An impartial view poseidon discovery mk6

abyss

firstly, this is not open for differences of opinions regarding using different rebreathers

this is solely my opinions and thoughts about my new unit as a previous non rebreather diver and only interested in recreational depth limits

as mentioned, i was an open circuit diver at a respectable level in the Padi system and rebreathers have always been the untouchable for myself, too much of the unknown and to much manual input required

well thats what i thought anyway, but i started to look into rebreathers a bit more, asking questions and gaining an understanding of what knowledge and skills are required to dive these units

i am keen diver and very much like wrecks and photography, but on open circuit, there was limitations that would get in the way, such as duration and depth, aswell as the bubbles, so now was the time for change for me.

poseidon were coming very close to the dive show in october at the NEC and due to this there was alot of advertising going on about there new unit coming onto the market with CE approval

so the more i looked into this, i decided i would drive up to poseidon UK and ask a few questions of my own, to put the advertising aside and find out more about it

i was welcomed into there offices and all doubts and questions answered in a very proffesional manner, to a still non rebreather diver

so what next..............?

i signed up on the RAID website and undertook the theory levels and exams, specific to this rebreather, this was very informative and gained alot of information, some of which, i never had a proper understanding off, on open circuit diving, and learned a veast amount of knowledge

i then paid for my new unit and booked myself onto a practical rebreather diving course, specific to this unit with Garreth roberts at Gryphon water sports in Cannock

i did not collect my unit until day 1 of the course, turning up to a warm welcome, lots of tea, and tha chance to build the discovery mk6 (my unit), which i did many times to get a good understanding of how to look after it, how to run it through its checks, and also to understand the checks and what each serial is undertaking and why,but it was at this point i took time to notice the very high build quality of the unit and how easy it all was to assemble

day 2, start diving.............wooo hooo, what else can i say, assembled my unit, drove down to stoney cove to spend the rest of the week diving, first time in the water, bearing in mind i had never dived anything like this was amazing

ease of breathing, ease of bouyancy control, the precise monitoring of the unit on the easy and clear to use diplay consol and the duration of the unit

those of you who own your own units will entirely understand where i am coming from

this is deffinatly the way forward for recreational divers, purely for ease of use, but at the same time, knowing that it has full control, keeping things safe allowing the recreational diver to enjoy the dive

built in features like the bail out on the mouthpeice, practised many times, vibrating mouthpeice and audible alarms and the led alarm to alert your buddy of any problem not forgetting the heads up display

but also a very good part of this unit is the pre-packed scrubber, making the discovery mk6 an all round hit in my first foray into rebreather diving,

the diving was fantastic, sat there with the fishes, at the end of my mask, not even bothered by my prescence, or the fact, of going into some of the vehicles or boats, no bubbles, watching the open cicuit guys coming out in clouds of bubbles

the diving i found on this rebreather was relaxing, comforatable, easy, warm and i felt alot more at ease than i normally would on my open circuit

many thanks for reading

rupert

Ben Field

Hi Rupert,

Many thanks for posting and thanks for the insight into training via the RAID system, very interesting.

Without wanting to be rude and noting you said you hadn't tried any other units (and as such may not have met other instructors and users) your statement above- in particular "knowing that it has full control, keeping things safe" is actually one of the most frightening things I've ever read on RBW!

Please, no offence, I'm assuming English might not be your first language? If it is I apologies but that statement taken as read brings up alot of questions about the training and documentation from RAID and Posideon because IMVHO No one should think any rebreather is "keeping things safe"

If that wasn't what was meant I am happy to amend this post but please consider revising your report of if necessary your opinion of rebreathers.

__________________

www.hugsac.org.uk

abyss

ben

as post cant be edited, if i reworded it

what is meant by my statement is that as someone new to rebreathers, the control system / consol and all other intergrated control and warning measures, keep everything informative keeping myself, the diver aware of whats going on at all times during the dive

i fully understand that all diving has a certain constant amount of human management to keep the diver safe at all times

but using this unit, was for myself, made easier to use, due to its design and how the unit and diver manage it, keeping everything informative at all times, so as the diver keeps control of the dive

maybe i did not explain this in the right way, or as i intended it to be explained

rupert

Brainx3

Hi Rupert,


Welcome to rebreather diving and congrats for your course completion. I would echo Ben's comments,and would also like to ask you what was the exact time of in-water training during the course on the unit?!

If you search/read a bit more on RAID's approach on this website, then you'd see the general overall view of real time dive professionals about it.

You'd only be safe when YOU are in control, even if the machine is doing what it should, you still have to be in charge on it.


Regards. Wael

__________________


Euro Diving Zone (HP Kevlar Fiber Hoses, LP Thermoplastic Hoses, Oxygen Boosters, Carbon Fiber Cylinders, SS Fittings)

TDI Inspiration/Evolution Instructor

SITEC Oxygen Boosters

Ben Field

Hi Rupert,

Thats sounds alot more comforting! Sorry my first reply sounded abit paranoid, the way it was written first time was scary as hell!

I'm glad you find the Discovery easy to dive and like the way it presents information- thats very useful on any unit

I look forward to hearing more as your time with the unit increases, there's been very little written on RBW about this unit from users yet.

Thanks for contributing.

BEN

__________________

www.hugsac.org.uk

Rui_Guerra

Hi All,

I'm new in this forum so, first of all "hello" to everyone!

I'm diving with a MKVI Discovery since the end of July (until now I have around 40 hours in the unit) and here is my impressions about it:

1 - Very compact and easy to use.
2 - The display always shows you all the information all the time.
3 - The display's automatic backlight is a big plus
4 - The easy brathing is great. You simply don't feel any breathing resistance.
5 - The power-up procedure (the unit test everithyng and the user simply do what the computer tells him to do) is quite straitforward
6 - The only think that I'm not yet 100% confortable is with the hose/conterlungs position because I've switched recently to a new arness/backplate and I'm still adjusting things...

Since I'm an underwater photographer, theunit let me do everithyng I'm used to do underwater without put me in great taskload.

Just some thoughs...

Cheers,
Rui Guerra

nikopro

Hi Rui,
what Harness/Wings are you using?
I dive the Apeks Comfort Harness with Backplate and DiveRite Wings.
I soon change to a donut style Wing.
Took me some tries to get it optimum.
Trick is to mount the Gas Processing unit quite low on the back so that you still can reach the valves. Like this the lungs are really over the shoulder, means the lower end is at nipple height.
Perfect trim I reached by using 4L Steel tanks.

Rui_Guerra

Hi Nikopro,

I'm using Dive Rite Transplate and Rec Wing.
I'm using the standard MKVI 3L aluminium tanks. Now I've mounted the wing quite low (using the upper holes in it to mount the backplate) so the flotation stays low in the body. I'm using 10 Kg weight in the pockets (DUI CF200X dry suit) and I'll add 1,5 Kg of "soft" weight at the backplate sites, near the shoulders to achive a perfect trim.

How can you reach the tank valves?! Assuming they are in the standard position (valve up) it seems quite dificult to reach while underwater...

Best,

nicothesailer

Hi, was the Transplate recommended to you or did you already own that and what is the weight of the backplate you are using?

Many thanks in advance...Paul

nikopro

Well, with the Alu tanks I found it beneficial to add 2kg ledweight, fixed with a steel pipe clip as high as possible at the tanks. The weight of 4L Steel tanks and the backplate let me use only 2 kg extra weights around the hips. (5mm suit diving in the extremly salty Red Sea). The tanks height is that I can reach the knobs in reaching over the shoulder, pretty much like the valves on a D12 manifold but with the advantage that the knobs are not located at the side but up.