Are Rebreather divers, in general, in worse shape than other divers?

onetime

This is a question that has bugged me for quite a few years now. While I don't pretend to know the demographics of all rebreather divers, I'm struck by a fair number of comments from some Rebreather divers choosing the RB route as almost an alternative to improving diving efficiency and/or fitness.

Before I get accused of throwing stones, I'll answer the following question...

Am I in the best shape?

No. While I am far from sedentary I don't exercise enough, my diet sucks, and my cholesterol could be a lot better. While this can be said of a majority of Americans (and far too much of the population of other "western" countries) it may be a critical point when talking about rebreather divers and the relatively high rate of fatal incidents.

Did my less than stellar shape influence my decision to become an Rebreather diver? No, I can honestly say it didn't. I haven't had much desire to go deep. I've never shied away from donning doubles and a stage on the rolling deck of a NJ dive boat for the dives I found them necessary. Heck, I rarely even dreaded the hike up a ladder with all that equipment still on (unless of course the seas were really out to get me). I wasn't necessarily looking for more bottom time as I got enough for my needs from double 95's (and an occasional stage or two). My main reasons for getting an RB was logistics and an interest in the technology that I believe will, eventually, dominate the diving world.

One major barrier to that domination is the seemingly unexplainable deaths associated with Rebreather diving. We're all pretty well versed in what may or may not be behind them but my question boils down to, are we (rebreather divers as a whole) starting with a stacked deck against us (statistically speaking) by having a large number of our population choosing RB's to solve some of the problems that their inherent lack of fitness caused(es)?

For example:

A poor SAC rate due to lack of exercise/obesity/whatever is solved by going Rebreather

Physical difficulty of lugging heavy gear is minimized by going Rebreather

Now, thankfully, I have not personally known any of those who passed while using an Rebreather. But is it possible to discuss, with the utmost mix of frankness and respect, whether those who passed were, for the most part, on the healthy or unhealthy side of the spectrum?

Just a thought I figured I'd throw out there for discussion.

--Paul

CCR900

I don't know where it is but there is an age survey here on this site. The one thing I remember when I did see it was that the average age of rebreather users seems to fairly high (plenty of grey hair anyway). I can only assume this has something do with having the cash to spend (which normally increases with age ), alternatively it's a sex substitute.

All said and done the young have the monopoly on good health, so as the Portuguese say about all ailments as the years pass by: "PID" or "Puta da Idade" (Age is a Bitch).

F

onetime

I saw that age survey as well, one thing that struck me in it was that they weren't as old as I might have expected. It was almost evenly split between those under 37 and those over. (117 over, 104 under)

And, I suspect, the number in the younger age is going to grow faster than the number in the upper ages as younger people are less risk averse and younger divers are going more "technical" sooner than older I believe.


Here's a link to the age survey:

http://www.rebreatherworld.com/gener...ners-only.html

Freef

I wasn't allowed to answer the age question being an SCR diver!

I'm 35, possibly slightly fitter than average, my RMV varies from 12-16 in the UK diving conditions and my vO2 on the Dolph is in the region of 0.8L/min, 2 mins hard finning raised that to 1.35.

Didn't budge Stoney's APC an inch though...

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Currently owner of two differently sized ankles.

lizardland

It's an interesting point but I don't think there are many rebreather divers who went CC because of failings in the OC department. If anything CCR demands more careful attention if not better skill level than OC.

For me it was a gas cost and logistics issue for cave diving. For cave diving in less diver friendly areas of France I can do a week of trimix diving with a handful of cylinders and no compressor. Not to mention very little gas costs. In the past it involved paying a fortune for helium and schlepping a 4x4 filled to the roof with bottles.

Personally, I had an OC RMV of around 10-12l/min, I'm in the gym for about 90min a day, I eat fairly healthily and I do a lot of other sports. However I'm also the first to admit that I have and still do enjoy the, erm, excesses of alcohol, unsafe sex and, er, "other" forms of entertainment. I'm not going to lie about it mainly because everyone who knows me would wet themselves with laughter if I did. And I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one, I don't know if it is a CC thing though.

My body is a temple... looks good from a distance, in ruins close up and suffers from too many Australian tourists poking around it...

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Mark Chase

For me it was a pure gas logistics issue. Getting fills was extreemly dificult and very expensive as was running several sets of OC tanks to alow for the type of diving I do.

My OC SAC was about 12-15 lpm on the dive and around 8-12lpm for deco. Last few OC dives i did it hasent changed much.

I wasent fit on OC and I am no fitter now

However I often here CCR divers saying they no longer have to worry about their SAC so its obviously a consideration for some.

ATB

Mark Chase

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Beanie

Sounds like me

CCR made life easier less filling less wasted gas no fitter or unfiter than I was before.

There's this thread as well looking at how we look after ourselves

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