Drager Dolphin:

[Compressor]

Thanks for the wonderful replies.
LDS states that setting up and checking the Dolphin is too cumbersome. Kindof discouraged me from taking the course.
Now I don't know what to do??

 

[madmole]

Thats easy, ignore the local LDS!!, unless they dive the Dolphin themsleves they are as qualified to pass opinions as you are to give medical advice

Go find a store/place that uses and trains on the dolphin and get yourself a try dive organised, then you'll be in a much better position to judge

 

[saturated]

It may take a little more time to set up than OC but when everyone else on the boat is switching tanks and redoing their gear, you can kick your feet up and get a quite laugh in. If the majority of your time is spent mid level on a reef, then the dolphin will probably be a great add, bump to madmole, get a familiarization dive in.

 

[jepuskar]

Ofcourse rebreathers take a little more maintenance, prep, cleaning etc......look what you get to do with them.

You really need to evaluate what you want out of it and whether or not you can be thorough with all the pre/post dive setup.

To me, the dolphin doesnt look that bad to set up/tear down. Be very thorough though and dont get complacent....if you think you will..then DONT dive it.

I thing I always think about is the idea of forgettin to turn on your tank. In OC it will be immediately apparent...with your rebreather it will not and you could die.

 

[BigJetDriver]

jepuskar once bubbled...
You really need to evaluate what you want out of it and whether or not you can be thorough with all the pre/post dive setup.

To me, the dolphin doesn't look that bad to set up/tear down. Be very thorough though, and dont get complacent....if you think you will..then DON'T dive it.

The thing I always think about is the idea of forgetting to turn on your tank. In OC it will be immediately apparent...with your rebreather it will not and you could die.

These ideas presented by jepuskar are important and worth repeating.

The Dolphin IS a good, solid recreational diving SCR. You CANNOT, however, treat it just like OC diving. You must be conscientious in your pre-dive checks, and your post-dive clean-up!

If you follow your training, the above-mentioned procedures will become second-nature, and will be easy.

 

[jepuskar]

Thanks BJD69,

To be honest, I am very hesitant about the rebreather world. I am also very very excited. I have researched the dolphin and consider myself very educated in the theory portion of the unit. I have a very good grasp on how it works, but this means nothing until I can apply it.

I guess that is part of the fun of diving in general...the inherient risk involved..with rebreathers your taking that risk a step higher which is both positive and negative.

Either way, I will take the leap soon enough.

 

[caveseeker7]

... where are you, geographically?
No Aqualung/Dräger dealers around?
No instructors for the unit?

Go with the advice given above, find an instructor and do a tryout session.
Gets you a close look at the unit, how it works and how it needs to be prepped for diving. Best of all, you get to experience it.

If you ever seriously consider getting one, make sure you get a way to watch the PO2. Either the Oxygauge, Uwatec ZO2/Oxy2 combo, or both. On that kind of unit it's necessarry, even though neither Däger nor OMG install PO2 monitors as standard equipment.

 

[jepuskar]

To further add to my virtual dolphin price....I have already mentally figured in the cost of the Oxygauge and the Uwatec setup.

The oxygauge connects directly to the new breathing bag, but the Uwatec is inline with the breathing bag and hose....is this correct?

2 PO2 monitors...seems like an excellent idea.

 

[saturated]

What is your location? I know of a couple of very low use units for sale. Both due to health reasons. PM me if you want the info.

 

[BigJetDriver]

jepuskar once bubbled...
To be honest, I am very hesitant about the rebreather world. I am also very very excited. I have researched the dolphin and consider myself very educated in the theory portion of the unit. I have a very good grasp on how it works, but this means nothing until I can apply it.

That hesitancy has caused you to do the right thing and research the subject thoroughly.

Now you know that, depite some of the hoodoo that gets passed around about rebreathers, they are basically simple machines in terms of their design philosophy. Yet you already know that you cannot treat them like OC units and expect to survive the experience for long.

Caveseeker7 made an excellent point about getting a try-out run to see if it really is what you want. I would echo that, and suggest that you do just that if you can.

I feel sure that the others who have contributed to this post would agree that you are going to enjoy the continuing rebreather experience a lot! (Some old "geysers" on this list have been doing it for years and years!!!)(...and rebreather diving as well!!)