Hello... and Tell me about your Journey

[almity1]

I would like to introduce myself and say hello to you all.

I am based in Sydney Australia and finally made a decision to get into a Rebreather.

I was on the brink for quite a while and what tipped me over the edge was the fact I started to dive with a number of rebreather divers and I wasn't quite that envious until I saw a photo of 2 Prism Divers getting up close and personal with our Grey Nurse Sharks (I think in the States they are called Sand Sharks??) and as an aside the photo was taken by a Kiss Diver.

So in essence as you probably gathered I am going to get into a Rebreather for the Photography angle and getting close to the underwater wildlife, but I am not discounting diving into that 40m to 60m range some time in the future(thats all my housing can handle anyway), Never Say Never.

I will be doing a few try-dives during our summer, with the hope of making a decision by March.

The aim is to be diving a Rebreather sometime in June/July of next year, just in time to go to YAP in August (I LOVE YAP!!!!!) and DANCE with the Mantas, rather than have them dance away from me.



I have already talked to quite a few RB divers here in Australia, all of them already on RBW, at least some of them.

But my question wasn't which Rebreather should I get or what was is the best, but What was your Journey into Rebreathers.

It is so interesting to hear the stories of the diver, their journey and their Rebreather(s), it gave me a lot of insight and information.

If you have the time.... Tell me about your Journey!!!!

BTW... Great work by the Administrators, Moderators and the Writers of this site and forum, lots of information, I promised myself to read an article and a few threads a day.

:)

[Steve]

It's about time you got here. You will learn a stack by reading the threads here. It's a goldmine of the good (oh and some complete sh1te as well :-O )

What got me started was initially work, then OC for a while then as a means of saving money on helium. I covered the cost of my Classic KISS in 2 years.

The interaction with critters is a great plus that I'm sure you will come to appreciate. Have fun

[MHD]

What started me off was while dallying with DIR I realised I was unable to do shut down on twins fast enough to be useful. (Long term result of a neck/ back injury from my youth). So I started to look for another way to do the dives I wanted in the 40 to 60 m range safely. Still looking but in the mean time I went mCCR to have something to do;) .

4 years later I've modified a SCR to mCCR, my girlfriends got a mCCR (sports kiss), and I'm finally looking to get back to underwater photography. That has been something I was never comfortable doing on deeper dives till recently.

supposed driver for me has always been a look at trimi cost for deepr dives. both Rachel and I prefer to dive end<30m and do so when ever we can, and the cost for this adds up even when doing 40 m dives.

Matt

[RebreatherNut]

Hi there, and welcome to Rebreatherworld.com!
Glad to have you on board!

Enjoy,
RBN

[Andy Del]

But my question wasn't which Rebreather should I get or what was is the best, but What was your Journey into Rebreathers.

It is so interesting to hear the stories of the diver, their journey and their Rebreather(s), it gave me a lot of insight and information.

If you have the time.... Tell me about your Journey!!!!

OK - my journey started very soon after my OW course, as I was exposed to Inspirations, even as I was deciding what OC gear to get. I guess the YBoD stayed in the back of my mind all the time, as time went on...

There was lots of OC diving, with me ending up doing two things at once. The first was becoming an instructor and doing an amount of dive / trip leading and teaching. (currently not doing any, but this may change next year ) the other was stimulated by Neil Miller and the diveoz crew , when he put on a special deal to some initial tech training. That saw me diving and spending time (and $$$) on the Long Reef Wrecks.

So I had my twins set up, a deco cylinder and the deep beckoned. Long Reef was already seeing 30 minute bottom times, however the next step was, for us Sydney locals, 75-8m wrecks, well into the trimix range. I was quite undecided for a long time - do TX training first, or get a CCR and build up to mix...

Days and nights of thought, discusion and more thought ocurred...

I decided to do the TX training first, then get a 'breather, as that was yet another decision I had to make.

By the time I had my hypoxic TX card added to the collection, I was hooked on seeing things clearly! Of course, the cost of twin 12L tanks for 15/30 was just plain silly, and the number of times the deep dive was canned saw me enjoying good old Long Reef with a singlular clarity of mind!

My decision to get a KISS could just as easily been for a YBoD or a Prism as the time. The start of Prisms downunder began about 12 hours and 22 minutes after I wired off my KISS payment , and I just couldn't get my head around an Inspiration for various reasons - although it's much easier now!

So why a KISS? As I alrady had a dive shop's worth of gear strewn about the house , it seemed nice to be able to use the tanks (2 x 3L), the wing, the harness and backplate I had already paid for, instead of buying more with a new unit. In short, I had to shell out for 3 sensors, and a flow-metre, all else was somewhere in my house! More importantly, mandatory monitoring of displays to keep the unit working appealed to my mistrustful nature, the ablity to self-service just about everything made my independent streak calm and the slightly smaller appearance (which is really so small it doesn't matter) appealed to my somewhat less than thugby sized frame.

So the KISS was ordered, Steve of Steve fame on this list agreed to instruct me, and the waiting game began. Actually, it took about 3 weeks from payment to popping a very nice wooden crate in the back of my van!

I played with the bits at work on the floor, then took it home with the intention of building it up that night. It took about a month, due to other things to do, but eventually I went for a couch dive, then a walk around the neighbourhood with MASH from the list, and then finally I got wet and did mod 1 on the KISS.

Apart from not being able to understand Steve talking through my OC gear (hmnumpf duhher rgheel = flush your dil apparently ) and his very teeny weeenie writing (I'm going to be an ashole just before I was upturned, had my mask ripped off, loop pulled out of my mouth and dil button pressed ) ('twas a stress test I gathered) I had a ball. OC divers sounded like a herd of elephants, and the sound of (near) silence was golden.

I haven't looked back.

[mik]

Hi Almity1, good to meet a fellow Journeyman as we are on about the same stage of enlightenment. Deep wrecks have beckoned me and I like the time, deco, He conservation and bubbleless benefits that a rebreather will provide. I have not quite decided which one to get yet but am leaning heavily towards the Inspiration Vision but i am still very much researching and plan on doing deep, deco and wreck course before taking the plunge.

Hope to see you on the water :)

[Mark Chase]

Hi M8

I wrote about my introduction and first year on CCR here

http://www.rebreatherworld.com/showthread.php?t=2099

On the massive issue of which CCR?

All CCR have issues. Some are work in progress. My opinion is just an opinion.

Of all the units out there the Inspiration Vision or Evo seems to be the most advanced and solid electronics package in the ECCR range. It had had a lot of issues but most / all are now sorted. IMHO if your traveleing a lit it needs a travel frame.

Kiss with HUD for photography possibly. If you like the Idea of Manual CCR no electronics controlling the gas mix then a KISS is a stunning bit of kit. However less than ideal for people who's mind is on the picture not the PP02 readout. A URI or a Shearwater HUD package could solve that problem.

For a basic ECCR I like the Meg as well. Since they parted company with Bruce at Sherewater there has been a long wait for the Apex 3 head to come out so your back to the basic Apex2 or getting a Sherewater independently.
Personally I am waiting to see what the A3 has to offer.

Personaly i dive a Inspo Classic boddy with a Hammer Head controler. Very similar to the Vision but a cheeper way of getting there if you already own a classic CCR.


ATB

Mark Chase

ATB

Mark Chase

[Gill Envy]

Welcome to RBW and Great post idea!

I Grew up near a marsh and a pond, started developing enclosed/sealed, self sustaining aquatic systems as a young child. Started breeding tropical fish, got into reef tank set ups, killed lots of coral. Decided visiting it in the wild was cheaper, more rewarding and more sustainable. Started diving open circuit in 94. Did about 50-100 dives a year in the WA and BC, mostly by shore, in search of pristine cold water reefs…with a few tropical trips sprinkled in. Veered away from tec diving, lugging doubles and having long deco just didn’t seem worth it. Got a dive kayak for added range…don’t like the limits/or choices boat operators offered (even more so now with a rebreather).

Started kayak diving current swept passes and taking photos,…eventually got tired of lugging tanks and getting to remote places only to have to turn right around and go back for fills...wanted to go on extended dive trips that weren’t just about diving and lugging gear, I wanted more time to just be in the wilderness above water too- to diversify the focus of each trip. Started thinking about rebreathers years ago, but got horribly spooked by the rate of fatalities and everyone’s attitude toward them. They remained a mystery I eyed from a distance.

Noticed last November that rebreathers seemed to have reached a critical mass, they were everywhere I turned for a while. I started getting up the gumption to start asking these renegade divers what it was all about. Started trying out every rebreather I could get my hands on, went to demos…I started looking up all the tec divers I’d lost contact with…turns out they’ve all turned to rebreathers…no more doubles or bubbles! It took five months of obsessive reading, talking and posting to come to a choice, it was not an easy choice, there are several good models but all have their week spots but finally last april i made the purchase...my newbie evangelical fanatacism eventually mellowed, my friends started calling me back and life is almost back to normal now, accept the occasional arguments with the wife over priorities.

My dream became multi day trips into the wilderness without having to have access to fills. Has the dream been realized…parts of it yes…it’s a work in progress. I would have expected to reach a higher level of confidence after 50 hours…I have concluded that the important thing is to never forget that you are a few easy steps away from death at all times while on the loop.

it is taking longer than I expected to regain the level of diving i was used to on OC but has been a hell of a lot of fun so far. While there seems to be no end to the new combination of challenges that come up, it’s also paradoxically one of the most magnificent experiences I’ve ever had. I recently did my longest dive ever, a 102 minute dive included sightings of: a total of 15 juvenile octopi (out in the open!), 5 wolf eels, fish everywhere… I wasn’t even noticed, everyone went along with their business, sparring for dens, hunting for food…and I was warm the whole dive!

At this point, I just love being able to decide where, when, under what conditions and for how long I want to dive, having rebreathers has opened up a whole new vista in our diving...even within recreational limits.

[almity1]

It's about time you got here. You will learn a stack by reading the threads here. It's a goldmine of the good (oh and some complete sh1te as well :-O )

Thanks Steve, I have been lurking for a while and I finally got the gumption to say hello. ;)

[almity1]

What started me off was while dallying with DIR I realised I was unable to do shut down on twins fast enough to be useful. (Long term result of a neck/ back injury from my youth). So I started to look for another way to do the dives I wanted in the 40 to 60 m range safely. Still looking but in the mean time I went mCCR to have something to do;) .

4 years later I've modified a SCR to mCCR, my girlfriends got a mCCR (sports kiss), and I'm finally looking to get back to underwater photography. That has been something I was never comfortable doing on deeper dives till recently.

supposed driver for me has always been a look at trimi cost for deepr dives. both Rachel and I prefer to dive end<30m and do so when ever we can, and the cost for this adds up even when doing 40 m dives.

Matt

Thanks Matt

What was really funny as you posted your reponse I was reading one of your emails you previously sent and I was highlighting some of points you made.

Some of the advice you gave is staying with me :D