Buying new vs used - pros & cons?

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If I was buying new, I would put at least 2x petrels with 4-pin cables on there and the foam coating which brings you to $9k for the new unit. You will most likely not find the 4-pin cables on any used units, so keep that in mind.
You can do what you want but almost nobody puts dual handsets on a spirit or sidewinder. So this is kind of weird. A handset and a nerd is possible, but 2 petrels, no.

Replacing the splitters is totally unnecessary unless they have failed - despite them being the massive weak link in the spirit/sidewinder heads

I would agree that this unit is not at all what I would recommend
 
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If I want to continue to train with my instructor, I have to choose a unit she teaches. That means Kiss or the original Optima. I’ve gotten close up looks at the Optima. Too big, bulky, and heavy. Kiss Classic is too heavy. Not interested in a SM rebreather. That leaves the Orca Spirit.

Plus, a chest mounted rebreather and my body wouldn’t mix well. I’ll just leave it at that.
Given your location, instructor choices, and buddy pool I think you'll just have to work with the options available. I still don't like the spirit, especially in cold water.

Instead of looking at the weight of the unit in isolation I would consider the total weight of units and BOs for the dives you want to actually do. For most dives in the "fun zone" you're looking at 2x 50s (if you can get them overfilled properly) or 2x 80s. Can you handle that or is this just wishful thinking at this point?
 
Yes I can deal with the 50s no problem. I already have two sets and SM them. Cave diving when I’m putting tanks on in the water wouldn’t be a problem with the 80s. For boat diving, I’d just clip bottles off to down lines so o wouldn’t climb up with 80s. As for getting OFF the boat with 80s, I’ll figure that out when the time comes.
 
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If I want to continue to train with my instructor, I have to choose a unit she teaches. That means Kiss or the original Optima. I’ve gotten close up looks at the Optima. Too big, bulky, and heavy. Kiss Classic is too heavy. Not interested in a SM rebreather. That leaves the Orca Spirit.

Plus, a chest mounted rebreather and my body wouldn’t mix well. I’ll just leave it at that.
There is a lot to be said about training with different instructors to get different perspective....
The backmount O2ptima with BMCL/iBOV is anything but big and bulky. Weight is also largely dependent on which bottles you go with. If you go with 2l AL13's then it's about 15lbs heavier than the Spirit which offsets from the dil bottle you have to carry with it. If you dive it with the steel 4l's that it was originally designed around then yes, it is quite heavy and about 30lbs heavier than the Spirit though it is all relative since you'll be able to shed at least 10lbs of lead vs the Spirit.

You can do what you want but almost nobody puts dual handsets on a spirit or sidewinder. So this is kind of weird. A handset and a nerd is possible, but 2 petrels, no.

Replacing the splitters is totally unnecessary unless they have failed - despite them being the massive weak link in the spirit/sidewinder heads

I would agree that this unit is not at all what I would recommend
It was just the cheapest option to have dual monitoring on the unit. I'm not saying I would personally do it, but with Shearwater not making blinky HUDs anymore it was the only way to keep it somewhat comparable to the others.
 
What’s your top ten list?

Now that I think about it, I don't think there are actually 10 units that I would look at unless you count all the variants but it's all about what configuration works for you since that is the limiting factor.
KISS only shows up on the list for very specific needs for sidemount breathers.
 
I have very limited vacation time. All training is done on weekends at sites 2-4 hours away. That factors into my training decisions.
 
The Fathom blinky HUD was recommended to me. Runs about $500. I’m told they sell a lot to Kiss owners.
 
There is a lot to be said about training with different instructors to get different perspective....
The backmount O2ptima with BMCL/iBOV is anything but big and bulky. Weight is also largely dependent on which bottles you go with. If you go with 2l AL13's then it's about 15lbs heavier than the Spirit which offsets from the dil bottle you have to carry with it. If you dive it with the steel 4l's that it was originally designed around then yes, it is quite heavy and about 30lbs heavier than the Spirit though it is all relative since you'll be able to shed at least 10lbs of lead vs the Spirit.


It was just the cheapest option to have dual monitoring on the unit. I'm not saying I would personally do it, but with Shearwater not making blinky HUDs anymore it was the only way to keep it somewhat comparable to the others.
Or hardwire a Fathom HUD in with either his or Jon L splitter boards.
 
The Fathom blinky HUD was recommended to me. Runs about $500. I’m told they sell a lot to Kiss owners.

Or hardwire a Fathom HUD in with either his or Jon L splitter boards.


Likely not allowed during training by the agency as it is not a factory configuration. Aftermarket sure. Also I do not like hardwired anything into the rebreathers as it requires the whole computer to be sent off if any corrosion comes up the cables vs replacing the stub connector. Less bad with the splitter boards, but still a possibility.

Either way I think Shearwater is going to start to put pressure on them to move to DiveCAN in the next few years because they are the only buyer for those computers now and they aren't buying many of them. I think the current Petrel and NERD2 are going to be the last of the analog monitors from Shearwater. It's not a bad thing actually and I think the DiveCAN will bring some much needed reliability improvements particularly as it relates to the cell splitters, but that's also a different discussion.
 
The Narked@90 blinky version of the Shearwater HUD is available. Although I would use the Fathom. Kiss does not specify what monitoring you use or if you use a HUD at all
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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