My questionable rebreather training experience

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reefrat

Contributor
Messages
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Location
Houston Texas and Grand Turk
I am a long time OC diver with about 1000 (genuine # - not internet BS) dives over the years and a casual interest in Rebreather diving for the last 10 years. I have try dived, sometimes several dives each, several units from KISS, Innerspace, APD and Halcyon: in the end I chose a Hollis Explorer because it gave me 90% of what I wanted in dive profiles and logistically made sense in the remote location I live in where O2 was not easy to come by. I was NOT looking for a easy or cheap option.
They say that choice of trainer is probably the most important aspect of getting into Rebreathers and that is why I chose Add Helium, they have been the internet proclaimed leaders in Rebreather education! The cost of training with Add Helium was about 30% more than any other agency- but no matter, I wanted the best!
After a significant investment in terms of the unit, airfares, accommodation, rental cars etc etc I finally started the course in November 2016 and I was grinning from ear to ear.
The first subtle red flags that popped up in the classroom were the constant patting themselves on the back as the self proclaimed gurus of the Rebreather world. The next was the wealth of pseudo cutting edge technical knowledge that was being imparted that was contrary to general opinion regarding decompression theory and oxygen toxicity- all very interesting but not entirely relevant and not central to my course. Once again there was a lot of back patting and assurance that Add Helium and in particular Peter Sotis was an authority above and beyond the realms of the general rebreather and diving community!
Then I was told that I would not be getting a certification from a generally recognized agency- it would be an "Oncourse" certification, Add Helium's own brand and of course better than the rest! In all there was more fluff stuffed into the course than a prom night bra and very little about the actual practicalities of diving a rebreather.
My instructor was a great, nice guy, honestly he really was- but a Hollis Explorer instructor? I now believe that his only instructor rating for this unit was an instruction from the boss to do it- certainly he is not listed on any instructor site, but why should he be, this is an ONCOURSE course!
For the in-water training there was a huge emphasis placed on using absolute minimal loop volume and also minimal weighting- the two of which were closely related- I was told. Regular venting via the nose or loose lips was intended to maintain minimal loop volume and descents were to be done by continuously evacuating the loop to avoid positive bouyancy until the target depth was achieved.
It was miserable and deeply disturbing. Every dive commenced with a furious struggle to submerge during which the wing was emptied and then I turned face down and kicked hard downward while continuously exhaling through my nose and sucking hard against the impotent ADV which could not hope to keep up with the increasing depth or workload. The end result was always a minute or so of not one single breath until I hit 60 feet and then struggled to fill the loop. By now I was stressed and breathless with, I am sure, a CO2 retention that would be hard to get rid of. Especially hard to get rid of because from here on I had to continuously vent the loop to maintain a minimum loop volume and the WOB was frankly appalling throughout the entire dive. After every dive I sat on the boat breathing heavily for 20 minutes to recover.
Dive 6 I was ascending carefully and then started to feel my buoyancy become positive, everything was squeezed out of the wing and the loop was completely evacuated but nothing, not even kicking face down could prevent an uncontrolled ascent to the surface. I was beat! Miserable and beat!
On the boat I told the instructor that I was done, I would not complete the course and sell the unit at a great loss.
Back at Add Helium I had to confront the boss, I told Peter Sotis the WOB had been really bad and there was no actual discussion or analysis of what I had been doing just an arrogant comment that "well it's not for everybody"!
I had done my money, I was going home absolutely defeated and yes, ashamed, all those people that happily dive Explorers can do this but not me- WTF!
After returning to Grand Turk I started re-thinking the whole course, something was definitely not right and I called a PADI Explorer Instructor Trainer to ask about my experiences- she was adamant, I had been trained badly and there was no way the unit could function correctly or WOB could be OK using the techniques I was instructed.
I then called Add Helium to see about re-training and one of the other trainers offered to review my course but in the end the lack of communication and unwillingness to actually set a training date led me to contact another PADI/TDI trainer in Florida.
In a nutshell this guy was the best, he saved the day, in ten minutes in the pool he fixed everything and on the ocean dives I had a GREAT time, WOB was just fine and I now love the unit.
Oh yeah, my instructor said if I could get the training records from Add Helium I could get credits for that and a referral/shortened course, but of course the manager at Add Helium told me that "the boss refuses to release your training records"! So I had to do the whole course again, fortunately it was a different experience, great fun and WOB was fine.
There are some good people at Add Helium but I would NOT recommend them to anyone for training and IMO there is a culture of arrogance and aloofness there that is counter productive and frankly unsafe.
 
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ReefDiver, if even 25% of what you described bout the add helium "course" is true, then holy smokes, these folks are total stroke idiots, teaching dangerous bull crap while pounding their chests.

This isn't actually all that unique in the tech diving world...however there are some EXCELLENT rebreather instructors around these parts. There is no reason to go to someone who will put you in danger or act like a teenager.

STAY FAR AWAY from Add Helium and Peter Sotis folks.
 
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You said it yourself @mdax "if this is true". Then why hate him in advance?
 
Back to basic diving. Why is the buoyancy issue you described in Grand Turk the fault of the instructor? If everything was empty, which I doubt from the extreme positive buoyancy, the basic weighting to begin with was incorrect. Short of losing a weight belt, you should have been able to stay down with an empty bladder and deflated BC.

I don't know the man, but he served his time for a crime a decade ago. The staff instructors were not involved. Excepting this one accident, have they had any complaints? Once certified, it's on the diver to know if the dive is safe. Period. If the instruction was inadequate, then change the teaching method.
 
I took a class from Add Helium, with Sotis as my instructor on the rEvo. It was pretty easy, and I had no problems with trim or buoyancy. I even posted a positive review here on SB about it. Then I fell in love with the SF2 and took a crossover class from @Capt Tom McCarthy. What a difference. While these crossover classes are supposed to be easier since you've done all the hard work before, this was not the case. Tom provided a far more thorough and yes, even tougher class. Damn. The difference was truly phenomenal and my warm fuzzy feelings about my rEvo class have largely been replaced by mistrust. Tom also teaches the rEvo, and I would recommend him for anyone from West Palm Beach area to New York.

In my mind, the best dedicated rebreather instructor here in South Florida is Georgia Hauserman. Sotis has done his best to shut her down but she's incredibly thorough and still makes the class fun. You can't go wrong with her. Oh, if it's rEvo you want, then @Capt Jim Wyatt and Kevin (both of Rainbow Reef in Key Largo) are great instructors in their own right.
 
Georgia also teaches the rEvo - so there are three rEvo instructors in Key Largo.

Thanks for the good words @NetDoc
 
Back to basic diving. Why is the buoyancy issue you described in Grand Turk the fault of the instructor? If everything was empty, which I doubt from the extreme positive buoyancy, the basic weighting to begin with was incorrect. Short of losing a weight belt, you should have been able to stay down with an empty bladder and deflated BC.

Initially the instructor insisted that I needed only the 5lbs trim in the top weight pocket, which with the backplate adds up to about 10lbs total weight. I was wearing a brand new 5mm full length wetsuit and queried him that 10lbs seemed very light even with OC (I would normally wear about 20 lbs in this situation on OC) but he insisted that it was simply a matter of minimal loop maintenance. When I got to about 15 ft on ascent I was VERY positive and went finning face down, pulled hard on the rear dump and exhaled the remaining loop out of my nose, next thing I knew my fins where out of the water.
I now use a total of 20lbs with a 3mm suit and it is perfect for near neutral buoyancy with an almost empty wing, normal loop volume and 1000 psi in the explorer tank at 15 ft.
 
The quote
"Back to basic diving. Why is the buoyancy issue you described in Grand Turk the fault of the instructor? If everything was empty, which I doubt from the extreme positive buoyancy, the basic weighting to begin with was incorrect. Short of losing a weight belt, you should have been able to stay down with an empty bladder and deflated BC."

My response:
Initially the instructor insisted that I needed only the 5lbs trim in the top weight pocket, which with the backplate adds up to about 10lbs total weight. I was wearing a brand new 5mm full length wetsuit and queried him that 10lbs seemed very light even with OC (I would normally wear about 20 lbs in this situation on OC) but he insisted that it was simply a matter of minimal loop maintenance. When I got to about 15 ft on ascent I was VERY positive and went finning face down, pulled hard on the rear dump and exhaled the remaining loop out of my nose, next thing I knew my fins where out of the water.
I now use a total of 20lbs with a 3mm suit and it is perfect for near neutral buoyancy with an almost empty wing, normal loop volume and 1000 psi in the explorer tank at 15 ft.
The dive by the way was off Pompano Beach in Florida.
 
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