Poor opinion of rebreather diving

[kreiner_n]

So I want to preface that my rebreather experience is unfortunately limited to a few try dives on different CCR and SCR units (which I absolutely loved).

I was recently approached about an opportunity to attend a OC tech diving seminar hosted by a LDS. I sat through the seminar, which was very informative and showed the instructor to really know his stuff. After getting through the seminar I approached him and asked him why he doesn't do any rebreather diving/training. His response seemed to be that rebreathers are basically mystical death machines that only exist to kill people with no warning at any time. I was pretty shocked by this coming from a long time tech diver/instructor. He explained further that several friends of his had died in years past on rebreathers and therefore he had no faith in rebreathers or in teaching rebreather courses.

I guess I came in here to vent some frustration because in a way this guy spewed all over a type of diving I'd really like to get into. Did I just run into a very narrow minded open circuit instructor or is this a perception that is found throughout the industry still?

[Dsix36]

In the big picture, rebreathers are still a fairly new thing in the sport diving world. They have been around for many years but not in the mainstream view like they are nowadays. There have been many deaths on rebreathers and many of them could have been avoided if a little more care was used.

Many people do not know enough about them to make an informed decision and this lack of knowledge tends to lead them to immediately condemn them as death machines. I had a local boat captain tell me flat out that he hated them, did not trust them, and if he had his way they would not be on the boat. He also told me that it was because he did not know anything about them.

Granted, diving a rebreather is not nearly as quick and simple as OC, but for the diligent diver it is as safe and sometimes safer (depending on the extent of the tech dive) than OC.

Do not let the old school, die hard, OC, tech guys discourage you from continuing your education on rebreather diving. I am not saying that it will be right for you or wrong for you, but an informed decision is better than just following some elses opinion.

Be a Thinking Diver!

[Lee Stroke]

He is absolutely correct; yellow boxes of death. Go back, you don’t want to die. But you do get free cookies if you buy one. The dark side is very strong and hard to resist. Hours underwater, moist warm gases to breathe, no bubbles and remember when you wear a rebreather it makes your butt look smaller (but only in caves).

[Marbry]

Wait, there's cookies? I like oatmeal raisin. I shall await their arrival.


What they said though, gain knowledge and you can make up your own mind one way or the other.

[Chett.L]

In the big picture, rebreathers are still a fairly new thing in the sport diving world. They have been around for many years but not in the mainstream view like they are nowadays. There have been many deaths on rebreathers and many of them could have been avoided if a little more care was used.

Many people do not know enough about them to make an informed decision and this lack of knowledge tends to lead them to immediately condemn them as death machines. I had a local boat captain tell me flat out that he hated them, did not trust them, and if he had his way they would not be on the boat. He also told me that it was because he did not know anything about them.

Granted, diving a rebreather is not nearly as quick and simple as OC, but for the diligent diver it is as safe and sometimes safer (depending on the extent of the tech dive) than OC.

Do not let the old school, die hard, OC, tech guys discourage you from continuing your education on rebreather diving. I am not saying that it will be right for you or wrong for you, but an informed decision is better than just following some elses opinion.

Be a Thinking Diver!

Very well said!

Best regards,

[bad_karma]

Wait, there's cookies? I like oatmeal raisin. I shall await their arrival.

I was told there would be cake...

[CrewDog652]

My OC instructor that I did almost all of my initial scuba certifications with was also VERY negative about rebreathers, and warned me several times against pursuing it as an option. This pretty much stems from an incident he had when he was diving with a newly rebreather certified buddy at the trench, at about 90ft. His buddy ended up inhaling a caustic cocktail (I'm not sure of the cause of this) and nearly drowned.

As he is an otherwise outstanding diver, mentor, and instructor I let this opinion keep me away from rebreathers as an option for quite a while. However, there are a number of deep wrecks that I really want to visit out here, so I did my own research on rebreather safety and operation, and came to my own conclusion that I am more than happy to accept the larger degree of risk to do this kind of diving. To offset that risk, I've applied the same concepts that have kept me safe as a pilot and crewmember in the aviation world for many years to my rebreather diving.

Like with anything else, I wouldn't let someone else's opinion of risk level or appropriateness of an activity keep me from doing it (or push me into doing something I'm not comfortable with). In the end, we need to do our own research, and form our own opinion.

[Danseur]

I was told there would be cake...

https://youtu.be/BNjcuZ-LiSY

Cake, please.

[H2Ocaver]

I was told there would be cake...

The cake is a lie....


....But there's no sense crying over every mistake

[Skankpile]

CCR may indeed lead some to shortcuts, but for others its a perfect fit and enhances the experience.

Many people think music sounds good on an iphone with $5 earbuds. How do you explain to that user the clarity of a balanced binaural recorded symphony via a coincident pair hypercardoid main. Once you experience and understand the benefits you think.. wholly fork... thats possible...paradigm shift sort of thing; then the marketing fades away and the quality of experience is what drives you.

Its easy to spot, welcome to the club.