COPIS training

mattmexico

yo there

You should not run out of buddies doing o/c tech dives but meeting new ones that may not dive o/c but c/c. These c/c divers should have done their o/c bailout calculations and carrying enough bailout gas with them to bring you, the o/c diver back to the surface in case you are running out of gas.

I am sure there is a thread on Rebreather World of how to calculate bailout gas as well as how to deal with o/c divers in a c/c diver group.

It would be nice of these c/c divers to explain to you how bailout procedures work and where to get what breathing gas in case you need it. On the other hand you could go over to them as well and ask what they do and how they do it in general, and bailout specific.

If you then discover that they are not coming close to the reserve gas volume you require, or they even do not have any bailout plan or gas at all you still could decide not to go along. That would be sad, for the lost dive and the divers who dive without bailout gas.

When I go diving on a boat, cave or shore and I see o/c divers diving on the saem boat or even in the same group I make it a point to walk up to them and ask if they have any questions in regards to what we do, dive or how we bailout along with the procedures we do.

For a o/c diver it can look quite scary what c/c divers do, for one they do not blow bubbles, so are they concious or already gone .... suddenly they go upside down of they play with their valves. All looking strange for the un-initiated.

So I hope you are not really and truely left behind. That would be sad. I know their are some ignorant divers out there, o/c as well as c/c but mostly they are quite nice ....

Have fun next time on a mixed boat

Matt

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W 87' 04.693'
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Joe

Great post Matt!

I do the same things. First thing I always do is explain to everyone where and what my bailout is and to not try to get gas from my DSV.

If the Rebreather diver minimally carries the greater of either his own needs or the equivalent of 3rds for the OC diver(s) their is no reason CC and OC can't dive together.

netmage

Thanks everyone for the info... Rebreathers have really taken off here locally... Lesse... 2 folks at the LDS dive Optima's, our tech captain dives a Meg. 2 regular buddies on Meg's, 3 others in the circle on a KISS, Optima and COPIS. They are multiplying faster than tribbles....

caveseeker7

There is something decidedly incestious rebreathing your own gases over and over again ...

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Cheers
Stefan



"It is still a good day if you are on the green side of the grass!

Su amigo Roberto!"

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PacketSniffer

Haha..... Come on Tim. Join in on the fun. Unfortunately, it means you'll have to put down the spear gun.

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Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat.

Padipro

Hey Tim we would never leave you behind, on the contrary I'm always trying to get you to dive with us in hopes of bringing you over to the dark side.

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Scott



IANTD Megalodon
IANTD Trimix
TDI Adv Nitrox and Deco
PADI MSDT

It could be that the sole purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others. Before you attempt to beat the odds, be sure you could survive the odds beating you.

Dive Africa

Hi there

I (almost) exclusively do all my tech/cave and wreck dives with a Meg Diver (I still do these types of dives OC untill such time as that I can get enough hours on my Meg - actually I originally got certified on the Meg to ensure that I knew what the hell to do with my team mate if Murphy came a calling at 12 ata) and liked it so much that I got my own machine

In any event I find that a OC and CC divers can make a good team, that is if dive planning is done correctly and assuming that the there is enough bailout gas to get a diver out on OC. (we end up having enough gas to get two divers out of the water). If the CC guys want to stay longer I just take an extra side sling with and if they want to stay even longer I make them carry an extra side sling. If I could only get the CC divers to stop bitching about the bubble noise and laughing at my gas bill it would be a perfect world.

I have also added inflater hoses to all my regs (so that the CC diver can plug into) thereby being able to bailout any rebreather diver that my have gas problems.

So if a CC diver tel you that you can't go with tell him that he can't carry his weight

Cheers Toors

Padipro

Maybe it's just me but it seems that some folks think that we were excluding our old OC buddies from diving with us once we went CC. Actually just the oppsite is true, us CC guys had to convince the OC guys that it was safe to dive with us and that we did indeed carry enough bailout gas to get them to the surface if something went wrong.

I have never refused to dive with someone on OC, for one thing there just aren't enough CC divers around yet and if you want to dive the only buddy you may be able to find might be OC and secondly I've never seen a problem mixing OC and CC as long as it is planned properly.

I didn't switch to CC diving to get away form OC divers and actually see it as a way to combine the thrill of deeper technical diving which I love and still having a good time doing shallow pretty fish dives.

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Scott



IANTD Megalodon
IANTD Trimix
TDI Adv Nitrox and Deco
PADI MSDT

It could be that the sole purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others. Before you attempt to beat the odds, be sure you could survive the odds beating you.