First Certified Dives on CK and my minor mods

PaulTG2

Hello,

This past weekend my dive buddy and I completed the move from the Meg to the Classic KISS by doing our first post-certification dives up at Dutch Springs, PA. It was a great weekend of diving and I'm so happy I upgraded to the KISS. It is simply a joy to dive. Clean, simple, easy, and fast.

Dutch springs, PA is a very good quarry to dive. Excellent facilities including hot showers, flush toilets, excellent food, lots of grass, lots of water entry options. It also has water and other activities for non-divers (Dutch Springs Homepage). I'm not affiliated with them, but just like the facilities. Visibility was around 30 feet -- and that's with probably 100 divers around. Temps were 70 at the surface with multiple thermoclines ending up in the 50's at around 60feet.

Lots of tech divers up at Dutch Springs this past weekend. Halcyon had a demo day, a huge group was up for various technical training, many large groups for general OW training. Lots of large scooters. I don't think I've seen quite so many double in my life. Only saw two other breathers there, one Prism and a yellow box of delight.

Started working my new canon G9 digital camera and YS90 strobes with the CK for some test shots. Learning to manage task loading -- just like the cockpit. Changed over to Drysuit and started relearning buoyancy management again. Moved to an off-the-shelf DUI TLS suit and found the mobility was much, much improved from my prior custom fit suit -- go figure.

It have found it strange that some folks seems to assume that the CK is the first step in our CCR diving instead of the current end goal for us. I've had a few questions about how long we expect it will be before we move up to a eCCR -- or to let them know when we're ready for training on [fill in a eCCR unit]. They seem very surprised when I say I just sold my Meg to move to the KISS. This generally sparks a good discussion about the pros and cons of various rebreather choices.

I love the Narked@90 stand. It makes transporting and donning so much easier. It also saved my rig when it did a half-gainer dive off the table onto the ground... the handled took the fall without a scratch on anything. I learned a good lesson about not leaving it on a wobbly tables after I remove it -- always lay it down flat. Can't wait to load all my bags, reels, etc into the bottom caddy.

I purchased some 2014psi 14cf luxfer tanks for the Classic. Personally I think they are perfect tanks for my Rebreather diving (thanks for the recommendation Doug). I did quite a bit of spreadsheet work of various tanks at different fill pressures and found the 2014psi 14cf tanks gave the most gas when fill pressure was limited. They'll allow me to transfill from a 40cf or 80cf tank and eliminate the need need for a booster. They are a bit larger, but extremely light. When I went for local fills at Dutch Springs I was able to get a complete 14cf fill while the 3,000pis 13CF tanks ended up with a 2/3 fill as they didn't have a booster. It was suggested by my technical LDS to make certain the fill folks know they are 2014psi tanks. He has has some folks fill similar tanks to 3000psi -- don't want to be around for that. I think I'll paint the pressure in bold black letters on the tanks.

I also purchased some DiveRite mini cam-bands with low profile cams. I ended up having to modify them by moving the Velcro so that it better aligned when the tanks were mounted. I glued some rubber tubing to the CK tank "rails" to keep from scratching the nice white tanks (brushed aluminum wasn't available). They ended up being a GREAT addition as they also provided a good counter to the cam-band and I was able to get a tight, no-wobble fit with just one cam-band instead of using two. It worked so well I'm going to re-do it with black tubbing instead of clear as the clear shows the glue and it isn't as pretty as I'd like.

Thanks go to: Doug Ebersole for recommendations, training, ordering, and just being one wonderful person to know; Kim at Jetsam for delivery and making a fine Rebreather -- I love the recent upgrades. My dive buddy for putting up with me through four different rebreathers. Rebreather World for which I'd be lost without.

Here are some pictures of my dive buddy from the past weekend. Just remember it was a quarry and my first dives with the camera. No pictures of me, the camera's always pointed the other way.

Sincerely, Paul

Attached Images

	IMG_0523.jpg (51.4 KB, 285 views)
	IMG_0551.jpg (36.1 KB, 283 views)

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Paul's first law states that the safety of an activity is determined by how forgiving of mistakes the activity is.

Paul's second law states that the difference between an adventurer and an explorer is whether the doing or the learning comes first.

Gary Graham

Paul,

nice write up. I'm in the same boat as you as I recently switched from eCCR to manual when I sold my Inspiration and bought a KISS. I bought my CK second hand from an instructor so was able to arrange training as well.

People I know were surprised when I switched to the CK, I've had one opinion expressed that it was a "step back!" Others have asked simply "Why?".

Well, after two and half months of diving it in a mixture of ffresh water quarries and the sea, I love the ease and simplicity of the rebreather, I like the lack of clutter on the chest area. It's easy to put on and carry around. It weighs a bit less than the Inspo, its certainly not as bulky. I find my trim a lot better and bouyancy control much easier than on the Inspo, probably due to BCML. It's hard work on ascent, but I think I've got the hang of it now. The only real mod so far is to add AP GCS to plug offboard into the manifold.

The more I dive it, the more I'll make further changes. I'm not keen on the BOV; I still have the old Paragon second stage, thats my next job, to replace it. I still have the old triple displays as well, which while being very simple, I find them awkward to calibrate. They've not flooded yet, but I suppose that's a question of "when?" and not "if?" The Subsea display looks a good alternative to me which I'll investigate further.

All in all, I'm happy with the change I've made, very happy with the KISS, happy and comfortable diving it.

Dive safe,

Gary

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CK#103

jkaterenchuk

Paul

Having a Kiss and a Meg I understand your comments and reasons. Its a nice machine.

Don't hessitate to give me a call if you want to come up and dive the Bainbridge quarry (Marietta,PA). Its a little closer than Dutch and less crowded. The visability is not as good as Dutch but there seems to be a regular group of CCR divers that frequent it. It usually open on Wed night and Weekends but I could arrange a dive mid week in advance.

Give me a call anytime.

John

debersole

Paul:

Glad to see you and Paula are enjoying the Kiss Classics. Nice job on the photos -- she emailed me a whole set. Hope to see you soon.

Doug

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www.debersole.com

Philippe GERIN

Seen on the 2nd pic: 2 Jetsam displays + 1 pursuit. Is it 3 cell signals to pursuit + 1 display + 1 display or one cell to each? Is the kidney HUD ready?
Best
Philippe

PaulTG2

Hello,

Doug, thank you for the comments on the pictures. It was my very fist dive with the camera and YS90DX. I haven't started integrating the second YS90DX yet. When I have everything under control and am comfortable with them I'd enjoy taking a course from you. I do like the G9 very much.

John, I'd very much like to dive Bainbridge soon. Schdules are tight for the next month but I'd like to come up for a day and givce it shot. It looks a bit colder than Dutch Springs. Definately will go dry for it... although the last time I dived it it was a damp suit.

Gary, I agree with all your comments. The KISS is simply a pleasure to dive and I don't see any drawbacks. I can't wait to take it on the trip to Androse in August.

Phillipe, the set-up is one cell to each using the standard kidney. The Pursuit monitors one cell. She would consider using a modified kidney to allow the Shearwater to monitor all three but she insists on having the other two indepenent displays. Once I decide if I want to move to the Pursuit to keep my VR3 we'll decide.

Thanks everyone for your comments!

Sincerely,

-p

__________________
Paul's first law states that the safety of an activity is determined by how forgiving of mistakes the activity is.

Paul's second law states that the difference between an adventurer and an explorer is whether the doing or the learning comes first.

Rubis

Hi Paul
I have switched to 17 inch hoses in the past month and I am loving them. I thought I would have issues with moving my head left and right but actually I don't. In the water there is less drag and outside when dressing they do not hang that low.
Nice to see you're having fun with this nice unit
Cheers
Cris

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CK # 341

PaulTG2

Hello,

Paula, my dive buddy, likes the 17" hoses very much. I'm going to pinch them for a dive and give them a try.

Sincerely,

-p

__________________
Paul's first law states that the safety of an activity is determined by how forgiving of mistakes the activity is.

Paul's second law states that the difference between an adventurer and an explorer is whether the doing or the learning comes first.

Philippe GERIN

No doubt you'll like them as long as you wear you CK as high as you can on your back which is ewactly how it should be worn anyway.
Best
Philippe