CCR for rec diving ?

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

I want to say first thank you Stephan, Padiscubapro, bigjet, and everyone else who spend's there time helping begging RB diver's like myself to answere our question's.

As most know, i stated in pervious thread's, ive been using the Dolphin for some month's now, and really not happy with the efficency over OC, so im considering going to CCR here shortley.

As i found myself getting away from the more tech diving, and has become a thing of the past for me, im wondering if a CCR rebreather will also be to much work like SCR for rec diving......

Most of my diving is now anywhere from 30' reef's with my wife off my boat, to shooting down to the Key's, and diving the wreck's which bottom out around 135' .

I was thinking of the Sport Kiss, and only looking to spend around 5k , after selling my Dolphin, and probley will have to spend another 1k on CCR training.

Even if i descide to do some tech diving down the road, with deepest being 300' , from what i read, the Sport Kiss will do just fine.

I really want somthing that is simple ( as in maintaining, breaking down, putting together, etc ) And somthing that isn't going to take me a hour putting it togehter, then another hour cleaning it all up, after only doing a 2 tank dive.

I don;t want to modify my Dolphin to CCR either, i don;t like all the plastic fitting's, etc, and can't dive off a charter boat with a modified SCR anyway here in FL if i choose to do so.

I was up till 1 am searching all over SB , deco stop, RB world, etc, trying to find some answere's using a CCR rebreather just for rec limit's, worth it or not?

thank you all once again for taking your time to answere these thread's, as i know i posted alot in the RB fourm

 

[padiscubapro]

I want to say first thank you Stephan, Padiscubapro, bigjet, and everyone else who spend's there time helping begging RB diver's like myself to answere our question's.

As most know, i stated in pervious thread's, ive been using the Dolphin for some month's now, and really not happy with the efficency over OC, so im considering going to CCR here shortley.

As i found myself getting away from the more tech diving, and has become a thing of the past for me, im wondering if a CCR rebreather will also be to much work like SCR for rec diving......

Most of my diving is now anywhere from 30' reef's with my wife off my boat, to shooting down to the Key's, and diving the wreck's which bottom out around 135' .

I was thinking of the Sport Kiss, and only looking to spend around 5k , after selling my Dolphin, and probley will have to spend another 1k on CCR training.

Even if i descide to do some tech diving down the road, with deepest being 300' , from what i read, the Sport Kiss will do just fine.

I really want somthing that is simple ( as in maintaining, breaking down, putting together, etc ) And somthing that isn't going to take me a hour putting it togehter, then another hour cleaning it all up, after only doing a 2 tank dive.

I don't want to modify my Dolphin to CCR either, i don;t like all the plastic fitting's, etc, and can't dive off a charter boat with a modified SCR anyway here in FL if i choose to do so.

I was up till 1 am searching all over SB , deco stop, RB world, etc, trying to find some answere's using a CCR rebreather just for rec limit's, worth it or not?

thank you all once again for taking your time to answere these thread's, as i know i posted alot in the RB fourm

My 2c..


I usemy CCR for all dives,I dont use anything else.. I don't find it takes any longer cleaning up my CCR gear than it did on OC.. I always cleaned my OC gear after each day of diving..

I set it up the night before.. My main rig is an inspiration and it probably takes me 10 mins tops (probably more like 5) to pack the canister, a quick pos and negative check and I'm done for now..

Once I'm on the boat I do a quick neg check (to make sure nothing was dislodged during transit) then fill the lungs for a pos on the way out..

I'll do my calibrate on the way out then I'm ready.. I do dive # 1 (usually longer than everyone else), then while everyone is getting ready fo dive 2 I am relaxing.. then get in my gear when its time..


I like the idea about not having to worry that the dive we planned for had to be changed and the new depth is not suitable for the mix I have in my tanks..


I WOULD NOT USE a sport KISS deeper than about 50m, there simply is not enough "safety" features that are needed to reduce the risk on deeper dives.. Sure the valve WILL function, as well as the manual add up to about 110m or so, but the duration of the scrubber and the lack of alternatives makes it an unsafe choice (in my opinion) for those types of dives.. I wouldn't hesitate using it in the 50m range at all, because in general the decos are going to be reasonable and bailing to OC is still a viable solution..

The sport KISS breaks down and goes together extremely easily, much faster than my "inspiration" or whats left of it..... But I wouldn't hesitate doing 150m dives on my rig (and my group has done that on an expedition)... I routinely do 100m+ dives on it..

That being said I love the quiet (an scr is still noisy) on simple scuba-do dives...

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

Thanks for your in put, as it is very good advice coming from someone who routinley dives a CCR to 100m .

To be honest, i don't think for the next few years i'll be doing any diving beyond 50m, as im getting older (close to 40 ) things are getting heaver and im getting tired more easyer

4-5 year's ago, i couldn't wait to strap onm some doubles and drop down to 200', now these day's im enjoying the more simpler dive's and getting lazyer ,lol .

I love the Inspiration, as they are commenley used here in FL in the cave's and off shore. I never realized how many RB diver's there are out the till i started getting into it .

I love diving silent,warm air, and love not lugging around 6 tanks with differnt mixes and worrying about if i have the right mix for my MOD for the dive. I gave this alot of thought, and really want to stay with diving a RB rather then going back to OC. You really get spolied diving these unit's, it's just amazing machine's .

From what i gathered the last few day's, the sport Kiss was to compete with the Azi, and Dolphin, and after spending 5k on a SCR, i really don't see the benifit's, just my 2 cent's, and keep in mind im a very new RB diver, diver SCR less then 6 month's.

What ever i do choose, i want it to be used for all my diving, i don;t want to dive OC one weekend on a 30' reef cause my RB is to hard to set-up, or break down, etc, or vise versa.

I had a big smile when you said you use your RB for ALL your diving. That's exactely what im looking for, somthing that is light, simple, efficent, and the thought of only carrying a few 13 cubic foot tanks on a boat for a weekend diving is a dream !!

 

[RebreatherDave]

Well, the Prism is especially noted for being light and relatively easy to lug around. I am hearing more guys on Inspirations selling them and getting the Evolution which is a really nice sized unit, and am hearing guys are getting 4-5 hours on the scrubber when using the thermistor based scrubber monitor.

For non-deco stuff I would have gone the Evolution route too had it been available.

 

[DiveTub]

Like yourself I too once owned a Dolphin, I can say that it was just a pig to dive, always leaked, dreadful to trim, painful pre and post dive. in fact it almost put me off rebreathers for ever.

Well I now have about 15 hours on the Sport Kiss. For recreational diving it is a great unit, Gordon has done an excellent job in putting this little CCR together. It is very simple to put together and strip for cleaning, the unit minus the tanks can be carried onto the plane and it is just so light and comfy underwater, I find it more comfy on my back than my OC gear.

However in saying I purchased a PRISM as I wanted a unit that could, when needed go deeper than the Sport Kiss is rated to. I plan on buying a Sport Kiss in about 3 months for friends to use and as a second unit as you can never have enough toys.

IMHO if you want a light recreational CCR for local diving and travel, it would be hard to go wrong with the Sport Kiss.

Some photos of us in training on the units.
http://uwphotog.com/galleries/sport_kiss/sportkiss.html

Cheers
Chris

 

[caveseeker7]

Joe pretty much summed it up, the Sport Kiss is a great little unit for recreational diving. You already know the pros. But I agree with him in regards to diving past recreational depths. As is, the scrubber has very limited flood tolerance, no way to drain the counterlungs, limited gas management etc ... I would not want it as a technical unit either. It wasn't designed for it. Just because the KISS valve will deliver O2 past 100m doesn't mean it's the best unit for that job.

As recreational rigs the PRISM, Mini Meg and Evolution will all work.
My choice and reasons for it are well known, for the recreational end the PRISM's transparency and simplicity shines. The Meg also is a good option, and with the small scrubber cannister desrves the Mini moniker. The Evo isn't my cup of tea and rather expensive, but would probably fit the diving, too.

None of them comes close to the Sport Kiss for simplicity of maintainance though.

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

Like yourself I too once owned a Dolphin, I can say that it was just a pig to dive, always leaked, dreadful to trim, painful pre and post dive. in fact it almost put me off rebreathers for ever.

Well I now have about 15 hours on the Sport Kiss. For recreational diving it is a great unit, Gordon has done an excellent job in putting this little CCR together. It is very simple to put together and strip for cleaning, the unit minus the tanks can be carried onto the plane and it is just so light and comfy underwater, I find it more comfy on my back than my OC gear.

However in saying I purchased a PRISM as I wanted a unit that could, when needed go deeper than the Sport Kiss is rated to. I plan on buying a Sport Kiss in about 3 months for friends to use and as a second unit as you can never have enough toys.

IMHO if you want a light recreational CCR for local diving and travel, it would be hard to go wrong with the Sport Kiss.

Some photos of us in training on the units.
http://uwphotog.com/galleries/sport_kiss/sportkiss.html

Cheers
Chris

thanks for sharing those photo's !!! Every day i read about the sport kiss, i like it, especially for recreational diving !!

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

Joe pretty much summed it up, the Sport Kiss is a great little unit for recreational diving. You already know the pros. But I agree with him in regards to diving past recreational depths. As is, the scrubber has very limited flood tolerance, no way to drain the counterlungs, limited gas management etc ... I would not want it as a technical unit either. It wasn't designed for it. Just because the KISS valve will deliver O2 past 100m doesn't mean it's the best unit for that job.

As recreational rigs the PRISM, Mini Meg and Evolution will all work.
My choice and reasons for it are well known, for the recreational end the PRISM's transparency and simplicity shines. The Meg also is a good option, and with the small scrubber cannister desrves the Mini moniker. The Evo isn't my cup of tea and rather expensive, but would probably fit the diving, too.

None of them comes close to the Sport Kiss for simplicity of maintainance though.

I agree, i know alot of the pro"s and con's, and some of them like no water trap's, the scrubber duration, etc, i don;t like.

I think for the type of diving im looking to do, from 10m -50m, i think the unit will be exactely what im looking for.

Anywhere i could try one out? Also which agency would certify me, i think it's IANTD, im going to look at there site now.

Also can i just go " buy " a unit off the shelf, and have it delivered, or does it have to be made, and a waiting list ?

 

[caveseeker7]

Scrubber duration is less of an issue unless you plan to make very long dives.
For multiple dives you can get a spare cannister, complete with plugs, that you can just switch out.
Besides, Gordon announced at DEMA plans to make a larger scrubber available.

Unless you plan overhead diving (incl. deco worth mentioning - not rec anymore) the water traps are not quite as important in my view.

KISS instructors are listed on Jetsam's website, and ANDI is currently working on a KISS program.

 

[padiscubapro]

I agree, i know alot of the pro"s and con's, and some of them like no water trap's, the scrubber duration, etc, i don;t like.

I think for the type of diving im looking to do, from 10m -50m, i think the unit will be exactely what im looking for.

Anywhere i could try one out? Also which agency would certify me, i think it's IANTD, im going to look at there site now.

Also can i just go " buy " a unit off the shelf, and have it delivered, or does it have to be made, and a waiting list ?

as stephan said, ANDI will have a program in place shortly.. We are fashioning a truely KISS specific program as well as a real text book.. It takes us time to roll out a class because we want it done what we feel is the right way..

There is a waiting list for the KISS, They are producing alot of units these days.. the wait I was last told was about a month..

You can no longer order it direct from Jetsam (in the US and Canada), it must be purchased through a dealer.. They were also talking about making it faciltiy only as well not justt hrough an instructor.. not sure if that happened yet..