New Optima Diver

wsparks · 21st November 2006, 15:28

I've been lurking in the shadows and finally decided to register...

I live in Houston, TX and just finished my Optima training with Eric Keibler at Oceanic Ventures in Houston. We drove to Florida for training because our local lake is not cooperating. It is 40ft or so low with extremely limited visibility. For some reason Eric wanted to be able to see us while underwater....go figure... Well anyway we did our training at Blue Groto and Hal's 40 fathom. As with the rest of the posters my buoyancy sucked the first couple of dive (okay maybe it sucked all but the last few dives, but I did see a progressive improvement each dive...)

Like I mentioned in my title I am an Optima diver and owner......my fibs caught up with me when my wife found out how much it costs

. It seems while the unit is paid for monetarily I'm still paying for it verbally. It seems my Christmas present this year is going to be the end of the nagging...

On the unit I did find out the way to go is to sidemount the bailout. Once I installed the sidemount kit I loved the bottle placement. I wish I would have sidemounted the bottles when I carried them with doubles. I am planning on upgrading my sidemount kit to the Dive Rite Nomad system I saw at DEMA. I like the large D Ring in order to ease the clipping and unclipping the bailout bottle.

Once the training was finished we had the bright idea of stopping at Pensacola in order to dive the Oriskany. After driving a total of 1900 miles over the course of the weekend we were very bright indeed. The Oriskany dive was less than stellar, we had a good boat and crew with Viking Divers, but the current was cooking. Luckily the Oriskany was a war ship and had plenty of hand rails to traverse the wreck and was big enough to block the current on the lee side (is this correct usage). I found that the training paid off as I felt extremely comfortable diving the rebreather even in the current. Now I need to visit the Oriskany next year in more favorable conditions...

I look forward to meeting and diving with fellow rebreather divers in the future and if anyone from the site is going I will see you at InnerSpace this year.

My current certs are:
IANTD: Rebreather Diver, Technical Dive Supervisor, Technical Diver
SSI: Dive Control Specialist
I am also one of the equipment techs at the Dive Store

More later...now back to work...its almost time for lunch.....

***ScubaDadMiami*** · 21st November 2006, 16:08

Congratulations on your purchase and certification. Hey, you can't hear the nagging underwater. Sounds like it is worth the price of admission to me.

You'll be able to learn a lot here from some of the most experienced Optima divers. (I know I have.) Welcome aboard.

**Gill Envy** · 21st November 2006, 16:29

Quote: (Originally Posted by wsparks)

It seems while the unit is paid for monetarily I'm still paying for it verbally. It seems my Christmas present this year is going to be the end of the nagging...

I know what you mean times two. After much conversation and a bit of hard selling my wife agreed to the purchase of two rebreathers, one for each of us. I thought the money side was going to be the cause of the stress, but the real stress began after the purchase, after the cirtification, after the prep dives....on our first big vacation. With a whole lot of anticipation, on our first day to dive, the solenoid on her rebreather wouldn't fire up...screwed the whole trip. then the focus turned to the debt, my obsession with rebreather world and...well i'll spare you the rest. Suffice it to say, some six months later, they are nearly paid off, having amazing dives together and it's all feeling worth it again.

Welcome to rebreather world! From the sounds of it, i think you'll love your new Toy!

zmcave · 21st November 2006, 17:39

Welcome and congratulations on your course and unit.
I am also going for the sidemount kit (I am going with the golem ccr side kit), just waiting for mine to get down here... I hope it feels more confortable.

Zé.

**JPJones** · 21st November 2006, 21:53

Welcome to the dark side.

Jason Blackwell · 21st November 2006, 23:50

Quote: (Originally Posted by JPJones)

Welcome to the dark side.

or should that be "the Red side" ?

I hope you enjoy the O2ptima, that was sure some road trip you made to get your training in.

Cheers Jason

Downtime · 22nd November 2006, 02:09

Quote: (Originally Posted by Jason Blackwell)

I hope you enjoy the O2ptima, that was sure some road trip you made to get your training in.

Congratulations on the new unit, training and marital bliss

As Jason said, you sure traveled alot of miles for your training. We are lucky here "down-under" since the instructor travels to the student for training.

Cheers,
Michael

mikedive · 22nd November 2006, 07:04

Welcome to Rebreather World and I hope you enjoy your O2ptima and this amazing discussion board.
Cheers,

megdiver12 · 22nd November 2006, 14:00

welcome have fun dive safe

dvrstev · 22nd November 2006, 14:25

Congrats, I only have a few hours on my O2ptima and love it. I changed the stock tank straps to cam straps to keep the tanks in place. Other than that I don't have any issues with the unit.

21st November 2006, 15:28	#1 (permalink)
wsparks New Member Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 9	New Optima Diver I've been lurking in the shadows and finally decided to register... I live in Houston, TX and just finished my Optima training with Eric Keibler at Oceanic Ventures in Houston. We drove to Florida for training because our local lake is not cooperating. It is 40ft or so low with extremely limited visibility. For some reason Eric wanted to be able to see us while underwater....go figure... Well anyway we did our training at Blue Groto and Hal's 40 fathom. As with the rest of the posters my buoyancy sucked the first couple of dive (okay maybe it sucked all but the last few dives, but I did see a progressive improvement each dive...) Like I mentioned in my title I am an Optima diver and owner......my fibs caught up with me when my wife found out how much it costs . It seems while the unit is paid for monetarily I'm still paying for it verbally. It seems my Christmas present this year is going to be the end of the nagging... On the unit I did find out the way to go is to sidemount the bailout. Once I installed the sidemount kit I loved the bottle placement. I wish I would have sidemounted the bottles when I carried them with doubles. I am planning on upgrading my sidemount kit to the Dive Rite Nomad system I saw at DEMA. I like the large D Ring in order to ease the clipping and unclipping the bailout bottle. Once the training was finished we had the bright idea of stopping at Pensacola in order to dive the Oriskany. After driving a total of 1900 miles over the course of the weekend we were very bright indeed. The Oriskany dive was less than stellar, we had a good boat and crew with Viking Divers, but the current was cooking. Luckily the Oriskany was a war ship and had plenty of hand rails to traverse the wreck and was big enough to block the current on the lee side (is this correct usage). I found that the training paid off as I felt extremely comfortable diving the rebreather even in the current. Now I need to visit the Oriskany next year in more favorable conditions... I look forward to meeting and diving with fellow rebreather divers in the future and if anyone from the site is going I will see you at InnerSpace this year. My current certs are: IANTD: Rebreather Diver, Technical Dive Supervisor, Technical Diver SSI: Dive Control Specialist I am also one of the equipment techs at the Dive Store More later...now back to work...its almost time for lunch.....
(Offline)

21st November 2006, 16:08	#2 (permalink)
*ScubaDadMiami* Moderator Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Florida, USA Posts: 1,890	Re: New Optima Diver Congratulations on your purchase and certification. Hey, you can't hear the nagging underwater. Sounds like it is worth the price of admission to me. You'll be able to learn a lot here from some of the most experienced Optima divers. (I know I have.) Welcome aboard. __________________ Howard Packer IANTD CCR Instructor Miami Beach, Florida CCRDiveTraining.com
(Online)

21st November 2006, 16:29	#3 (permalink)
Gill Envy Shearwater Copis Diver Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Evolution Other CCR Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: seattle Posts: 1,208	Re: New Optima Diver Quote: (Originally Posted by wsparks) It seems while the unit is paid for monetarily I'm still paying for it verbally. It seems my Christmas present this year is going to be the end of the nagging... I know what you mean times two. After much conversation and a bit of hard selling my wife agreed to the purchase of two rebreathers, one for each of us. I thought the money side was going to be the cause of the stress, but the real stress began after the purchase, after the cirtification, after the prep dives....on our first big vacation. With a whole lot of anticipation, on our first day to dive, the solenoid on her rebreather wouldn't fire up...screwed the whole trip. then the focus turned to the debt, my obsession with rebreather world and...well i'll spare you the rest. Suffice it to say, some six months later, they are nearly paid off, having amazing dives together and it's all feeling worth it again. Welcome to rebreather world! From the sounds of it, i think you'll love your new Toy! __________________ Gill Envy ...Because I wasn't born with gills! ><(°>><(°>><(°>><(°>><(°>><(°>><(°>><(°>
(Online)

21st November 2006, 17:39	#4 (permalink)
zmcave www.rebreather.com.br Current Rebreather/s: Optima Dolphin Other Rebreather/s: Optima Dolphin Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Brazil Posts: 170	Re: New Optima Diver Welcome and congratulations on your course and unit. I am also going for the sidemount kit (I am going with the golem ccr side kit), just waiting for mine to get down here... I hope it feels more confortable. Zé.
(Online)

21st November 2006, 21:53	#5 (permalink)
JPJones O2ptima Test Dummy Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Megalodon Sport Kiss Classic Kiss Optima Titan Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 367	Re: New Optima Diver Welcome to the dark side. __________________ NSS/CDS Training Chairman www.jpjscuba.com
(Offline)

21st November 2006, 23:50	#6 (permalink)
Jason Blackwell Bloody Rebreathers! Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Sport Kiss Optima Dolphin Ray Other Rebreather/s: Not Bought Yet Inspiration Vision Evolution Classic Kiss Dolphin Ray Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Brisbane, Queensland, AUSTRALIA Posts: 361	Re: New Optima Diver Quote: (Originally Posted by JPJones) Welcome to the dark side. or should that be "the Red side" ? I hope you enjoy the O2ptima, that was sure some road trip you made to get your training in. Cheers Jason __________________ Jason Blackwell TDI Instructor Trainer #1358 Optima...Inspiration/Evolution...KISS...and what is next??? www.divedivedive.com.au OZTeK '09 March 2009 Sydney, Australia www.diveoztek.com.au
(Offline)

22nd November 2006, 02:09	#7 (permalink)
Downtime New Member Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Melbourne Posts: 37	Re: New Optima Diver Quote: (Originally Posted by Jason Blackwell) I hope you enjoy the O2ptima, that was sure some road trip you made to get your training in. Congratulations on the new unit, training and marital bliss As Jason said, you sure traveled alot of miles for your training. We are lucky here "down-under" since the instructor travels to the student for training. Cheers, Michael
(Offline)

22nd November 2006, 07:04	#8 (permalink)
mikedive Custom Title Allowed! Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Optima Other CCR Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: South Brazil, Texas and Mexico Posts: 321	Re: New Optima Diver Welcome to Rebreather World and I hope you enjoy your O2ptima and this amazing discussion board. Cheers, __________________ Michael Silva Netto - Rebreather Clube do Brasil rebreathertraining@gmail.com
(Offline)

22nd November 2006, 14:00	#9 (permalink)
megdiver12 New Member Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Inspiration Vision Evolution Classic Kiss Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: minnesota Posts: 71	Re: New Optima Diver welcome have fun dive safe
(Offline)

22nd November 2006, 14:25	#10 (permalink)
dvrstev New Member Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: California, Maryland Posts: 42	Re: New Optima Diver Congrats, I only have a few hours on my O2ptima and love it. I changed the stock tank straps to cam straps to keep the tanks in place. Other than that I don't have any issues with the unit.
(Offline)

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