Derek M.
Registered
I just wanted to know what is a rebreather?
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These accidents are almost always due to a diver screwing up when it comes to maintaining or using the rebreather properly, and the most common result of that is a "blackout" where the diver loses consciousness due to not having enough oxygen or perhaps it's because of too much C02 buildup.
Rebreathers are safe... really
and I was hoping you would catch my sarcasm...
I tried to catch it but I was holding a rebreather in both hands.
A fully closed system recirculates the entire gas volume and requires the use of 2 gases; pure oxygen and a diluent.
I know you're generalizing, Ryan, and your post is a really good summary, but just wanted to point out that you don't need two gases to have a fully closed system. Pure O2 rebreathers are actually pretty common (especially in the military). Understanding how they work is actually significantly simpler (IMO) than those which add diluent. Basically (and this isn't aimed at you Ryan, I know you know how these work!), you breathe in and metabolize O2, breathing out non-metabolized O2 and CO2. The rebreather "scrubs" the CO2 and recirculates the remaining gas (not wasting the O2) and you add extra O2 as needed as it's metabolized.