CCR: Sooner or later?

[w ripley]

I went the full OC route before going to the RB. Did it make everything easier? Well, probably.

I think we're seeing a paradigm shift today with RBs. You start on your RB, just like you did with OC, and gradually work up to the longer, deeper & more technical dives. Learning to put an OC reg in your mouth or BO with a BOV isn't that complicated.

So, I'm in the "follow the path that feels right for you" camp.

I agree that you do need to dive, OC or CC, often. And as my signature line says, there's no reason to go to a RB if your diving is not dictating it.

 

[Dsix36]

I knew for a fact that I was aiming for deep technical diving on a rebreather before I ever took a technical class. my intended instructor told me that If that was indeed my goal, that perhaps I should skip the OC and go straight to the rebreather. I took his advice and have never regretted it since.

The one and only thing that i will say may be an advantage or disadvantage in my case it that I am extremely paranoid of breathing the wrong gas. Since I never took any technical OC classes, I have not done a lot of gas switches. when and if I do ever have to bail off my rebreather and go OC to get my butt out of the water, I do not have the OC experience that other have. I do, however, have a healthy fear of breathing the wrong gas and hope that will be enough to keep me alive. I have bailed out for training and practice, but real life when the brown stuff hits the fan might be different.

My 2 cents ran over, but I hope you understand my point.

 

[w ripley]

The one and only thing that i will say may be an advantage or disadvantage in my case it that I am extremely paranoid of breathing the wrong gas.

Agree. Still, a diver starting on a RB is only going to have 21% in his Dil & BO bottle(s). So not too much to worry about there. As he or she moves up then things start to get complicated, but that's what all of the training is for.

 

[Superlyte27]

Agree. Still, a diver starting on a RB is only going to have 21% in his Dil & BO bottle(s).

Well, you'd think that anyway.

 

[down4fun]

I agree with most of what has been said. I think some good solid OW skills are a necessary foundation. I do not see the need to do a lot of technical training o/c if you know you are going to to ccr. At the most adv nitrox and deco. Here you will get some necessary skills for the technical world: gas physiology, gas switches, shooting bags for deco, etc. I can see doing this o.c so you can concentrate on the skills separate from trying to master the ccr.

My story went like this. I love wrecks, deep wrecks. I did my OW, followed almost immediately by AOW and dove every wreck in the area that i could reach. Somewhere around 300 dives I did my intro o/c tech stuff. It was a Naui Tech 1 class so adv nitrox/deco procedures and recreational trimix getting me to the 150ft region. I knew i wanted to go through full mix and probably eventually to a ccr. Then I met my s/o who was already on a ccr. He encouraged me to make the jump to ccr sooner than later. I did, and I have never regretted. I am now full mix on the ccr and have around 300 hours on the unit. I also did all my cave training on ccr. I don't feel i have missed out on anything by not doing my mix training o/c other than lugging around huge tanks that dwarf me.

Having said that, times are changing and the door to ccr is opening much sooner for a lot of people. I don't think you have to do any certain amount of o/w training. But i do feel if you are going to go ccr early and by that i mean under 200-300 dives. That you need to spend a great deal of time on the unit at the mod 1 level before moving on. You need to get that experience underwater before you start chasing depth and helium where it's much less forgiving.

 

[pocky21]

I'm stuck in the same dilemma myself when I look ahead in my training. At what point does the OC skill progression become too much or simply not worth it for somebody ultimately interested in CCR diving? How does one practice skills such as bailout gas switches after making the transition to CCR? Is skill degradation a concern, even with a full trimix OC background? Knowing the skills is one thing, not having used the skills in a long time strikes me as equally dangerous no matter which path taken.

 

[Superlyte27]

I really don't worry about the bailout gas switch scenario too much. Imagine you are diving to 300' on your rebreather. It suddenly takes a massive dump and you switch to bailout. I wear my bailout as a necklace. So, I close my DSV and I put my 2nd stage regulator in my mouth. Now, because my Bailout is 16/50 it'll work from 300' all the way to the surface. So no gas switch really necessary. Granted, at 20' there's also a bottle of Oxygen, so I can switch to that, but this is pretty minor a task, and not really an issue either.

Maybe I don't know what I don't know. But it doesn't seem too tough for me. I'll admit I'm pretty new at CCR.

 

[down4fun]

How does one practice skills such as bailout gas switches after making the transition to CCR? Is skill degradation a concern, even with a full trimix OC background? Knowing the skills is one thing, not having used the skills in a long time strikes me as equally dangerous

When I was new on the rebreather it was not uncommon for me to go on recreational trips and my buddy and I would just head out to the sand and do drills. Bailout off the loop, recover the loop, practice clearing the loop. Now we will plan bailout drills occasionally. You hardly ever use the gas in your bailouts so when they come due for annual VIP is a good time to plan a bailout drill to use the gas. The good thing about a bailout drill is if something goes wrong in practice you still have a perfectly functioning loop to go back on. The more serious the dives you are planning the more practice you do. I did a very deep dive last year and our team in preparation did multiple deep bailout drills in the 400-500 foot range so we would be ready if the real thing happened during the dive.

 

[ScoobaChef]

Let's change the question a little bit. Assuming that the diver posesses the requisite skills would you:

1. Got through full OC tech training, then proceed with RB.

2. Advance OC and RB levels concurrently.

3. Skip OC all together and focus on RB.

I'm focusing on the tech angle because theoretically that should at least assure a sufficient level of competency to handle the extra task loading.

 

[Mr.X]

Let's change the question a little bit. Assuming that the diver posesses the requisite skills would you:

1. Got through full OC tech training, then proceed with RB.

2. Advance OC and RB levels concurrently.

3. Skip OC all together and focus on RB.

I'm focusing on the tech angle because theoretically that should at least assure a sufficient level of competency to handle the extra task loading.

As a RB & tech instructor - I would say skip OC tech and focus on RB tech. Save simple OC for those trips where you are bimboling about. If you're thinking of those epic dives where a RB is a must - the cost, prep will be cheaper. Not to mention your dive partners will be similarly equipped on RB vs. OC.