Review Diving the Avelo System

[gordonscuba]

Not really. The Avelo diver's range of buoyancy increase tops out at about +2 lbs at the beginning of a dive (assuming a rash-guard). A 30 lb wing would provide far more resistance to a down current, and most jacket BCs have even more lift.

I was thinking that an expert would remain calm and have various options available (hold onto wall? swim laterally out of current?). They would have planned the dive knowing local currents and followed related procedures such as more conservative depth limits, proximity to wall, carried appropriate dsmb/reel etc.

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

@gordonscuba I dive freshwater, so I'm far from experienced in handling down drafts like @inquis is talking about, but it seems to me that, if indeed a downdraft is not something Avelo can compensate for, buoyancy wise, that poses a significant limitation at the very least. Even assuming such currents can safely be predicted and avoided when diving Avelo, it limits where you can safely dive compared to a standard BCD, which doesn't seem great. Beyond that, it seems like a pretty glaring failure point, since the unexpected does happen, and, as a great many people on here love to point out, fatal accidents usually grow from combinations of errors and shortcuts.

As I said, I know next to nothing about such currents, as I dive in relatively shallow bottomed freshwater locations where, if such a current were to miraculously appear, I could always crawl along the bottom to escape (or use my 38 pound wing to say "screw you gravity"). This is just my 2 cents based on what other people are saying.

 

[gordonscuba]

@gordonscuba I dive freshwater, so I'm far from experienced in handling down drafts like @inquis is talking about, but it seems to me that, if indeed a downdraft is not something Avelo can compensate for, buoyancy wise, that poses a significant limitation at the very least. Even assuming such currents can safely be predicted and avoided when diving Avelo, it limits where you can safely dive compared to a standard BCD, which doesn't seem great. Beyond that, it seems like a pretty glaring failure point, since the unexpected does happen, and, as a great many people on here love to point out, fatal accidents usually grow from combinations of errors and shortcuts.

As I said, I know next to nothing about such currents, as I dive in relatively shallow bottomed freshwater locations where, if such a current were to miraculously appear, I could always crawl along the bottom to escape (or use my 38 pound wing to say "screw you gravity"). This is just my 2 cents based on what other people are saying.

Well, I think the answer to this is not quite so clear-cut. If a diver is pushed down in a current and doesn't react, then a traditional BC will compress, causing them to become more negative and sink more quickly. If they continue to fail to react, they will die. On an Avelo, as soon as they are out of the current, they will also stop to sink.

Some instructors also recommend against using one's BC to counteract such currents, due to the risk of corking to the surface. Both of these cases assume a certain lack of situational awareness, but many newer divers do indeed display such lack of awareness.

 

[inquis]

If a diver is pushed down in a current and doesn't react, then a traditional BC will compress, causing them to become more negative and sink more quickly

Every single diver is taught how to work their "elevator button". We may have to agree to disagree on the likelihood of them failing to react.

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

Well, I think the answer to this is not quite so clear-cut. If a diver is pushed down in a current and doesn't react, then a traditional BC will compress, causing them to become more negative and sink more quickly. If they continue to fail to react, they will die. On an Avelo, as soon as they are out of the current, they will also stop to sink.

Some instructors also recommend against using one's BC to counteract such currents, due to the risk of corking to the surface. Both of these cases assume a certain lack of situational awareness, but many newer divers do indeed display such lack of awareness.

My problem with this line of logic is that you're criticism hinges on a user error, while the flaw you're defending is one inherent to the equipment. A well trained diver could use a standard BCD to compensate for a current based descent, and while the risk of corking does exist, it can be prevented, or failing that, survived by maintaining constant exhalation (provided no deco has been incurred anyway. Obviously not recommending this, but I had a runaway ascent when I was brand new to diving, and I think plenty of others have as well).

Whereas if your equipment can't produce enough lift to go up in the downward moving current (which, as I understand it, might only be present at a certain depth, and not readily determinable at the surface)...then you just have to hope you can swim out of it laterally, or fight it going up, before going too deep.

If nothing else, consider: your criticism of the BCD is that a total lack of reaction would yield faster sinking and thus, death, but the same lack of reaction would also kill with Avelo, just more slowly. Assuming the diver does react, the power inflator can counteract the sink almost instantly, at the risk of a runaway ascent (which can be mitigated), while the Avelo diver is forced to try and swim for it, or perhaps use the attached SMB, both of which are much more time consuming and less likely to the be reaction of the sort of unskilled diver you propose is in this situation.

As always, I'm no expert. Where I dive we worry about boats and winding up three counties downstream, not getting sucked under by the undertow, so I'm mostly basing this assessment off what you and @inquis have said. I have little understanding of the actual risk or likelihood of this happening, just providing an (un)educated guess.

 

[teksimple]

I just want that 300 bar tank!

 

[ScubaJoey.com]

The biggest non sponsored complaint I heard is just that its not available anywhere. It's a huge amount of money to get into, and you cant count on it being in your destination. So no matter how cool the tech is, if I can't purchase one easily, and travel with it.. How is this better? I already have a ton of scuba gear that is a paint to source remotely. I don't need an even more expensive toy that is even more restricted.

 

[teksimple]

I assume that the 300 bar/4,350 psi compressor that is needed to fill those tanks comes with the package that a dealer needs to purchase?

 

[BikerManiac]

This thread popped up on my feed. I went to their website to figure out what it was about.

At first I thought it was a built in scooter type of device built into the tank. But it seems it just a device that helps you stay neutrally buoyant under water. Is this product targeted more towards new divers? Who is the audience for this device? Once a diver learns about buoyancy control and has enough experience. Is this device really needed?

So many questions.

 

[teksimple]

I suspect (but don’t know) that it is a marketing of an ecosystem built off two widgets: 1. the buoyancy control technology which is rather complicated as it has batteries and a pump, and the the game changer in my mind: 2. the 100cf 4,350psi tank which is probably the half the weight or less of the equivalent capacity aluminum tank. Then the Avelo dealer (value added reseller) needs to buy or lease the compressor that can actually pump up those tanks to that extraordinary pressure, and then service all that equipment so has to have the Avelo workbench and maintenance equipment. Must have been quite an exclusive preview at DEMA. Correct me if am wrong.