Recommendation On Rebreather

Abbo

With respect, that seems a kind of specious argument. You're making a 'Random Walk' argument that suggests that a certain percentage of people randomly chose another rebreather. If that were the case, the majority of people would still be using ox carts for transport and cowrie shells for money, and the market leader would never change. I believe that if there were a sufficiently large generational change, 100% of YBOD divers would switch, and the same goes for Megs. But that's a kind of boring argument: only a sheep would chose their rebreather according to what's the most popular brand. Chose what suits your needs: for me it was a Meg. There are lots of good products out there and none of them deserve your religious devotion.

Drmike

here we go again



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Cave diving is a sport
Wreck diving is a sport
Diving in general is a sport

'Rebreather diving' is not a sport
its the delusional obsession with a highly dangerous and often inappropriate piece of equipment

UWSojourner

Jeeze, Phi, give it a rest. What is so open-minded about your "MegWorld" crack? Meg divers represent 13% of this forum. That's one in about every 7.5 Rebreather World users (the 1/2 must be SCR guys I guess ). Even if you cut the proportional representation down to 50% it would only drop the Meg% a few points. You're really building your "open-mindedness" on a max of an extra 4-5%? What gives?

Yeah, all Meg divers who've owned them longer are all pissed off and disgruntled.

Gill Envy

IMHO, you are far enough away from both manufacturers that there is not much of an advantage either way in that respect. I think it's kind of a toss up and you need to figure out what your priorities are. The temp stick on the Vision is great, the set point controller is the best (IMHO). but both are eCCR's and are prone to more issues than an mCCR, and a lot more issues than OC.

Also, there is a potential need for additional po2 computers for either. While the vision is a wonderful all in one system, that has it's shortcommings to. There are several electronics issues that can crop up on the vision that can leave you high and dry until you send it back to the factory. If I were going to keep my Evo (and if it werent' for my wife i would be), i'd be purchasing a fourth cell holder and a shearwater (and a travel frame). I'd set it up so that the sheerwater runs off the 4th cell for redundancy and emergency bail out but also set it up so that it has the capacity to be connected to three cells so that in the event of a Vision lock out or other total system failure, I can re-wire and overide the Controller after a failure and use the Sheerwater as the primary on subsequent dives until it was convenient to send the unit back. Having a breakdown in the middle of a trip, that stops you from diving, is a huge bummer and it can happen on any rebreather. The vision's issues do not seem to be leading to increased mortality but to the contrary it seems that the system can perhaps be credited with being successful at catching issues before they become deadly, often before you even get in the water. And as inconvenient as that tends to sound if you read through the complaint threads, there is something to be said for the difference between hearing complaints from owners versus never hearing from them again.

The meg lacks integrated deco, so you'll likely need an additional constant po2 computer as well, stand alone or in line. This will also give you additional redundancy so that you can keep diving on a trip where you have a primary fail.

Strict isolationists would say that with any rebreather, not only does a redundant, independent po2 monitor provide a true safety net, but they go even further to say it's best to have the additional po2 computer on it's own cell for true isolation, assuring errant voltage from the two systems don't polute the reading on both systems. though I have not heard anyone who can point to a case of this happenning, I still find it a compelling practice. It's taken a long time to get enough experience to agree with that total isolation has multiple advantages and is the best way to go. With an eCCR that means a 4th cell (since the primary needs 3 for voting logic), which can also be added to the meg on the counter lung.

i'm one of those odd balls that is switching not only from the vision to a meg but from the vision to the Copis meg (an mCCR). I don't trust the Apex controller on the meg, running it manually and with a 4th cell would be my choice if I went in that direction. The Copis is the best of both worlds for our purposes, and a 4th cell will not be needed, since it's an mCCR and doesn't have a set point controller. Keeping your set up as simple as you really needs it to be has it's advantages. I am planning on removing one of the three scensors connectors to the stock hand set and plugging the shearwater into the 3rd cell and setting it up so that in the event of the stock handset failure, I will be able to be plugg into all three cells, making the shearwater the primary for the rest of a given trip. Conversely if the sheerwater goes fins up, i'll be able to plug the third scensor on the stock handset back in for to maintain my own mental voting logic. For our shallow diving (max 140 fsw), being able to fix, on site, just about anything that can go wrong trumps the wonderful conveniences of an eCCR, plus statistics suggest mCCR's instill very solid and apparently "safer" habits.

If you really need an eCCR, then I think it's a tough decision. the Meg is stronger but less elegent. The Meg is more modular, but a travel frame on the vision eliminates that advantage. If you really are set on a particular wing and harness set up, then the meg allows you more options. If you don't want to be hastled with lots of options, the evo/inspo makes for an easy decision making process and offers a pretty swenk set up. In eather case i'd recommend setting it up with redundant electronics, for safety and reliability.

IMHO

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Gill Envy

...Because I wasn't born with gills!
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decoweenie

Mission accomplished. I will take my coat and sense of humor elsewhere...

After all these years, I should know better than to discuss about religion, politics, sexual preference and Rebreather brand ownership...

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steevke

I just travelled to Singapore and I fitted my (modified) Vision including (carbon composite) cilinders, HID cannister light, back-up lights, 2 stage regs, suit, fins, gloves, spool, stage rigging sets, jon line and enough clothes for 2 weeks in 1 x 25 kilo bag and 1 x 10 kilo carry on

YMMV - but if you modify the unit a bit a Vision is great for travel.

steven

decoweenie

Gill,

Why not running all 3 cells parallel - to the stock COPIS handset and Shearwater ?

Then you would have primary and secondary handsets to cross-check all 3 sensors, as well as deco build-in.

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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

decoweenie

I would question that since I never seen you changed cloth...

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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

steevke

LOL - well I only used the bare minimum on the live-on-board so that explains the smell. I saved the clean and fresh stuff for the resort after the trip.
Figured you guys could live with the smell ...

steven

Hanssing

Let me guess: a pair of speedo's?

Nicolai

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Woohooo - I can change my rEvo!
Its going to be bitchin' tricked out piece of gear