Hollis Sport Rebreather - It has finally been released to the public!

[Douglas Ward]

It finally arrived.

I was waiting at VA Scuba when the truck pulled up.

Started training earlier this evening. Unpacking, assembly, Scrubber Packing (I'm TDI), and physiology.

Final inspection and pre-dives are tomorrow. Battery system needed to be charged!!

Came packed awesomely in a Grey Plastic tote.

I will be diving the BPW Harness configuration.

I will post updates on the Rig and how the TDI training goes as it progresses!!

Can't wait to get in the water tomorrow!!!

 

[Larry7895]

Looking forward to your update. Will still be waiting a while for mine.


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[Douglas Ward]

Training Update:

Pool: Wow! it was like starting all over again with Buoyancy control. It is different but by the second day it was getting better. Trim on the Explorer is different. The explorer definitely requires weight at the top of the rig to bring your head down.

Millbrook Quarry: Cold! Went on an hour long dive at varying depths to practice buoyancy control at changing depths. Still working on tuning trim.

Upcoming Dutch Springs to Finish training: Hoping to get things dialed in closer this weekend.

Operation and Assembly: Assembly is straight forward. Hollis didn't provide an assembly or dis-assembly checklist So I devised my own and my instructor and I reviewed it and made sure that everything is in the right order and all steps are accounted for. Packing the scrubber is straight forward.

Pre-Dive checklist is all automated on the handset so you can't skip anything accidentally. Very intuitive and easy to understand.

Work of Breathing: I don't have any other comparison on rebreathers, but it is comfortable to me. It is definitely a better breathing experience than OC. More natural feeling.

Harness BPW vs BCD: I chose to have the Harness BPW instead of the BCD from Hollis. The Harness supplied with the explorer is the Hollis Solo harness - one continuous strip of webbing. Very difficult to get fit correctly. No quick adjustments at surface or underwater. Luckily I have an existing BPW that I swapped out onto it that has quick cinch shoulders, chest buckle and crotch strap.

It is no fun to be trying to train on a new piece of equipment and have an ill fitting harness that requires getting on dry land to adjust.

Overall, I am very happy with the Explorer. I cant wait to get more dive time on it and get it all really dialed in and feel the Yoda Level calm and tranquility that my other rebreather buddies exhibit on a dive!!

 

[MalibuJerry]

I'm still puzzled about this rebreather. I have hundreds of rebreather dives on two different r/b's KISS and Inspo. But, I don't get the recreational rebreather. It is much more expensive than OC, it requires much more time pre and post dive, it requires more maintenance, and there is an increased workload during the dive. So why would one use CC for a recreational dive? What makes it worth the additional cost, time, and dive focus?

 

[Douglas Ward]

Jerry, It is most definitely a beginners rebreather. KISS and Inspo divers wont like these at all. The level of control you have on those units is given over to the computer on the Explorer.

As for the price. Yeah its expensive. But not as far off if you are buying high end OC equipment. As for running cost it is much less expensive. At my LDS I pay 15 cents a cuft for Nitrox. So a tank on the explorer costs me 6 dollars. Assume worst case scenario and tons of gas use, you will get 2 hours out of a full tank with back up still available. So gas is 3.00 per hour. a keg of sorb cost 135.00. each keg is 12 scrubber packs. So that's 11.25 a scrubber. Each scrubber is 2hrs. So per hour a scrubber is $5.63

Gas + Scrubber = $8.63 an hour to dive the Explorer

AL80 Nitrox rental/Fill = $15.00

In my case I use a tank per dive that usually goes a little under or over an hour.

Setup time is about ten minutes (non distracted, as all scuba setup should be).
Pre-Breathe is 5 minutes

DIVE

Tear down and steramine clean 15 minutes.

There is no additional workload on the explorer. You aren't constantly adjusting your setpoint, the computer calculates to give you the best set point for how deep you are and whether you have told it you would like to maximize either NDL or Gas usage. The ADV and LCV help you easily maintain your loop volume so that isn't a work load.

Plus the added no bubbles, quiet, closer wildlife interaction, warm breathing gas, more natural comfortable work of breathing.

 

[Matt S.]

When they say a scrubber lasts 2 hours, what does that mean in practice? Is it 2 hours of dive time, or do you only consume part of that capacity and leave a reserve as you do for gas?

If a scrubber lasts 2 hours of actual dive time, what happens when the scrubber has 30 minutes of time left on it, and you have a dive the next day? I assume you'd have to dump all the sorb and re-pack it. (Can you even keep a partially-used scrubber for your next dive? Obviously I'm not a rebreather diver, I don't know these things... but I am curious.)

Unless you are doing dives in neat 2 hour blocks it seems like you're likely to waste a lot of sorb, which would change the cost per hour.

 

[MichaelS.]

I forgot the limit but you can reuse a scrubber with a certain time left monitored by computer, but safety wise it is safer to just replace it and the tank each dive. And about two hour limit that is an est. with scrubber size diver CO2 production temp of scrubber and water temp all calculated by the computer.

 

[Douglas Ward]

If you did 2 1 hour dives in a day or a 2 hour block. Just for added conservancy I wouldn't ever leave a scrubber overnight. You could as long as is sealed in the loop. The computer keeps a timer on the scrubber. So its like most other planning you would do. If you plan on diving more than a single dive on a tank of nitrox you plan the two dives accordingly. I wouldnt think that you would dive to an undetermined depth or time and then expect to turn around after a SI and do it again.

---------- Post added August 15th, 2013 at 04:27 PM ----------

As for shorter dives and wasting resources driving the cost up, I don't know many people who breathe every last bit of nitrox out of an AL80 before getting it filled again. I'm lucky that my LDS does fills by the cuft, i know that isn't the norm. "you only used 1000 psi?" that's ok, its still 15.00 for a full tank!

 

[MichaelS.]

I just realized you tell us about your new toy but neglect to post pics of the opening and couch dive and all kinds of other pics so get to work man show use some porn!!!!!!!

 

[Knackas]

I just realized you tell us about your new toy but neglect to post pics of the opening and couch dive and all kinds of other pics so get to work man show use some porn!!!!!!!

What he said It's great to get a users experience with this set up, thanks Doug keep it up.