Filmmaker Rob Stewart dies off Alligator Reef

[Erich S]

I have the same thought. At one time, when I was floating on the surface at the end of a dive, while waiting for zodiac to pick me up, I tried to stay still & found my body tended to roll over to the front & ended up my face down in the water. I thought to myself, that's not good if I passed out while floating. So, I put trim weights on the back of the BCD & lower my tank position relative to my head. It worked great. I can float stand still with my chest & face above water like when someone on life jacket. I think everyone needs to do this at the end of a checkout dive.

The old horse collar BCs kept ones head above water and maybe not so much with the new designs?

 

[St John the Diver]

The old horse collar BCs kept ones head above water and maybe not so much with the new designs?

On a rebreather on the surface the counterlungs are a large fraction of your buoyancy. If you take the DSV out of your mouth without closing it or if you pass out you instantly lose about 7 litres of gas and lose buoyancy. A RB diver passing out on the surface is very vulnerable to this.

Drowning is almost certain.

Sotis passed out on the boat after the third deep dive with minimal surface intervals.

What do you think happened to his buddy?

 

[Wookie]

Not even close we only got about 1/3rd into that thread before it was pulled.
There was a lot more background to the story. I guess It was OK to discuss on forum the end of the chain of supply namely the dive shop chap in Florida, but his supplier and a link between a rebreather manufacturer ......off limits.

I dare say this thread will go the same way if you process too many questions.
First if you follow the certification process timeline and enquire if said diver was indeed certified or was he diving while in training. You know some will say he was but I would just ask if there is a copy of the certification paperwork relating to being certified prior to the dive in the deceased possessions.

Not for the first time a training dive under supervision has been switched to a "jolly" with mates recreational dive at the point of death and like a few deaths in the UK the money trail turns out to be "cash" and the dive is always retrospectivly classed as a jolly Go figure. .

Question two is always with the equipment itself, did it belong to the deceased, does he have a bill of sale, was it as per manufacturers specification or modified, or was it borrowed from a mate, if so was the instructor, certificate supplier, rebreather supplier, and dive buddy all one of the same. Dive mate also the instructor yeah sure.
Its not we dont know it's that we are not told for example the make and model of the rebreather. However if the links fit that there is reason enough to ask.

If you would, would you explain what the CE stamp means for a rebreather certified in the EU? I think I know that when a rebreather is submitted for CE certification, it is submitted as a unit, and that any modifications to the unit render it no longer CE certified. So if the rebreather in question were CE certified with (for example) Faber 3 liter cylinders and a manufacturers BOV and had some non-standard cylinder and a (for instance) aftermarket BOV, what would the ramifications be? Would that make the person who modified the rebreather a manufacturer in their own right, and now the liability passes on to them? What if the cells weren't the cells specified by the manufacturer?

 

[KenGordon]

If you would, would you explain what the CE stamp means for a rebreather certified in the EU? I think I know that when a rebreather is submitted for CE certification, it is submitted as a unit, and that any modifications to the unit render it no longer CE certified. So if the rebreather in question were CE certified with (for example) Faber 3 liter cylinders and a manufacturers BOV and had some non-standard cylinder and a (for instance) aftermarket BOV, what would the ramifications be? Would that make the person who modified the rebreather a manufacturer in their own right, and now the liability passes on to them? What if the cells weren't the cells specified by the manufacturer?

In the EU it has be CE marked to be offered for sale. It has to conform to the appropriate standard to do that. That is usually established by a testing house. If it is messed with but not offered for sale that is ok. If used for paid for training or work in the U.K. it ought to be CE.

In your example, you could not sell the unit or do paid work with the unit. The whole 'while at work' thing is pretty serious here. It s not so much about liability as committing a crime and ending up in jail. I do not know of a case involving rebreather but, for example, scallop divers being killed have led to successful prosecutions.

 

[Wookie]

In the EU it has be CE marked to be offered for sale. It has to conform to the appropriate standard to do that. That is usually established by a testing house. If it is messed with but not offered for sale that is ok. If used for paid for training or work in the U.K. it ought to be CE.

In your example, you could not sell the unit or do paid work with the unit. The whole 'while at work' thing is pretty serious here. It s not so much about liability as committing a crime and ending up in jail. I do not know of a case involving rebreather but, for example, scallop divers being killed have led to successful prosecutions.

Thanks. Obviously, that has no bearing here, as we are not in the EU.

 

[Dan]

The old horse collar BCs kept ones head above water and maybe not so much with the new designs?

I can only speak for my BCD (Cressi TraveLight). If I put AL80 tank too high, where the 1st stage regular may hit the back of my head when I backroll into the water from a zodiac, combined with 1) empty tank (with 500psig air remaining in the tank), 2) the BCD fully inflated without trim weight on the back of my shoulder, I'll end up with forcing myself to fin continuously in order to keep myself vertical at the surface at the end of the dive, while waiting for the zodiac to pick me up.

My guess also that there is not enough air pocket in the chest area of the BCD to keep me floating still (motionless, without counter finning) with face up. The setup would force me to face down if I don't counter it with finning constantly. Luckily by lowering the tank position & adding the trim weights up behind the shoulder fix this bad situation.

I think everyone should be aware of this situation, setup your own gear & test it in the water before plunging into the deep. I mark the tank vertical location relative to the tank straps with Sharpie. My BCD (fortunately) comes with 2 tank straps. I put the upper strap very close to the hemispherical line (the end of the cylindrical section of the tank, where the dome head starts).

It is also good for me to keep the tank at lower elevation, relative to the back of my head to keep my head from bumping on to the 1st stage regulator during entry to the water.

How's back plate with wings setup done to keep a pass out diver facing up on the surface, I wonder?

 

[cerich]

Add Helium - With profound grief, we confirm the recovery... | Facebook

 

[CuzzA]

A prudent diver would not make 3 dives to that depth in a single day. A very experienced diver might risk it, assuming that they understand the risks and potential outcomes. I submit that Rob was a filmmaker first, and a diver second, and that has a lot to do with the outcome. As a charter operator who has supported a tremendous number of "people who dive to do their job", as well as people whose job is to dive, the differences and priorities are tremendous.

I agree; however, I do know commercial guys doing repetitive dives to these depths on Trimix open circuit, but their bottom times are very short. 4-5 minutes. They aren't shooting video though.

I'm not a CC diver, but have dove with a few CC divers, done a fair amount of research, participated in breaking down a unit before and watched a lot of the DAN videos on the subject, mostly Mr. Simon Mitchell's presentations. One of the things that has stuck with me from his presentations is regarding the extraordinarily high number of deaths with rebreather divers compared to OC. At the end of the day, a fallible human really needs to think about what he's doing and why he's doing it. The technology easily allows divers to push limits and put themselves in places and situations they normally wouldn't find themselves in OC. And taking high risks without thinking about self preservation.

Case and point. Too much too fast and relatively inexpensive repetitive deep Trimix dives which would normally be cost prohibitive on OC allowed Rob to probably push the limits.

A good watch for those who haven't seen this one before.

 

[St John the Diver]

I can only speak for my BCD (Cressi TraveLight). If I put AL80 tank too high, where the 1st stage regular may hit the back of my head when I backroll into the water from a zodiac, combined with 1) empty tank (with 500psig air remaining in the tank), 2) the BCD fully inflated without trim weight on the back of my shoulder, I'll end up with forcing myself to fin continuously in order to keep myself vertical at the surface at the end of the dive, while waiting for the zodiac to pick me up.

My guess also that there is not enough air pocket in the chest area of the BCD to keep me floating still (motionless, without counter finning) with face up. The setup would force me to face down if I don't counter it with finning constantly. Luckily by lowering the tank position & adding the trim weights up behind the shoulder fix this bad situation.

I think everyone should be aware of this situation, setup your own gear & test it in the water before plunging into the deep. I mark the tank vertical location relative to the tank straps with Sharpie. My BCD (fortunately) comes with 2 tank straps. I put the upper strap very close to the hemispherical line (the end of the cylindrical section of the tank, where the dome head starts).

It is also good for me to keep the tank at lower elevation, relative to the back of my head to keep my head from bumping on to the 1st stage regulator during entry to the water.

How's back plate with wings setup done to keep a pass out diver facing up on the surface, I wonder?

This has zero applicability to the mooted event.

See "loss of buoyancy from dropping out the mouthpiece on a rebreather" above. ^^^

 

[wedivebc]

I'm just a recreational diver.
Why does that article make it seem like Rob was "new to rebreathers" when he is seen using one in Sharkwater?
Are they referring to the Trimix usage? or even, to that specific type of rebreather?

I was looking forward to his film =(

The Sharkwater documentary shows Rob diving a Draeger Dolphin semi closed rebreather. This is an entirely different animal than a Fully closed circuit rebreather which requires significantly more training to operate safely. The statement that he was new to rebreathers holds true if the rEvo was his first CCR