If you only want to go to 40-45m, then you don't need trimix in most cases. And for sure not a ccr. It is nice to get a trimix cert that you can dive trimix if you really want, but there in a real world you won't do trimix diving on such 'shallow' depths.
A ccr is a nice tool. I also have 2 of these babies in my house. I like them. I am also ccr instructor. But, there is a big big but, a lot of divers use a ccr a couple of years and then sell them again as it is way more work than oc diving.
I never use my ccr on shallow dives I can also do easy on oc. This means that if I am not teaching, 90% of my dives here is oc. Ok, I have over 1000 hours on ccr, so can switch easely, but I alsow ill explain why I choose for oc then.
Disadvantages to think about:
-When diving with friends, they dive oc. Most times are recreational divers. So my divetime is limited to a single tank they use. So there is no need to take my ccr. The lakes here are also soooo shallow that even nitrox is not needed (12m max most times).
-To dive a ccr, I need 20-30 minutes at home to prepare my unit (fill the sofnolime, check everything, etc etc). And I still need to grab the other things like a light, regulator for bo, bo cylinder, drysuit. So the preparation is way much longer.
-After a dive, others drive home, hang their suits to dry (fresh water, so no rinsing needed), and are ready. I have to clean my unit, desinfect, etc. This takes me another 20 minutes.
-If we are on a holiday and others dive oc, they are already having a beer while I am still cleaning my unit.
-If I go diving in Zeeland, salt water, I have to walk 1 time with a bailout and then 1 time with my ccr on my back for dives I also can do on a 7-10 liter single tank. Diving a single tank for these dives is better for you back as you have to climb stairs up and down to reach the water. Also if you bring your bo first to the water, it is laying there without any vision on it. So someone who want to grab it, can grab it.
-Getting fills. I can get air fills at 15km from my house. I have to drive 86km and make an appointment to fill oxygent. This means diving air is way much easier and cheaper. For trimix fills I have to drive further.
-Sofnolime is not free and not cheap anymore. After 3 hours you need to replace it officially. I can dive 24 hours out of a 20kg can, and I pay 130-140 buck for a can of 20kg. So calculate the time per hour by just using sofnolime. 1 air fill is here 4-5 euro.
-oxygen is not cheap anymore here. You pay now around 12-15 euro for a 3 liter fill. This will last several hours of diving, but you also use oxygen on that 8-10m dive, 30-40 bars per hour. Also calculate this
-Cells, around 280-300 euro for 3, you need to replace them every year. So not using your ccr means that you still have costs
-training. You need to do more courses and the courses are most times more expensive. And you need to practise. What I do by not using the ccr in the shallow lakes is not recommended if you are a beginner in ccr diving. CCR diving must be your main diving in the first years.
-It asks more attention. Are you a diver that can do that?
-Travelling with a ccr is harder than travelling and diving oc.
-YOu still need cylinders for bo.
-The promised shorter decotimes are not giving you that big difference. Do some plans oc and ccr. Oc with the right gases of course (so deco on ean, or ean32 at 30m).
But, there are also a lot of advantages:
-silent
-If you cannot fill somewhere, you can dive long times with just some 3 liter tanks. For a week cavediving with no fillinglogistics, a ccr is a must. Oc is impossible
-you go easier deep or longer. Trimix is still expensive, but there is a big diffence between a 3 liter fill and a 24 liter fill.
-bailouts can last for years if you are lucky. I have bailouts here that are there for already 10 years. So the cylinders are out of test now, but the fills are still there. When you are unlucky, you have to use them of course. I have done 1 real bailout due to a co2 hit in the 11 years of ccr diving, so this means the unit itself is trustable.
-less weight then a twinset
-For photography, you can get closer to some animals. I have made a picture of mating tench with my sidemount ccr in only 2m deep water which would never be happen when diving bubbles.
So I use my ccr a couple of times a month while minediving. But I don't use it on the shallow dives in the lakes here.
If I was only diving 40m depth, I would never switched to ccr. But I also do dives over 100m sometimes and long cavedives, and then there is a benefit of using a ccr.
The price of 8000 is not necessairy, you can find used units which are good for 3500.
Before I bought a ccr I did 4 100+m dives a year and I calculated a breakeven point of 8 years if I calculated my investment of the ccr (second hand 4000 euro) if it would never broke and the heliumprices stayed the same and 4 100+m dives a year. My ccr had some problems with buttons, so I had repaircosts, and I did not calculate the prices of extra courses (MOD1 and MOD3, I could skip MOD2 as I already was an oc trimix diver). If I took these costs into the calculation, there would never be a break-even point. But since I dive a ccr, my diving has been changed. It is easier to go deep now. I always have cylinders with 6/72 at home, so I always have trimix available for dives between 50 and 150m if I want to go. I also have bailouts, so don't need to fill before going to a divesite.
Yes I am an ccr instructor and yes I like a ccr. But I am also the person that not only want to tell the haleluja about ccr's, but also the disadvantages. But don't buy it because of the 'cheaper diving'. There is no cheap technical diving. Buy a ccr as a usefull tool.
A ccr is a nice tool. I also have 2 of these babies in my house. I like them. I am also ccr instructor. But, there is a big big but, a lot of divers use a ccr a couple of years and then sell them again as it is way more work than oc diving.
I never use my ccr on shallow dives I can also do easy on oc. This means that if I am not teaching, 90% of my dives here is oc. Ok, I have over 1000 hours on ccr, so can switch easely, but I alsow ill explain why I choose for oc then.
Disadvantages to think about:
-When diving with friends, they dive oc. Most times are recreational divers. So my divetime is limited to a single tank they use. So there is no need to take my ccr. The lakes here are also soooo shallow that even nitrox is not needed (12m max most times).
-To dive a ccr, I need 20-30 minutes at home to prepare my unit (fill the sofnolime, check everything, etc etc). And I still need to grab the other things like a light, regulator for bo, bo cylinder, drysuit. So the preparation is way much longer.
-After a dive, others drive home, hang their suits to dry (fresh water, so no rinsing needed), and are ready. I have to clean my unit, desinfect, etc. This takes me another 20 minutes.
-If we are on a holiday and others dive oc, they are already having a beer while I am still cleaning my unit.
-If I go diving in Zeeland, salt water, I have to walk 1 time with a bailout and then 1 time with my ccr on my back for dives I also can do on a 7-10 liter single tank. Diving a single tank for these dives is better for you back as you have to climb stairs up and down to reach the water. Also if you bring your bo first to the water, it is laying there without any vision on it. So someone who want to grab it, can grab it.
-Getting fills. I can get air fills at 15km from my house. I have to drive 86km and make an appointment to fill oxygent. This means diving air is way much easier and cheaper. For trimix fills I have to drive further.
-Sofnolime is not free and not cheap anymore. After 3 hours you need to replace it officially. I can dive 24 hours out of a 20kg can, and I pay 130-140 buck for a can of 20kg. So calculate the time per hour by just using sofnolime. 1 air fill is here 4-5 euro.
-oxygen is not cheap anymore here. You pay now around 12-15 euro for a 3 liter fill. This will last several hours of diving, but you also use oxygen on that 8-10m dive, 30-40 bars per hour. Also calculate this
-Cells, around 280-300 euro for 3, you need to replace them every year. So not using your ccr means that you still have costs
-training. You need to do more courses and the courses are most times more expensive. And you need to practise. What I do by not using the ccr in the shallow lakes is not recommended if you are a beginner in ccr diving. CCR diving must be your main diving in the first years.
-It asks more attention. Are you a diver that can do that?
-Travelling with a ccr is harder than travelling and diving oc.
-YOu still need cylinders for bo.
-The promised shorter decotimes are not giving you that big difference. Do some plans oc and ccr. Oc with the right gases of course (so deco on ean, or ean32 at 30m).
But, there are also a lot of advantages:
-silent
-If you cannot fill somewhere, you can dive long times with just some 3 liter tanks. For a week cavediving with no fillinglogistics, a ccr is a must. Oc is impossible
-you go easier deep or longer. Trimix is still expensive, but there is a big diffence between a 3 liter fill and a 24 liter fill.
-bailouts can last for years if you are lucky. I have bailouts here that are there for already 10 years. So the cylinders are out of test now, but the fills are still there. When you are unlucky, you have to use them of course. I have done 1 real bailout due to a co2 hit in the 11 years of ccr diving, so this means the unit itself is trustable.
-less weight then a twinset
-For photography, you can get closer to some animals. I have made a picture of mating tench with my sidemount ccr in only 2m deep water which would never be happen when diving bubbles.
So I use my ccr a couple of times a month while minediving. But I don't use it on the shallow dives in the lakes here.
If I was only diving 40m depth, I would never switched to ccr. But I also do dives over 100m sometimes and long cavedives, and then there is a benefit of using a ccr.
The price of 8000 is not necessairy, you can find used units which are good for 3500.
Before I bought a ccr I did 4 100+m dives a year and I calculated a breakeven point of 8 years if I calculated my investment of the ccr (second hand 4000 euro) if it would never broke and the heliumprices stayed the same and 4 100+m dives a year. My ccr had some problems with buttons, so I had repaircosts, and I did not calculate the prices of extra courses (MOD1 and MOD3, I could skip MOD2 as I already was an oc trimix diver). If I took these costs into the calculation, there would never be a break-even point. But since I dive a ccr, my diving has been changed. It is easier to go deep now. I always have cylinders with 6/72 at home, so I always have trimix available for dives between 50 and 150m if I want to go. I also have bailouts, so don't need to fill before going to a divesite.
Yes I am an ccr instructor and yes I like a ccr. But I am also the person that not only want to tell the haleluja about ccr's, but also the disadvantages. But don't buy it because of the 'cheaper diving'. There is no cheap technical diving. Buy a ccr as a usefull tool.
