KISS Classic Training Report and Missing Rebreather - SSA in California

brockbr

Rebreather Training report with Scuba Schools of America



Scuba Schools of America (SSA) or How did I choose them?
First, the back story...
I originally set out to purchase a used KISS Classic. In doing my research (which included rebreatherworld.com), I had picked this rebreather for many reasons (that I won't go into here). While researching the topic, I found rebreather world and the individual KISS forums. Along with this, I came across the "Ebay Frauds/Scams" section. I read through many posts, and paid attention to the fact that there had been known scams run through eBay. I thought these sections had great information, and I also really appreciated all of the great info to be had from the site. As time went on, I started to look for a used KISS Classic to buy.

Eventually, this led me to eBay. I diligently watched for a KISS Classic. I saw one posted in early December. The auction itself was a "Best Bid" auction, so I placed a fair bid for the rebreather . Within 24 hours, I got a call from an individual who was an eBay reseller. eBay resellers act as 3rd parties for others who don't have an eBay account, but still want to sell their item on eBay. This person was legit, and so was their online store. I got to ask all the questions I wanted, and they were answered to my satisfaction.

I arranged for the funds to be transferred, and with the close of the transaction, the rebreather was quickly shipped to me. It arrived at my house in impeccable condition, and as a matter of fact, looked brand new. This is when I got suspicious.

I had remembered reading about a stolen KISS unit on rebreatherworld .com, so I decided to check the unit's number, #268. It turns out, the unit I had sitting on my table was in fact the stolen unit! This was now 4:00pm CST on a Friday evening.

Kim from Jetsam had posted in multiple forums on the net - Along with her posts, she included the KISS # of 268. It took me a total of 60 seconds to discover it was stolen. The posts also listed the place it was stolen from, Scuba Schools of America (SSA). (Some people here may recognize the number and the thread - I asked for it to be hidden until everything was worked out.)

I called SSA and got the owner on the first try, Rusty Berry. I took a minute to explain to him that I thought I had his stolen rebreather. To say he was happy is an understatement. By 4:30p, I got Rusty (SSA) in touch with the 3rd party eBay reseller. They had no idea that the unit was stolen.

By 5:00p that evening, the reseller was able to give SSA the the person's phone number that actually had "owned" the item. At this point, SSA contacted the police; SSA already had a case open and now they were going to get the person who stole the unit. By 7:00p Friday evening, the police, SSA and the reseller had a plan to arrest the individual the next day.

Saturday came and the police were able to arrest the individual. The person stayed locked up overnight, and there is an ongoing legal process at this point, which I will NOT comment on.

Rusty from SSA was elated to have the rebreather back. He arranged with Jetsam to have a KISS Classic built for me along with a color VR3, pendant po2 monitors, and HUD (the Triple Monitor displayed at DEMA). The unit was shipped to SSA, and I traveled there to train.

Training - ANDI KISS CCR Course
I can tell you that Rusty and his SO Niki are awesome. Rusty made my trip and my stay a memorable experience. He's been around the industry for a LONG time (since the early '90s), and just being able to hang out made the learning process that much more enjoyable. Although be forewarned, he is somewhat excitable - Niki (his better half has a calming effect

We dove Catalina island (of the coast of California) multiple times for our open water dives, and did the pool sessions at his facility in his heated pool. All of the training was fast paced, but if you needed him to slow down, or explain something further, he did so and included real world scenarios. This helped tremendously throughout the process.

The pool sessions were enjoyable, with the focus being on the core skills. The pool is saltwater; this helped by not getting chlorine in your eyes.

The boat diving was incredible. Although mother nature didn't cooperate the entire time, everyone had a good time. We dove multiple sites around Catalina. You can view some choice pictures at: ccr

The first day of diving came with calm seas and a pretty mild trip to the island. The second day not so much... The second day saw 6-8 foots seas on the way out. A couple of the guys chummed the water on the way, but were none the worse for wear by the time we got to the site.

And although I was teased mercilessly when I talked with the others about them not having p-valves installed in their drysuits (Rusty was the only other person with one - I come from tech training, so it just came with the territory), nobody was laughing after an hour and 45 minutes. Consequently, one of the guys has a new nickname - It's p-Ricky. Yes, that's right, he relieved himself in his drysuit... On Purpose!... Because he couldn't take it Someone should have told him he was diving a rebreather

In conclusion, SSA is a top notch facility, and a great place to purchase your equipment. Rusty has a great relationship with Jetsam, and he can take care of anything you need. For training, he did a great job. I am very satisfied with the results and would recommend him.

b. KISS #328

Visit This Link to see full images

EBT

Excellent news all around

ps. Did you know your enter key was broken?

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brockbr

You caught it before it was fixed... I edited the whole thing in TextEdit and pasted it - It posted without the line breaks.

Should be fixed now.

caveseeker7

Congratulations Brock.

Must have been a really bad time between feeling something's wrong to making that call to CA. Cheers to you for making it.

I've known Rusty and SSA Montclair for a few years, and indeed his CCR experience goes back to UT240. He's pushy and excitable alright, but his heart is in the right spot, he runs a great shop staffed with the right people and is a good instructor. I always recommend him when someone asks about a CCR facility in SoCal.

Great that they caught the guy, and good of Rusty and Kim getting you into the water on another unit. Well done, all around.

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Cheers
Stefan



"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority,
and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media,
which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.!"

Ukon

It's great to hear the stolen unit was recovered! Congratulations on completing your course and best of luck with your KISS!

Don Ferrara

Ben Field

What a great story, glad to here of the stolen unit getting recovered, hopefully this kind of thing goes to show people there is no market for stolen rebreathers and scams because the community is too tight.

Glad you got a unit at the end too! Hope you enjoy diving it, you should be due plenty of good karma from the deco gods for the way you handled "your" second hand unit

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www.hugsac.org.uk

Parker

Hi Brock,

Congrats on the new KISS Classic and completing your training!

My Meg head is at ISC for an upgrade so I'll be blowing bubbles for a few weeks- but as soon as I get it back we'll get some silent diving in. Of course- if you find yourself missing OC- then I will be happy to keep your new KISS busy for you. It's the least a buddy could do!

debersole

Congratulations on your Kiss certification and it's great to hear the stolen Kiss is back in the hands of its rightful owner!

Doug

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