Rebreather Curious

BMW · 13th July 2008, 04:07

Code:

Hi All

Well, I have about 350 OC dives in the last two years. I have done naui
o/w, padi advanced and rescue, and various specialties (deep, enriched
air, nitrox, equip).

About a year ago a buddy and I did an intro course in Maui and got two 
hours on the Drager Dolphin, and that got me thinking....

I was thinking about doing some advanced courses and was going to get 
doubles and go that route. Then as it happened I moved to a location that 
is close to where Meg's are built.

So now I am thinking about doing tech training on CCRs.  I have read 
"Diving Science" by Straus and Aksenov, and am re-reading  Bozanic's 
"Mastering Rebreathers". Great info and highly recommended.

Wondering if others would make a training recommendation:

Is it worthwhile to do SCR training ever, or just focus on CCRs
Should I fly mCCR before going eCCR
How do I adapt to diving with my OC buddies with me on a R/B

No easy answers, so I keep "lurking" here and other sites on the net and 
thinking about it :-)

Great site all, keep up the interesting posts!

-bryan

jkaterenchuk · 13th July 2008, 04:16

I went direct to the eCCR. No doubles, no SCR. It worked good for me.

Some of you OC buddies will continue to dive with you some may not. Depending on the dives they are doing and you will be doing on a CCR will determine the answer.

There are several members on RBW that are in your local area and I am sure they would not mind explaining things to you in person.

John

Abbo · 13th July 2008, 04:40

I took my original open water with BSAC in '81: they used to make you do 10 snorkel dives before you were allowed to do scuba diving. I suppose the logic was that you would have to bail out to snorkel if anything went wrong. Frankly, I think snorkel diving teaches bad habits: it taught me to take one big breath, stick my tongue in the snorkel to block it, hold my breath a while, blast the air out of my lungs to clear the snorkel then breathe in immediately before water had a chance to enter the snorkel. It was a while before I learnt that this kind of skip breathing is bad for scuba divers. A lot of things you learn on OC have to be unlearned and replaced when you learn CCR - especially buoyancy. You have to be good enough at OC to be entirely confident about bailing out to OC, but I would have thought 100 dives would be enough. If you don't have trimix before you start, you will doubtless have a steep learning curve ahead of you, but CCR is not about book learning. It's not about educating your mind but about educating your muscles to do things without thinking when your mind is taking time out.

If you take a rebreather course, bear in mind you will be carrying 80kg of kit to the dive site. Where everybody else will grab a tank and go, you will be calibrating and testing. You will be struggling and wriggling into a heavy rebreather and strapping on a sling tank, which will sometimes feel like turning up to a poolside barbeque in a top hat, white tie and tails. A 'breather is a tool for diving deep and long. Unless is has a purpose, it is merely a way of increasing your risks. That said, I wouldn't swap mine for a bubbler for all the world!

tony13 · 13th July 2008, 15:37

Well I recently turned to the dark side and am glad I did.
The type of diving your going to do definetely is a thing that should be a factor in determining if you should go Rebreather, but IMO it doesn't have to be just deep stuff. I wouldn't get one if your doing beach diving, but I do some shallower stuff (70'-90') and the amount of bottom time I'm doing is 2 or more times that of all my oc buddies. Not switching tanks between diving and loading gear of the boat is much faster for me then the oc guys. Now for me when doing dives alittle deeper (130'-150) I've gotten out of the water faster then my oc buddy doing the same bottom time. On deeper stuff I can't comment yet. You definetely need more dicipline and have to respect your Rebreather, if your not willing to put the time in to prep and take care of your unit it's not for you. Now depending on which one you go with will dictate setup and maintainance, but for me there isn't a big change in prep or cleanup at the end because I'm pretty anal anyways. Time not spent twice a week running to the dive shop is priceless, I whip my own o2 and transfill air from hp 120's.
If your thinking Rebreather skip SCCR and def

.

**wedivebc** · 13th July 2008, 15:53

Call the meg factory, 360.330.9018 tell Jerry your story andI am sure they would be happy to give you a factory tour along with some good solid advice. Of course their opinion will be rather biased but you will get some good answers about RBs in general.

13th July 2008, 04:16	#2 (permalink)
jkaterenchuk . Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Megalodon Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: May 2006 Location: Lititz, PA Posts: 1,041	Re: Rebreather Curious I went direct to the eCCR. No doubles, no SCR. It worked good for me. Some of you OC buddies will continue to dive with you some may not. Depending on the dives they are doing and you will be doing on a CCR will determine the answer. There are several members on RBW that are in your local area and I am sure they would not mind explaining things to you in person. John
(Offline)

13th July 2008, 04:40	#3 (permalink)
Abbo Nicholas Smith Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Tokyo Posts: 460	Re: Rebreather Curious I took my original open water with BSAC in '81: they used to make you do 10 snorkel dives before you were allowed to do scuba diving. I suppose the logic was that you would have to bail out to snorkel if anything went wrong. Frankly, I think snorkel diving teaches bad habits: it taught me to take one big breath, stick my tongue in the snorkel to block it, hold my breath a while, blast the air out of my lungs to clear the snorkel then breathe in immediately before water had a chance to enter the snorkel. It was a while before I learnt that this kind of skip breathing is bad for scuba divers. A lot of things you learn on OC have to be unlearned and replaced when you learn CCR - especially buoyancy. You have to be good enough at OC to be entirely confident about bailing out to OC, but I would have thought 100 dives would be enough. If you don't have trimix before you start, you will doubtless have a steep learning curve ahead of you, but CCR is not about book learning. It's not about educating your mind but about educating your muscles to do things without thinking when your mind is taking time out. If you take a rebreather course, bear in mind you will be carrying 80kg of kit to the dive site. Where everybody else will grab a tank and go, you will be calibrating and testing. You will be struggling and wriggling into a heavy rebreather and strapping on a sling tank, which will sometimes feel like turning up to a poolside barbeque in a top hat, white tie and tails. A 'breather is a tool for diving deep and long. Unless is has a purpose, it is merely a way of increasing your risks. That said, I wouldn't swap mine for a bubbler for all the world!
(Offline)

13th July 2008, 15:37	#4 (permalink)
tony13 RBW Member Current Rebreather/s: rEvo Other Rebreather/s: rEvo Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: NJ Posts: 73	Re: Rebreather Curious Well I recently turned to the dark side and am glad I did. The type of diving your going to do definetely is a thing that should be a factor in determining if you should go Rebreather, but IMO it doesn't have to be just deep stuff. I wouldn't get one if your doing beach diving, but I do some shallower stuff (70'-90') and the amount of bottom time I'm doing is 2 or more times that of all my oc buddies. Not switching tanks between diving and loading gear of the boat is much faster for me then the oc guys. Now for me when doing dives alittle deeper (130'-150) I've gotten out of the water faster then my oc buddy doing the same bottom time. On deeper stuff I can't comment yet. You definetely need more dicipline and have to respect your Rebreather, if your not willing to put the time in to prep and take care of your unit it's not for you. Now depending on which one you go with will dictate setup and maintainance, but for me there isn't a big change in prep or cleanup at the end because I'm pretty anal anyways. Time not spent twice a week running to the dive shop is priceless, I whip my own o2 and transfill air from hp 120's. If your thinking Rebreather skip SCCR and def . __________________ rEvo Shearwater
(Offline)

13th July 2008, 15:53	#5 (permalink)
wedivebc Dave Tomblin Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Not Bought Yet Inspiration Classic Sport Kiss Other CCR Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Vancouver Island BC Canada Posts: 1,493	Re: Rebreather Curious Call the meg factory, 360.330.9018 tell Jerry your story andI am sure they would be happy to give you a factory tour along with some good solid advice. Of course their opinion will be rather biased but you will get some good answers about RBs in general. __________________ Cheers, Dave.... Man is the only animal burdened with the knowledge he will eventually die
(Online)

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode