First Step Towards Boris

cavediveroneday

1

DrJM

Good move

get also the color screen, very useful to identify the different informations on the screen ... and by the way the VPM code, smoother than Bulhman

Have fun

Jerome

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Frankie Pellegrino

First don’t spend any extra money on things you don’t need. Get the Boris first and dive it stock! Then buy things you would like to change. Boris is heavy enough that you don’t need a different back plate. The plate that comes with the kit is thin and cut out for routing hoses/hand sets. I personally changed the webbing so it didn’t criss/cross behind my head. The B/C that it comes with is big but works fine.( I really don’t use it much because I dive dry 98% of the time) Before you buy a SS butt plate make sure it won’t block you from getting to your shut off valves that are on the bottom of your kit. The side mount kit is a much better choice (It hugs your ass). I highly recommend the syntactic foam base it makes a big difference in your trim and gearing up. I also agree with Jerome’s recommendations. I would also get off board gas connections. I might be selling my Swagelok body & stem connections because I’m switching over to a standard connection (not keyed) .If you or someone else is interested let me know (send a e-mail). If you don't know any thing about a VR3.... read up. It will make things much easier for your training
Good luck Frankie

bourskov

Hmm... I've changed mine to a 5mm SS backplate, and I still need some lead! No, I'm not that fat

I have no problem with my trim, without the foambase... Havn't tried the foambase, though... Maybe it's better?!

Anyway, cavediveroneday... Congrats on your purchase... Have fun diving it...

Cheers
Bo Urskov

richc

Congrats on your decision. Nver met Gregg so can't comment on training with him, but I know Kevin is selective about who he allows to teach on the units

As for the unit itself, like others above, I'd suggest diving it stock first and deciding for yourself if you want to change anything. When you think about the time and cost of R&D for any rebreather, there's probably a good decision for why things are the way they are. One of the things I liked about the Ouroboros was that everything on it seemed designed for a reason and the cost was a secondary consideration. enjoy!

Rich

cavediveroneday

The only thing I would change would be the BCD setup. To me and from what I have heard on this forum. The BCD just doesn't match up to the design quality of the rest of the unit. I will trust you guy though. You know your stuff. Also does the criss-cross harness not bother any one?? I am planning on going with a simple single piece webbing hogarth. harness. Also with diving a dry suit all the time will I need that much wing lift? Wouldn't 35LB of lift be adequate? Thanks for all of your help!

Benthic

I would echo the earlier advice about waiting to buy too many accessories. While I'm not a Boris diver, I did train with Gregg. I've been very pleased with what I learned from him and I found myself tweaking and adjusting the unit throughout the class. Gregg is quite well set up and he's got lots of Rebreather accessories on hand in his shop. He was quite willing to let me try out several things during class and then buy what I wanted.

Brian

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IN468

Due to the fact that cavediverone... is in the states i would order a lot of knicknaks together with boris
If he orders step by step DHL will become a rich company

A standard backplate i not a mistake i dont need any lead
I use the original wing , dont know how many Liters, its enough

I built my own stand for boris because syntetic foam was not available
at that time

Why are lot of boris divers change the Offboard connection to non coded?
let me know more

So you will have fun

Frankie Pellegrino

Why are lot of boris divers change the Offboard connection to non coded?
let me know more

So you will have fun[/quote]

When I purchased my Kit I had no idea what the thread sizes were on the Boris Blocks so I bought CCR'S off board connections.I think the threads are (BSP 1/4") As you said buying the kit from the UK "buy all the things you need now or you'll pay for shipping later".That's what I did. The problem I see with Keyed off board connections is that the Keyed dill stem can't go into the Keyed O2 block or vice-a-versa. Also a Keyed QC4 can't go into a regular QC4 Body. I under stand CCR's idea that you Can't F**K up and plug in the wrong gas. I believe the Swagelok fittings are awesome and very easy to use in any conditions, also the doubled ended shut offs are worth the price. I want the ability to decide which gas I want to plug in on the dill side or O2 side it makes much more bail out options and less whips to buy. Also I'm going to switch over to a BOV and the QC4 swagelok connections won't give enough gas flow to my second stage at depth. I want the ability to plug in off board gas to that BOV . So if I were to do it all over again I would go with non Keyed QC6

Just Think about it

One Whip for Dill
One Whip for O2
One whip for BOV
I dive with a Viking dry suit so one whip for it
One whip for your BC
It's just to many special connections If they were all the same it would make things much easier for me

This is my opinion Cheers Frankie

Ant Slegg

Congratulations!
In terms of first steps I'd echo the "dive it stock" comment as overall it really works rather well (I dive dry so the wing isn't an issue) and in general it's not a unit you have to tear apart for general maintenance/cleaning so there's no excuse for changing something whilst it is apart.

In addition to the changes to the webbing (uncrossing) I also purchased a tool for unscrewing the plate on the canister (photos on Rebreather World somewhere) and bought a "constrictor" oil filter remover (see Amazon.com: Westward 5PV89 14-Inch & 4-Inch Boa Constrictor Strap Wrench Combo Pack: Home Improvement ) for an example.
I use this on the occasions that cold hands mean I can't unscrew the loop.
(I am certain that the Boris was designed with apes in mind).

As a non-VR3 user I found the handset a bit of a learning curve - but the usual rule applies RTFM! I did generate some paperwork to help me learn about the Boris handset operation (it isn't identical with the VR3) so PM me if you'd like a copy.

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