Question CCR for recreational depths

[lexvil]

What an illuminating thread. Having just gone through all 33 pages, the answer is pretty clear.​

There must be some mistake, 33 pages on SB and there is a clear answer?? How did that happen.

 

[broncobowsher]

Well, what is the answer?

 

[Sure Squintsalot]

The answer is, "it depends".

Not to be a smartass about it, that's my takeaway.

It depends on how close you live to diveable water.
It depends on how much of a specific type of diving you want to do.
It depends on your tolerance for flying with these things.
It depends on the availability of consumables.
It depends on your vacation package.
It depends on your attention span in the water.
It depends on your attention span out of the water.
It depends on your life insurance policy.
It depends on your tolerance for owning un-maximized gear.
It depends on your bank account.
It depends on how many like-minded dive buddies you'll find.
It depends on your family's tolerance of YOUR risk.

Living in the next driest state in the country where the best diving we have is a glass of water in Santa Rosa, a CCR for rec diving makes about as much sense as owning a bobsled while living in Florida. On the other hand, if I were a retired engineer living on a coast, in a developed country, and diving was my main interest, sure, that's a trigger I'd gladly pull.

 

[broncobowsher]

The answer is, "it depends".

Not to be a smartass about it, that's my takeaway.

It depends on how close you live to diveable water.
It depends on how much of a specific type of diving you want to do.
It depends on your tolerance for flying with these things.
It depends on the availability of consumables.
It depends on your vacation package.
It depends on your attention span in the water.
It depends on your attention span out of the water.
It depends on your life insurance policy.
It depends on your tolerance for owning un-maximized gear.
It depends on your bank account.
It depends on how many like-minded dive buddies you'll find.
It depends on your family's tolerance of YOUR risk.

Living in the next driest state in the country where the best diving we have is a glass of water in Santa Rosa, a CCR for rec diving makes about as much sense as owning a bobsled while living in Florida. On the other hand, if I were a retired engineer living on a coast, in a developed country, and diving was my main interest, sure, that's a trigger I'd gladly pull.

I've dived your Blue Hole, on CCR, on a road trip to Kansas.
Not every dive has to be an all in tech dive.
The only other diver there on that June week day was another rebreather diver who was only in the water for a few minutes. Because by the time I bought my pass and got back to the parking lot I never saw them again.

 

[davehicks]

I were a retired engineer living on a coast, in a developed country, and diving was my main interest, sure, that's a trigger I'd gladly pull.

Hey, thats me! Did you look up my profile?

 

[boriss]

Well, what is the answer?

LOL... exactly. If I weren't already experienced, reading this thread would cause so much confusion. I can't believe some of the mental gymnastics posts I'm reading here, some from experience members.

The ironic part to all of this, is that the OP asked a question and then joined into the conversation (attacking experienced members) without any real experience.

There's nothing simple, cheap or fast about CCRs. Any idiot can look up the training requirements for OW vs CCR. That alone should tell them something.

CCR is a major commitment, not to be taken lightly. The costs (time and money) get pretty astronomic in comparison to OC for basic recreational dives. The amount of failure modes includes everything OC has plus many many others. There's a reason for multiple checklists and more planning with CCRs.

For the novices who may have read this far and aren't clued in, we're comparing riding a bicycle to flying a plane. Sure, they both have tire pressure checks, and other maintenance. Except you can mostly ignore your bike and deal with the rare inconvenience, but don't do your maintenance on the plane and it can be fatal. Over-simplified to make a point.

CCRs aren't a joke, they're an important, useful, tool and certainly have lots of benefits. However, given OPs use-case, this thread is a joke.

One of my favorite dive sites has a 15 minute surface swim, another 15-minutes on the bottom to get to the interesting parts and you get around 20 minutes to explore the interesting part before heading back in. There are places that are just too far to go on a single tank. The depth is only around 40-50’. Gas limitations are always the controlling factor, not deco.

Bring an extra tank then... you'll be bringing it with your CCR anyway.

 

[TuckerIdaho]

It depends on your attention span in the water.
It depends on your attention span out of the water.

I mean you could have just included bank account with this and been done with it.

I am getting older and father time is catching up with my back. at some point I will no longer be able to sling all the lead and steel. The CCR is much lighter than a traditional OC system.

Maybe it's time to figure out why you're carrying so much lead and start trimming down and working on skills and configuration rather than trying to address it with a system that's many times more expensive?