GUE CCR-F vs tech 1

[kensuf]

There are still some places where you can get helium and oxygen supply cylinders to do partial pressure cascade trimix fills but they lack a booster pump to top off tanks. So in those cases you have to drain your tanks after every dive in order to get the correct helium and oxygen pressures before topping off with air from a regular scuba compressor. Boosters are fairly widespread now but this still comes up occasionally in remote areas.

A booster is a lot cheaper than a rebreather.

 

[rjack321]

A booster is a lot cheaper than a rebreather.

An OC sized booster might be but have you priced an LP compressor to drive it lately? Ouch

 

[drummerc]

Also, gas switch isn't a really difficult skill. It's a drill that needs to be done right, but it's gross motor movement done whilst trimmed and buoyant where you want to be in the water column. It's done on a Rec pass at Rec3 (separate conversation on the value of that course). Teaching deco theory appropriate for rebreathers and a few failures that are relevant in conjunction with the stage usage makes more sense to me as it's done on a properly solid ccr base, and all integrated together. It also prevents the need for re-teach on sloppy skills, and people trying to rush it because they know it already.
It's more about human management rather than anything else really.

Curious your thoughts on the value of the Rec 3 course. Happy to dm if not to sidetrack the thread. I have fundies rec pass and could go back and upgrade to tech pass and do rec3 at the same time. Have been contemplating if I want to get into ccr and/or oc tech diving or not and thought trimix rec diving was interesting as a light tec 1 experience.

 

[suricatasuricata]

Curious your thoughts on the value of the Rec 3 course. Happy to dm if not to sidetrack the thread. I have fundies rec pass and could go back and upgrade to tech pass and do rec3 at the same time. Have been contemplating if I want to get into ccr and/or oc tech diving or not and thought trimix rec diving was interesting as a light tec 1 experience.

Not them. I think Rec 3 is a bad idea for most people. Over all, my feelings about the class over the course of a year have gone from this is stupid to a sort of grudging acceptance that perhaps the people who strongly recommended taking it had skill issues.


In other words, someone who has strong fundamentals, decent midwater capacity will learn very little from the class. Post class if you wish to do any real Rec 3 dives, you will find that 15 minutes of deco doesn't give you very much to work with. And there is an open question as to who will be willing to spend trimix to dive with you on an R3 dive. Reflecting back now as someone who has T1, I would probably not spend trimix doing a small dive when I could do a 30 minute deco dive on 21/35 for a little bi tmore.

Now having said this, I did my T1 a couple of months after my Rec 3 and will admit that the act of doing actual dives post Rec 3 was very useful in terms of priming me to ask more intelligent questions during T1.

I am pretty uniformly negative on the new CCR curriculum. Mainly because I see people who haven't really done complex dives (say even at the level of C1 or T1) rush towards a CCR. How do you even know tech diving is for you without sampling Tech diving? From that perspective, if the choice is between R3 and a few light trimix dives and no tech dives to CCR. Perhaps, I'd say that Rec 3 has a place.

 

[Matan]

I mean, if you drain your tanks after every dive then yea that would be expensive.

But that’s dumb.

I didn't (now I have a JJ).
I also own my own He bank (50L).
I also have a booster + compressor available.

The He is just too dammmmm expensive here + this isn't the US - no constant supply. These issues are minor when using a rebreather.

Rebreathers IMHO don't save money -They make logistics easier (less time spent on fills) - doing checklists is easier than blending. I keep a 3L 300BAR O2 cylinder - with GUE CCR D7 I only fill my suit tank with air after 2-3 dives and top my O2 every 4-5dives. that's so much easier and I like it.

What I don't like? honestly I just don't feel that comfortable in CCR the way I did on OC (which is much easier) - hence my recommendation to start earlier on CCR (again - my personal opinion).


Matan.