At what age did you switch to the rebreather? (From OC)

At what age did you switch to the rebreather? (From OC)

  • Before 20

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • 20 to 25

    Votes: 5 5.0%
  • 25 to 30

    Votes: 18 17.8%
  • 30 to 35

    Votes: 13 12.9%
  • 35 to 40

    Votes: 11 10.9%
  • 40 to 45

    Votes: 15 14.9%
  • 45 to 50

    Votes: 16 15.8%
  • After 50

    Votes: 15 14.9%
  • After 60

    Votes: 7 6.9%

  • Total voters
    101

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25-30 for me, still a baby ccr diver at 29. I realized I'd get the most financial benefit the sooner I'm on the loop. Sure it's pricey, but it beats the expensive helium bills I'd become accustomed to. That made it easier to justify socking away as much as I could to save up.
 
Maybe it is not your case, but I believe that a lot also depends on where you live and if you are lucky enough to have around you, in your life, people who have this passion.
Yep, that is a huge factor.
Pretty big community here and I mostly got to know tech divers when I got back into diving and that definitely got me interested in tech right off the bat.
Having experienced people to help you also makes the journey to CCR easier.
 
Really should have the full details instead of just a number.
Certified at 18 as a high school graduation gift, in Kansas.
Didn't dive much until my mid 20s. Just didn't have the opportunity, broke college kid.
Was an on and off again diver for another 15 years. Bounced off different hobbies. Remember reading about Bikini and was trying to figure how to make that happen before I turned 30. Didn't happen.
Was getting back into diving again after a couple in and outs of diving. Was on the Yukon in San Diego. After surfacing I was thinking there was a lot of work for a few minutes on the wreck. And I hear about a P38 that is just out of recreational limits. Had a little recession in '08 that paused things for a few years.

Got the bug again, needed a new dive shop since what I had used closed up. Drove around town, interviewed different shops. Was looking for some tech classes. Most shops wanted to sell me a refresher and a trip to Bonaire or something like that. Found a shop that had interest in some tech classes. Got started down that path. Advanced Nitrox, deco, was pulling off some small technical dives. The same shop also had a Poseidon demo tour stop in town when I was first meeting them. Got a Mk-VI demo. While very cool and had a lot of neat stuff I really liked, I also realized there was some marketing junk involved I didn't like (the battery depth BS). That was on hold as I was buying a new motorcycle at the time (price was about the same). That is another hobby I am still involved in, observed moto trials.

After a few years of playing with a little light tech diving I realized I had gone as far as the shop goes. Really didn't that when I first started with them. Don't know what you don't know until you find you don't know type of thing. Still good guys, I still hang out with them.

So lots of research. Got into DEMA and got to look at everything. Talk to people. Made the leap. Making the leap put me in touch with others who kept me going and got through more classes. This got me a trip to Truk. And that was even better as I got an invite to Bikini. Yes, the very same Bikini that I was reading about 20+ years ago that got me interested. I wanted to be there before I turned 30, I've now squealing by getting there before I turn 50. So long at the trip next summer actually happens.
 
Actually, for me, the question really was "how long after you learned about CCR did you start?"
With all the technological improvements and normalization of checklist use, what used to be a scary proposition 20 years ago became not only reasonable, but an improvement on doubles technical diving.
So I started at a more advanced age only because I wasn't willing to accept the risk (and didn't know the benefits) 20 years ago.
 
Although I selected over 60, it was more like 59 1/2 :eyebrow:

I learned to dive in my late 40s but had so many things going on as I worked up to recreational instructor. I took my Tec40/45/AN/DP mostly to get more time at medium depths (say 100 ft), but then I heard about the magic of Helium and really wanted to dive it for the clarity while wrecks. I suffer from a bad case of narcosis at 100 feet. But I couldn't justify the cost of it OC and my body is getting older and can't handle the doubles. A friend said I needed to try a rebreather and another very good friend here in the island recommended my RB instructor (Norm Gustasfson) who teaches on APDs. SO I learned how to dive APDs, now using a travel box so I can use 3ltr bottles as well as 2 ltrs and I've been happy every since, only diving OC to teach and when my lid is off for servicing.

I will be setting up my own booster and compressor and plan on diving He pretty much any time I'm going below 100 FSW.

I dive a RB for the amount of time it allows me under water. I could spend 4 hours on the reef at 30 feet if I stayed warm enough.
 
I was 34. I was at the point that I was spending thousands of dollars per year on open circuit mixed gases. It finally actually made financial sense to make that leap. I haven't looked back, but I dive equal amounts OC and CC these days.
 
Over 50.

Got certified 5 years ago at age 47. Approx 380 dives. The past year I’ve been around an instructor and fellow divers who pretty much always dive CCR. Kiss mCCR of some flavor. Dived the WI mine last winter with a buddy on CCR. Getting to see it up close and having a lot of conversations changed my mind. I wanted something easier than SM for Great Lakes wreck diving. Less spent on helium. Warmer, moister air. Finishing saving up over the winter to hopefully order in time for training next spring. Kiss Orca Spirit.
 
Got my rebreather when I was 41. I'm mainly a GUE diver, so I was doing a lot of OC tech and cave dives. A lot meaning obviously depends where you live and what you can do (regarding family, work, vicinity of diving spots, charters, etc). In my definition a lot was +30 trimix dives a year.

I dived for 2 years OC T2 and T2+ dives and got to a point where I (mainly mixed team since my buddies were all already on RB80 or JJ) it was becoming limiting.

I was still not convinced to switch over, because the only real reason would be enough JJ divers in my tech network to dive with, and then suddenly one of my main buddies told me he was going to sell his RB80 and get a JJ and asked if I wanted to join, then 3 other good friends joined in as well and suddenly we had a small group ;-)

So I bought it, started diving it in 2017 and then I got a divorce a new relation and a son, my best buddy (the RB80) guy got in a relation and got a daughter, another of the group divorced and basically stopped diving and another switched sports from tech diving to bicycle racing. So looking back our group was jinxed in some way ;-)

I moved to Italy, and kept diving (OC and CCR), although although the 100+ dives a year times were past with a son. It's only now 4 years later that it's getting more or less back on track and me and my original buddy (the RB80 guy) have decided to join another GUE expedition next year. Live I guess ;-)
 
34 for me (this year). Primary tech buddy and I just got units, training to follow.
 
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