of diving.

So you feel the financial pain all at once..... It some how seems less painful for me than laying out the big bucks for Helium every time you dive.

Which brings up another advantage... You never have to worry about not having the right mix for the dive. Plan is to go offshore.... It's too rough. You don't agonize over doing a shallower dive and wasting that expensive trimix. With a Breather it doesn't matter.... You always have a good mix. :

If you do any photography, the advantages are obvious.

After diving OC for 30 years the whole rebreather experience has helped reinvigorate my love of diving.

Different strokes for different folks.... I really enjoy diving my rebreather, even though it would be easier & safer on OC.

Richie

Gobfish1

Air is still cheap ,, in this depth range

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Steve G

Apparently not the only gay diver in the village

http://drinkingliberally.org/blogs/o...nzee-glock.gif

http://www.scubatunes.com/audio/vol01/mp3/HiTech.mp3

Abbo

A colleague once showed me a spreadsheet where she'd calculated the costs of running a car in Tokyo: depreciation, exhorbitant parking fees, rapacious taxes, overpriced fuel. She then calculated the cost of going everywhere by Tokyo's then famously expensive taxis. The conclusion was clear: it was far cheaper and easier to go everywhere by taxi. Within a week, she'd bought a shiny, bright red sportscar. Once again, the Efficient Markets Hypothesis collides with a tree. A few deeply dellusional people aside, we all know in our heart of hearts that rebreathers are more expensive than OC, even without building the spreadsheet. Many of us used the "savings on the helium bill" argument to pursuade our spouses of the investment, knowing full well the argument was flawed. The important thing is the wife fell for it and now the rebreather is mine..all mine...

The risk arguments are similarly flawed. We've all tried fighting reality like Canute with the tide, but admit, when She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed is well out of hearing, that rebreathers really aren't safer - at any depth. My wife really can't figure out why anyone would risk their lives on their precious weekends to get cold, wet and miserable visiting a rust heap - even if it is underwater. Cold? Yes. Wet? Certainly. Miserable? Absolutely not!!! - and that's the whole point. You can't intellectualize pleasure. It doesn't have a price and it doesn't have an appropriate risk/ reward ratio: you just have to have it - else how would you know you were alive!