Which Rebreather and Why??

standingbear56

Hi Everyone,
Ok, this is probably the most abused question from a newbie, but I have to ask it anyway! To anyone reading this, what rebreather do you use, and most importantly - why? Right now I'm leaning towards a Meg, which (at least to my inexperienced mind) appears to be a solid, well tested, used & abused unit. This along with a Draeger Nova FFM appears to be a good "anywhere, anytime, anyplace" system. Any thoughts or comments?
Thanks,
Bear

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Abbo

Which rebreather? Before you buy you don't know: after you buy you don't care. Once you've bought a rebreather, you have too much psychological and financial capital tied up in that unit to be equivocal anymore: yours is the best! Before you buy, you're new to the unit, it's not adjusted for you, your buoyancy is shite and you don't trust it not to poison you.

In New York, you're not going to be short of opportunities to try several units. You're about to spend a pile of money: go ahead, try them. It all depends what you want to do with them: there isn't an out and out best rebreather, but there is likely to be one that best suits your needs.

The Meg is rugged and soldierproof; it fits into one of those little bags air hostesses carry, so if you arrive your 'breather arrives; it's modular, so you can always add things later. You won't go far wrong on this, but you'll feel better about buying it if you test drive some of the others.

jont

You've jumped into some very deep water with that question, but as a fellow new yorker I will do my best to answer that question. Keep in mind that this is just one person's opinion, furthermore cost is not a factor that I am willing to take into consideration, when it comes to life support equipment money just doesn't matter to me, so not amount is to much. In short the electronics units I would recomend are a meg or insperation with hammerhead electronics, both are easily serviced (the insperation more so) with plenty of users in our area to assist you as well. If you'd like a bleeder type unit the revo and kiss seem very nice as well. I was going to buy a revo but am holding out for a unit being produced this winter. There are some products I don't like, but i'll PM you. I really don't want to air dirty laundry in public.

Good Luck,

Jon

diverreb

Very well put....

Reality is, once you define how you intend to use the unit you can start to eliminate some of the choices. For example if you intend to do what I call normal range dives in various environments then most of the units will suit your purposes. Should you plan to do extended range & long duration dives then that narrows the field a little more. Maybe someday you want to do remote expedition type diving.... Once again the field narrows.

I personally stick to what I call normal range dives - 200' and under, mostly on wrecks & some on reefs. I don't plan to fly anywhere with my unit and don't do two or three hour dives. I dive an O2ptima, which I am very happy with. It more than meets my needs.

Do a lot of research & talk to a lot of rebreather divers. See what they like & dislike about their units. None of them are 100% perfect. Then try to match up all that information with your personal goals and financial means and make a choice.

As far as $$$$ go, most of time you can plan on spending around $9,000 - $10,000 US or more by the time your are done with a new unit, the extra's, training, and other goodies you may want to purchase along the way.

Then go back to Abbo's original statement....

Richie

PeteS

Well of course the best Rebreather, the one you need, is the same as the one that whoever you are talking to has got. It's fantastic, all the others are crap.



Honest, would I lie to you......

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Pete S.

http://www.steggle.co.nz

Every silver lining has a cloud

Campbell

There has been a lot of sound advice on this thread already. It's difficult to get a non-biased response from people about kit they may have never seen or used.

I can only speak about the Inspiration Classic as that is what I have and have dived on.

Putting it simply - 'I love it'!

As previously mentioned, you need to consider the type of diving you'll be doing along with the local support provided. Being UK based AP are great as they can get stuff to me within 24hrs.

Try a few units first, I jumped in feet first with the yellow box. I bought one without having tried one or any other rebreather. Foolish perhaps but don't regret it at all.

JC

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jradomski

Everyone thinks their rebreather is the best.. I'll give you my personal feelings on what rigs I like or disliked.. All these units I have either owned or have put a reasonable amount of time on.. (all those with a star I have owned)

*Inspiration Classic - like it
Inspiration vision - ok
*Inspiration with HH - better than like it but less than love it..
Kiss Classic - Like it
*KISS sport - OK
*rEvo - So far I like it
Meg - OK
*Optima better than like it but less than love it..
Infinito - loved it (not available)
*UT-240 - OK (not available)
*Homebuilt (combination of Inspiration, meg, HH and other assorted parts) - Love it


just a few dives so not a great sample..
Prism - Didn't like
MK15 - didn't like

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Joe Radomski
CCR Trimix Instructor Trainer
ANDI Instructor Trainer Director #10

All posts are personal opinions and DO NOT reflect any affiliated agency unless specifically stated.

silent running

Hello sb, my advice is that you should first try and figure out what kind of diving you want to do, both now and in the future. Then try to understand the differences between the units and how they function, by doing this you will learn a lot. But above all, take your time, there's a lot to learn about CCRs and it's a big purchase. Good luck, -Andy

zoo_diver

Well I'd like to start off by saying you should give yourself a pat on your back since you are already considering a Meg.

You should go ahead and check out as many different models as you can though before you buy. Valve placement/location, DSV shape, tank locations, scrubber location -- all things to think about. Which one weighs more? Which one rides the best on your back? No harm in trying them all before you make a choice.

BTW, there are a few good solid used units for sale on the forum.

Good luck!

Monkey

First I am MEG biased... so I will not get into the debate between the MEG and the YBOD



However.. the addition of the Drager nova is best left to post certification.

I know no instructors that will teach you with it inplace..... with the addition of the full face mask, it creates a different animal...