Hootis,
Ever since 7th grade when I found a photo of a Beckman Electrolung, I had to have a close circuit rebreather. I had already been diving open circuit for a year at that time.
30 years later, Dave Thompson, Martin Parker and the crew and collaborators with AP Valves and has made that dream affordable and safer for me. I have only about 30 dives on my Inspiration but I have not tried other units. Now in fairness, they say such limited dive #'s make one a novice I am told, but I don't do deco or dives deeper then 130 feet anyway.
Observations on the Inspiration. The unit so far is extremely stable, reliable and in my opinion, very well built and extremely easy to service and use. Scrubber repacks are very quick and the scrubber has a good spring and spacer system to keep it off the bottom of the scrubber cannister. The cannister itself is made of plastic, which insulates it better. The harness and BC are very well made too.
What would I do to improve it? Well, everything is a trade-off, trick something out and there is more to go wrong or it costs more or both.
I will be getting a new DSV with Bob Howell's integral 2nd stage and I will be getting AP's automatic diluent addition valve. The addition of both of these items will match 2 notable features the cool Cis Lunar Mk 5P had. I also may get an LED HUD for P02, but if I go this route I will probably sleeve the DSV hoses to route the cable or intervalically clip it. The Cis-Lunar had a really nicely engineered P02 LED HUD
I would prefer a convex style lens on the handsets or a larger display to be able to see it better. I would also prefer that the handsets has an integral dive computer. the new Hammerhead scrubber top has 2 nice controller/computer combos, but I do not like crap on my wrists, and I don't know where else one would put them.
Cochran says they are working on a LifeGuard Gemini with realtime P02 that is transmitted wirelessly to the receiver, and it will also wirelessly transmit 02 and dil pressure.
The unit probably needs a SS backplate, which I have on order, as balancing it critical for underwater positional attitude and comfort. I personally think that there is more room or more room could be easily made for a taller scrubber cannister, as duration seems limited comparatively speaking to other CCR's.
I think the counterlungs are too cluttered, but in fairness, I am phobic to crap hanging all over me....you would have thought with a CCR I took a wrong turn on that, lol. I would like an elastic cumberbund so I feel less cumbersome in my cumberbund. This may help stop the harness from creeping up as it does.
The dil and 02 injector valves are too easy to cross thread and not see till you do a positive and negative loop check. Perhaps the thread type could be changed, but someone will have to pay for that, the buyer.
The rubber mouthpiece is way too flimsy, so the unit flops all over the place from the drag of it's size underwater. The counterlungs rub against my neck when not wearing the hood....wonder what one does when going tropical.
I think that someone or the manufacturer ought to build a unit with a tether to a controller where the instructor in a pool can induce various failures and the student can practice real drills and work-arounds. Steve MadMole Hawkins I think is working on some software where one can Inspiration flight sims on a computer. If I were AP, I would buy, subsidize, collaborate or license that into the training curriculum. A unit specific CCR flight sim is an ingenious idea.
I would like to go to the next annual Sunsent House CCR get-together so I can look at a Cis-Lunar in person.
All in all, I have been really happy with the Inspiration, it is well made, reliable, affordable and very efficient.
