Rebreathers (CCR) What Recreational divers need to know

[KenGordon]

There are two sorts of mouthpiece/valve on a CCR. A bailout value (aka BOV or OCB) or a dive/surface valve (DSV). They both have levers. Since a lot of dive gear is black they may look very similar.

If you turn the lever on a BOV you will probably be doing the right thing, so long as they have bailout gas available. This may not be true, especially if using their backgas dil as bailout, running out of dil is not an emergency, or maybe it is plumbed in externally but they lost it or gave it away. So, usually good but not always.

If you turn the lever on a DSV you will drown them.

The only way to be sure what is going on with a CCR diver's kit is to be briefed.

If you find a motionless non-responsive CCR diver and are in a position to go directly to the surface then give a lift a go. But if you have a ceiling then the lift may be too risky.

 

[lowviz]

Forget about happening upon a diver. That's a very unlikely scenario, and not the main point of this thread. ...//...

Well, I'm not so sure. The second line of the OP says that I am in context.

In addition, RB's are becoming all the rage with the unwashed masses. Is it not becoming increasingly likely that I could come upon someone passed out from misusing an RB?

I'm sure that you have seen the memorial plaque at Willow Springs. Daniel Myers Obituary - York, PA | York Daily Record & York Dispatch

 

[doctormike]

Well, I'm not so sure. The second line of the OP says that I am in context.

In addition, RB's are becoming all the rage with the unwashed masses. Is it not becoming increasingly likely that I could come upon someone passed out from misusing an RB?

I'm sure that you have seen the memorial plaque at Willow Springs. Daniel Myers Obituary - York, PA | York Daily Record & York Dispatch

Once again, mission creep. I think that what would be useful for an OC diver in a mixed OC/CCR team to have some basic understanding of how CCRs work, so that the CCR diver could explain to the OC diver what to look for (bubbles, alerts), what to do if the CCR diver was unresponsive, and if there was an option for donating gas. Things like that, all specific to that particular dive team.

I mean, I guess you could put together a huge sticky that covers everything, but I don't think that would be very useful, because no one would learn or remember it.

I read the obituary, since i don't know anything about that accident I'm not sure what you are saying about it.

 

[lowviz]

Dan Myers died at a stupidly shallow depth as it was retold to me. My son and I always visited the memorial as he (son) was nuts about going to a rebreather. He (son) was nowhere near detail oriented enough to be given an RB.

No mission creep. Nice jargon, knock it off. I respect your posts. Please reread the OP's first two sentences.

 

[lowviz]

...//... If you find a motionless non-responsive CCR diver and are in a position to go directly to the surface then give a lift a go. But if you have a ceiling then the lift may be too risky.

This is my takeaway for a "first order" response to the issue being discussed.

Thank you, Ken.

 

[doctormike]

No mission creep. Nice jargon, knock it off. I respect your posts. Please reread the OP's first two sentences.

And I respect yours, but I still don't understand why you have a problem with my jargon. Mission creep is mission creep. It's an interesting and increasingly common problem - OC diver buddying with a CCR diver - and we are discussing how to facilitate that. My opinion is that it's counterproductive trying to communicate all of the nuances and complex variants of CCR diving in that situation. It's a discussion, not a legal deposition. I'm not bound to only comment within the confines of the OP.

I also don't get the relevance of Dan's passing to this particular topic, but I'll just assume that I'm missing something.

 

[lowviz]

Sheila just wanted to know how to react if something happens to either an OC diver or a random CCR diver when they are the only two options for aid. I found her thread to be most interesting as prior to that I just avoided any contact whatsoever with CCR divers. Aliens.

Dan went hypoxic and died on a stupidly easy dive. He went to sleep. So it can happen to anyone. Sum total of my point.

No nuances, no mission creep, let's seek out the rank basics. I stumble upon a non-responsive CCR diver, what do I do?

 

[PfcAJ]

Sheila just wanted to know how to react if something happens to either an OC diver or a random CCR diver when they are the only two options for aid. I found her thread to be most interesting as prior to that I just avoided any contact whatsoever with CCR divers. Aliens.

Dan went hypoxic and died on a stupidly easy dive. He went to sleep. So it can happen to anyone. Sum total of my point.

No nuances, no mission creep, let's seek out the rank basics. I stumble upon a non-responsive CCR diver, what do I do?

Simplest form: Bring to surface in the most expedient manner that keeps you reasonably safe as well. "Reasonably" is up to you.

 

[sunnyboy]

"If you come on an unresponsive CCR diver...". Unless they were your buddy and you were briefed, then that is no different than coming upon an unresponsive technical diver with twins and a boatload of stages. It's the exact same situation because... you have no clue what's going on.

Since you don't know what the diver was doing in either case, leave the stuff alone and follow standard rescue class protocols - surface the diver if you can, try and keep the mouthpiece in the diver's mouth if it was there when you found them.

 

[lowviz]

Thanks, guys. I kinda thought so, but I wanted to hear it from the other side.

Press on, great thread!