RedSeaDiver2
Contributor
I'm Tassie-based and am in the process of moving on from my first rebreather to selecting a new one now - like you not for caves.
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One thing to remember when saying that you want a rebreather that is travel friendly - going to and from the U.S. means that you are on the piece system baggage allowance - which means that you have a very generous baggage allowance anyway, and if you have frequent flyer status with an airline then you will have an even bigger baggage allowance still
I haven't set my mind on a particular rebreather just yet - but the choices are narrowing rapidly due some rebreather manufacturers being unable to even answer questions about where to get their rebreather serviced. A chestmount is definitely not something that I am considering though.Well... All's is depending on which rebreather you've set your mind upon. See how it's possible to travel with a Triton as a carry on luggage. Wouldn't be surprise if other chestmount units allowed you this possibility.
Glad your checking serviceability as this is one aspect that can be a real eye opener..I haven't set my mind on a particular rebreather just yet - but the choices are narrowing rapidly due some rebreather manufacturers being unable to even answer questions about where to get their rebreather serviced. A chestmount is definitely not something that I am considering though.
Well I'm trying to anyway - would be helpful if manufacturers would at least reply to my question about it!Glad your checking serviceability as this is one aspect that can be a real eye opener..
I haven't set my mind on a particular rebreather just yet - but the choices are narrowing rapidly due some rebreather manufacturers being unable to even answer questions about where to get their rebreather serviced. A chestmount is definitely not something that I am considering though.
Yeah the allowance is very nice for those international flights and I am a frequent flyer through delta (1 return flight halfway around the world does that lol). Domestic flight baggage limits are not very good in Australia in my experience. The triton is a bit interesting as a carryon option, so is the chop, but Idk where servicing is possible for either in Australia (triton has a place in Bali i believe). Backmount is the standard in marine science though I would imagine, however just having any rebreather experience would still look good on an application so I'm not sure just yet on style.One thing to remember when saying that you want a rebreather that is travel friendly - going to and from the U.S. means that you are on the piece system baggage allowance - which means that you have a very generous baggage allowance anyway, and if you have frequent flyer status with an airline then you will have an even bigger baggage allowance still
If you are planning on doing research in CCR, your personal choice may not matter all that much. What are the institutions that are doing the type of work you want to do using?
Almost all of my ccr diving is for research. I own an SF2, but it hasn't even been wet for probably 5 years. All my current diving is on a prism2 because that is what has been widely adopted amongst my peers (mostly due to California Academy of Sciences choosing the P2 10 years ago, and the current Cal Academy DSO being the primary trainer of everyone else). P2 dives fine, I hate building it though, and would never have chosen that unit for myself.
Service is also a primary consideration, as was mentioned upthread. Another reason I stopped diving my SF2: it requires annual service and the last time I sent it in it took six months... that's clearly not viable. For institutional diving the normal recreational approach of "it's diving and performing fine, not going to service it" isn't an option. Everything has to be maintained to mfg recommendations. Didn't dive your unit for a year? Still needs to be serviced.
So my main considerations for a new unit at this point are:
eccr
shearwater controlled (not interested in proprietary controllers)
ability to get trained to service in-house
Unit's institutions in the US are diving that I know of:
X-ccr (feds mostly National Park Service and NOAA just adopted them)
Prism 2 (just about all aquariums)
Optima
A few on JJs and Megs and Inspirations are pretty much phasing out.