UK KISS Instructors?

whaam68 · 11th October 2005, 18:42

Hi All

I finally sold of my Dolphin & a skip load of bits & bought myself a (used) classic KISS

... so am now officially broke

...anyway Now I need to get trained, anyone got any recommendations, based in the UK, South East. Also the unit came with a spare clear Polycarbonate scrubber housing, problem is having looked at it it's cracked on the bottom edge (which I'm taking up with the seller!), anyone know where I could get a replacement for it?

Thanks
Mike

Sue · 11th October 2005, 18:52

Hi Mike

You might try Martin Robson.
I've ended up doing my training in Vancouver with Bruce Partridge, but I've changed some Emails with Martin, and would have chosen him, if not going to Canada at that time.
He can be reached at martinrobson@eau2.com

Sue

***schford*** · 11th October 2005, 19:45

Also Dave Thompson on the board does training.

Stuart

whaam68 · 11th October 2005, 21:24

Thanks Guys

I'll check them out!

Mike

lizardland · 12th October 2005, 00:58

Training? Damn! I knew something was missing when I bought mine! The alternative is to find someone who dives one, watch them prep it, watch them dive it and generally pester them with stupid questions.

And a bit of advice, the first thing I did when I got mine was take it to pieces and rebuild it. A very important skill to have.

Ben Field · 12th October 2005, 09:16

Quote: (Originally Posted by lizardland)

Training? Damn! I knew something was missing when I bought mine! The alternative is to find someone who dives one, watch them prep it, watch them dive it and generally pester them with stupid questions.

While thats all well and good we have things like insurance, liability etc to consider, certainly if he wishes to to dive with a BSAC club with his unit he'll need a cert as will any reasonable insurance quote.

I suspect "I bought it off the interweb then copied what my mates told me to do..." will not be very robust defence in court.

Quote: (Originally Posted by lizardland)

And a bit of advice, the first thing I did when I got mine was take it to pieces and rebuild it. A very important skill to have.

Completely agreed with that though!

Did my training with Dave Thompson, great course, lots of additional information, stories, anecdotes etc. Best of all we didn't spend hours "sitting in a circle fiddling with our knobs...." (if you catch my drift) the drills where mainly done on the fly while diving which from what I've seen other courses doing is abit different, but thats all IMVHO of course!

BEN

esc · 12th October 2005, 10:06

Quote: (Originally Posted by Ben Field)

While thats all well and good we have things like insurance, liability etc to consider, certainly if he wishes to to dive with a BSAC club with his unit he'll need a cert as will any reasonable insurance quote.

I suspect "I bought it off the interweb then copied what my mates told me to do..." will not be very robust defence in court.
BEN

Depends of the country I would suppose. There is no law that requires you to have any formal training on scuba equipment here in Finland and I doubt that is case in many other countries either or all the homebuilders would be kinda screwed since there is no training for them from the recognized organisations.

Also in many european countries the country will take the burden of hospital fees if the accident happens within their borders. Something we all pay taxes for. Also considering how many rebreather divers fill their own tanks or have some kind of garage system, there is not much anyone can do to stop someone from diving whatever they like without training.

Above beside, I don't advocate doing it without training. Actually I advocate the good training. Training is quite small sum of the total cost of ownership in the long run and usually worth everything invested if you have done your homework and chosen a good, reputable instructor.

/esc

Ben Field · 12th October 2005, 10:55

Quote: (Originally Posted by esc)

Depends of the country I would suppose. There is no law that requires you to have any formal training on scuba equipment here in Finland and I doubt that is case in many other countries either or all the homebuilders would be kinda screwed since there is no training for them from the recognized organisations.

Also in many european countries the country will take the burden of hospital fees if the accident happens within their borders. Something we all pay taxes for. Also considering how many rebreather divers fill their own tanks or have some kind of garage system, there is not much anyone can do to stop someone from diving whatever they like without training.

All valid and probably true, at the end of the day if you kill yourself you won't be around to worry about it but if you kill someone else while diving stuff you weren't trained on you will be in seriously hot water, in addition if you have an insurance policy and you die- will it pay out to your wife/husband, children etc if you where beyond its coverage (diving a rebreather without a certification?0

Just because a law doesn't exist this won't necessarily protect you when and if you screw up big time and everything gets all legal.

IMO you should always cover you ar*e as much as possible, if training is available GET IT, with the best will in the world your mates advice, while possible better than what you might get on a course, just doesn't have the weight behind it that a plastic card with "Certified Rebreather Diver" carries.

Dive Safe kids,
BEN

whaam68 · 12th October 2005, 13:06

As I'm not an engineer or a serious "Homebuilder" for ME personally the way forward is definately to do a course. I learnt a lot on the TDI Dolphin course as my Instructor had been modifying & Diving Dolphins for years & it really came out in the teaching. Something similar for the kISS would do the job nicely.
Mike

11th October 2005, 18:42	#1 (permalink)
whaam68 CK#121 Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: May 2005 Location: UK not so sunny Luton Posts: 95	UK KISS Instructors? Hi All I finally sold of my Dolphin & a skip load of bits & bought myself a (used) classic KISS... so am now officially broke ...anyway Now I need to get trained, anyone got any recommendations, based in the UK, South East. Also the unit came with a spare clear Polycarbonate scrubber housing, problem is having looked at it it's cracked on the bottom edge (which I'm taking up with the seller!), anyone know where I could get a replacement for it? Thanks Mike
(Online)

11th October 2005, 18:52	#2 (permalink)
Sue RBW Writer Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Sport Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Portugal Posts: 161	Hi Mike You might try Martin Robson. I've ended up doing my training in Vancouver with Bruce Partridge, but I've changed some Emails with Martin, and would have chosen him, if not going to Canada at that time. He can be reached at martinrobson@eau2.com Sue
(Offline)

11th October 2005, 19:45	#3 (permalink)
*schford* RBW Founder Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Sport Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: UK Posts: 3,564	Also Dave Thompson on the board does training. Stuart
(Offline)

11th October 2005, 21:24	#4 (permalink)
whaam68 CK#121 Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: May 2005 Location: UK not so sunny Luton Posts: 95	Thanks Guys I'll check them out! Mike
(Online)

12th October 2005, 00:58	#5 (permalink)
lizardland Yak Current Rebreather/s: MK 15.X Home Build Other Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Home Build Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: North... Posts: 1,386	Training? Damn! I knew something was missing when I bought mine! The alternative is to find someone who dives one, watch them prep it, watch them dive it and generally pester them with stupid questions. And a bit of advice, the first thing I did when I got mine was take it to pieces and rebuild it. A very important skill to have.
(Offline)

12th October 2005, 09:16	#6 (permalink)
Ben Field CK+Shearwater Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: London, England Posts: 1,775	Quote: (Originally Posted by lizardland) Training? Damn! I knew something was missing when I bought mine! The alternative is to find someone who dives one, watch them prep it, watch them dive it and generally pester them with stupid questions. While thats all well and good we have things like insurance, liability etc to consider, certainly if he wishes to to dive with a BSAC club with his unit he'll need a cert as will any reasonable insurance quote. I suspect "I bought it off the interweb then copied what my mates told me to do..." will not be very robust defence in court. Quote: (Originally Posted by lizardland) And a bit of advice, the first thing I did when I got mine was take it to pieces and rebuild it. A very important skill to have. Completely agreed with that though! Did my training with Dave Thompson, great course, lots of additional information, stories, anecdotes etc. Best of all we didn't spend hours "sitting in a circle fiddling with our knobs...." (if you catch my drift) the drills where mainly done on the fly while diving which from what I've seen other courses doing is abit different, but thats all IMVHO of course! BEN __________________ Know your PPO2, Pre-breath, Use checklists, Validate cells at 6mtrs, Use pure O2 at or near surface, Use a BOV, Don't dive Solo, Change Slime and Cells as recommended by Manufacturer and RTFM! Beware Fridge Suck! www.hugsac.org.uk
(Online)

12th October 2005, 10:06	#7 (permalink)
esc New Member Current Rebreather/s: Not Bought Yet Other Rebreather/s: Not Bought Yet Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Helsinki, Finland Posts: 50	Quote: (Originally Posted by Ben Field) While thats all well and good we have things like insurance, liability etc to consider, certainly if he wishes to to dive with a BSAC club with his unit he'll need a cert as will any reasonable insurance quote. I suspect "I bought it off the interweb then copied what my mates told me to do..." will not be very robust defence in court. BEN Depends of the country I would suppose. There is no law that requires you to have any formal training on scuba equipment here in Finland and I doubt that is case in many other countries either or all the homebuilders would be kinda screwed since there is no training for them from the recognized organisations. Also in many european countries the country will take the burden of hospital fees if the accident happens within their borders. Something we all pay taxes for. Also considering how many rebreather divers fill their own tanks or have some kind of garage system, there is not much anyone can do to stop someone from diving whatever they like without training. Above beside, I don't advocate doing it without training. Actually I advocate the good training. Training is quite small sum of the total cost of ownership in the long run and usually worth everything invested if you have done your homework and chosen a good, reputable instructor. /esc
(Offline)

12th October 2005, 10:55	#8 (permalink)
Ben Field CK+Shearwater Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: London, England Posts: 1,775	Quote: (Originally Posted by esc) Depends of the country I would suppose. There is no law that requires you to have any formal training on scuba equipment here in Finland and I doubt that is case in many other countries either or all the homebuilders would be kinda screwed since there is no training for them from the recognized organisations. Also in many european countries the country will take the burden of hospital fees if the accident happens within their borders. Something we all pay taxes for. Also considering how many rebreather divers fill their own tanks or have some kind of garage system, there is not much anyone can do to stop someone from diving whatever they like without training. All valid and probably true, at the end of the day if you kill yourself you won't be around to worry about it but if you kill someone else while diving stuff you weren't trained on you will be in seriously hot water, in addition if you have an insurance policy and you die- will it pay out to your wife/husband, children etc if you where beyond its coverage (diving a rebreather without a certification?0 Just because a law doesn't exist this won't necessarily protect you when and if you screw up big time and everything gets all legal. IMO you should always cover you are as much as possible, if training is available GET IT, with the best will in the world your mates advice, while possible better than what you might get on a course, just doesn't have the weight behind it that a plastic card with "Certified Rebreather Diver" carries. Dive Safe kids, BEN __________________ Know your PPO2, Pre-breath, Use checklists, Validate cells at 6mtrs, Use pure O2 at or near surface, Use a BOV, Don't dive Solo, Change Slime and Cells as recommended by Manufacturer and RTFM!* Beware Fridge Suck! www.hugsac.org.uk
(Online)

12th October 2005, 13:06	#9 (permalink)
whaam68 CK#121 Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: May 2005 Location: UK not so sunny Luton Posts: 95	As I'm not an engineer or a serious "Homebuilder" for ME personally the way forward is definately to do a course. I learnt a lot on the TDI Dolphin course as my Instructor had been modifying & Diving Dolphins for years & it really came out in the teaching. Something similar for the kISS would do the job nicely. Mike
(Online)

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