Intro and first post

Scubadou

Hi. Would like to introduce myself. My name is Steeve and I live in the Barrie area, just north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I have been diving for 12 years, teaching recreational for 7, diving technical for 4 and have logged approx. 1500 dives. My dive experience is primarily cold fresh water diving in the Flintkote Quarry, Les Escoumins and The Empress in Quebec, Lunenburg in Nova Scotia and on the shipwrecks in the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes.

I have totally commited myself in acquiring a Classic KISS , payment should go out at the beginning of next week. I'll be doing the training in Brockville in May with Jason Fisch from the SCUBA Connection in NJ. Main reasons for switching to rebreather is the inexpensive gas refills, longer bottom times, lesser deco and weight carrying around two 14's… Basically replacing 2 set of doubles and 5 stage bottles by a half the size, half the weight apparatus. Renting a Toyota Echo for a weekend last summer and lugging doubles and stages in the trunk just make me think about what I was doing wrong...

Since then, I've sold most of my OC gear and I am down to the bare minimal or almost... I'm selling my steel doubles, a spare 1/4" backplate, my 70 lbs wing, some stages and some hoses. I'll keep some 2 alu 80s (or steel 98's if I don't sell them by spring) for decanting to my LP 2015 Luxfer 14's and the shallow OC splashes with my girlfriend. For those splashes, I'm also keeping my DS4's and my single tank rig.

I'm acquiring an Oxycheq 40 wing, some specific parts for the KISS and replacing my alu 40 Catalina by Luxfers, because of their buoyancy characteristics.

I have this question: Looking at doing hypoxic trimix in the long run, and assuming I stay within Jetsam's recommended depth limits, what kind and how many bailout cylinders should I keep? 2 alu 40s and 1 alu 80? What gases? 50%, 100% and bottom mix? Any info or advice is welcome.

Also, any CCR divers in the area, I'd love to network.

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Steeve
www.customdivingservices.com
Classic KISS Pilot #230

ROB DAVIE

Steeve,

Welcome to Rebreather World. A lot of divers, myself included, went to CCR for the very same reasons you mention!

I'm not a KISS pilot, although I know it to be a damn fine unit. I'll let one of our KISSers give you the details.

I will just say again, welcome aboard, and welcome to the "Dark Side" of diving, young Jedi!!

Rob Davie
RBW Admin

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"CC Rebreathers will become a viable part of tech diving WHEN PIGS FLY!!"--GI3

ScubaDadMiami

Welcome. I don't know anything about your unit. In fact, I have just started training. So, one thing I can tell you for sure is that, right now, I don't feel like I know much about anything.

You'll understand what I am saying soon enough.

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Howard Packer
IANTD CCR Instructor
Miami Beach, Florida
CCRDiveTraining.com

decoweenie

If you will be taking a normoxic CCR course, the instructor will outline what you need.

But in general, you need to:

1. compute how much total gas you need to bail-out to OC from the deepest/farthest point of your dive at the maximum BT (i.e. longest deco) so you could surface after completing all of the required deco stops including bailing out to OC on bottom.
2. convert the total gas volume into what tank sizes you will need.

Food for thought, IANTD teaches a single stage for normoxic trimix. So do you carry bottom gas or deco gas ?

I recommend minimum of 2 stages depending on the depth:

1. bottom mix
2. deco mix

Use a deco gas that you could switch to a bit earlier (i.e. 50%) if you are going to use only 1 deco stage.

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"...after a while you get bored offering advice to a bull that like to keep butting the fence with its head rather than walking through the open gate..."

- Rebreather World PM