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I keep reading needing more equipment to solve a skills problem. Why the change of heart when it comes to this circumstance?
I don't get that we're looking for an equipment solution. I think tbone was just giving his opinion on something that could be beneficial. Unfortunately it's truly something that's unnecessary if you're doing a good job of being mentally aware of you rebreather, but it seems alot of divers become complacent and distracted and fail to follow the basics.
I think thus far the assumptions most are making is this was caused by a distracted diver, who many feel was diving above his skill level.
Correct, there are equipment solutions to skills problems in terms of unnecessary gear, and there is just unnecessary gear. Having 3 ppO2 monitor systems on there is excessive and stupid *yes one of my rebreathers has 3 of them, no I'm not happy about it, but whatever, the old Meg's were weird*, having an analog SP. Having a HUD makes diving a rebreather easier if the HUD is designed properly. On the 2-LED hud on my Meg, you can fly the thing at 1.1 with very little conscious effort. As soon as you see the red LED go off, then you tap the O2 mav, if you see them all start double blinking then you need to breathe it down and if you see them going crazy you dil flush. That is an eCCR that I run manually in parachute mode so the solenoid is there to "catch" me if I am not paying attention for some reason or can't see it because it's super bright out. eCCR's when functioning properly do not require active participation from the diver to maintain consciousness, and this is why QD's and shutoffs to the solenoid are seriously frowned upon.
With an mCCR that CAN NOT sustain consciousness on its own and ALWAYS requires ACTIVE participation from the diver, you need some sort of parachute to catch you. I personally don't think a HUD is good enough and that is where having haptic alarms from my handset gives me a lot of warm fuzzies. You seriously can't ignore this thing, it is both obnoxiously loud and you can feel it through 7mm wetsuits *drysuits are easier to feel haptics though, 7mm not so much*. It has the safe effect as hitting the rumble strips on a highway when you are focused on something else.
I do not believe having a parachute to catch you is an equipment solution to a skills problem...