new oceanic rebreather

silent running

Genesis, I don't believe SMI said that. What they say is that the Prism is the first production CCR to get to stage 3 of the Navy test requirements. Here's the page:

http://www.steammachines.com/aa4-PRISMInvader.asp

There's even a picture of the thing, it's not vaporware, I own a Prism. Does anybody own a Phibian? It's not a production unit, so there's no real comparison to be made.

If Oceanic have decided to go the military route first, it will probably take a very long time before they come out with a consumer version. Adoption of any unit will take a long time as the testing is long, tough and can take many twists and turns as the Navy revises and expands it's criteria. It's learning experience for both them and the manufacturer.

Genesis

My point simply is that lots of people try and fail at military acceptance, and that this is an entirely different path than the civilian one.

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RonMicjan

I spoke to one of the oceanic folks and they wanted to bring the Rebreather, but it just wasnt done enough for them. Actually i respect that much more than the pile of parts that OMS brought.

I think the coolest thing was to be found on the extendaire booth, the deeplife stuff, awesome handset, two variable injection nozzles, 4 oxygen sensors, HE sensor, CO2 sensor, more accurate temp stick coupled with a rate of respiration sensor and a numeric % of scrubber life display.

seems most can build a loop, its the electronics that causes the agony.

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RebreatherDave

I talked at length with Oceanic at DEMA about their CCR project.

I have seen divers criticize prototype fit and finish because non-manufacturing types do not understand the concept of prototypes, so I sympathize with not wanting to show a prototype.

But I am quite disappointed that Oceanic staff has been leaving all of these cryptic messages all over the diving forums trying to get everyone all worked up into a frenzy and generate publicity for a DEMA CCR showing, then they show nothing at all at DEMA. That's a most remarkable way to market a product.

As to their CCR project, they only have prototypes and they told me they are currently engineering a better system for power management for the gas dryer prior to infrared c02 sampling.

CCR specific info will be incorporated into their HUD within their mask. I have to say that mask is awesome, (translated for our UK friends: "That piece of kit is the dogs bollocks." The HUD image is in perfect focus and is not in the way of vision. It will incorporate CCR specific info in the HUD.

At DEMA I was really impressed with what I saw of the OpenRev rebreather. Temp stick, really slick engineering, c02 sensing, they are trying to think of all sorts of failure modes and doing a damn fine job of trying to engineer failures out as much as reasonably possible.

If Oceanic ever brings a CCR product to market, I am sure it will be impressive with some slick features that will live up to the fine reputation Oceanic has for being a leader in innovation. Firms like Oceanic and the outstanding engineering resources they can bring to the CCR table is the type of thing we all will benefit from.

jasonvds

Has anyone heard anything more from Oceanic?

viscya

Everyone talks about how the HUD image is in focus. This may be true if you don't ware glasses.

I tried the Oceanic HUD last year, and was disappointed. I am nearsighted (meaning I can generally see things that are close), but the HUD was blurry to the point of being very difficult to read the numbers. Given the shape of the mask, there is not much chance of using any standard corrective lenses. As the population that can afford such a mask is on the older end of the spectrum, I hope Oceanic has some plan cope with divers that don't see 20/20.

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Russ

This is why I wear contacts I don't trust myself with the prescription lenses