Plenty of good points.
To paraphrase what I wrote in
Issue 6 of the Underwater Journal, it was only a decade ago, divers looking for closed circuit technology where left few options.
Most existing systems were sold almost exclusively to the military and commercial diving corporations.
Sports divers wanting such systems had to acquire an ex-military Mk 15 or 16, go directly to Cis Lunar or Biomarine and lay down between $15,000 to $20,000, attend a rigorous training course, and purchase either a Cis Lunar Mk V or Biomarine Mk 15.5.
It wasnt till 1997 that the worlds first production closed circuit rebreather finially entered the scene. The Inspiration from Ambient Pressure Diving was that it was the first production grade, completely closed, electronic rebreather intended largely for the civilian market. In the short number years that followed the Inspiration has been joined by the Megladon, Prism, KISS, Ouroboros,
well you get the picture.
Today, it is estimated that there are well over 12,000 CCRs in civilian use around the world. Some are homemade, but the majority are engineered and manufactured by legitimate rebreather providers.
To drive the point further that rebreathers are not only here to still, but growing rapidly in popularity for some of the same reasons diving with Nitrox did in the beginning to get more out of your dives, was the evident by the number of systems on display at the 2007 DEMA show.
With so many rebreathers now on the market, and still more to come, there is no disputing the impact these devices will have on the sport in years to come. Which raises the question of whether or not rebreathers will be well suited to the recreational diving community. And while some answer with an enthusiastic yes, others will raise the red flag, referring to rebreathers as the dark side.
Dark side of diving or not, the technology going into rebreather design, manufacturing and training could very soon make it feasible for
anyone getting in or already a certified diver to go that route with no more difficulty than going open circuit at its present level.
Just look what the digital revolution did to photography. It wasnt even ten years ago that digital will never replace film was the belief. Whats a film camera worth these days?
Walt Stearns
Editor-in-Chief
wstearns@uwjournal.com
Underwaterjournal