Important features when choosing a rebreather

[tbone1004]

The fact that I could only get the regular needle valve on the sw as opposed to the actually really good one annoyed me. Even getting their regular needle valve was going to be a pain. Since I was already used to a needle valve, Edd was going to get me one if I had bought the unit. At the time he didn't sell them to everyone I believe because there weren't a ton of them available. That may have changed since

not Edd, KISS.

 

[broncobowsher]

As a convert to CCR for one year, I'd definitely tell my previous self that your first year's all about getting used to life with CCR. It's a ton of subtle things you need to be able to deal with, from learning all the different ways it will kill you, to sorting out your core skills, the endless ascent challenges (probably the busiest time on a CCR), and thinking in advance.

A year in and 100 hours and MOD2 under my keel and I know there's much more to finesse. Even though I feel very comfortable with the unit I know that complacency is the enemy. That shortcut or known problem that comes back to bite.

One thing which is extremely different from OC diving is you'll end up banking gas. Twinsets of oxygen, air and deep diluent are in the garage. Seems that mixing gas is all part of the build process, especially for deeper dives.


Choose something common, standard and where you have people around you using it. Look at the boxes on your dive boats: JJs, Inspos, Megs, Revos and the less common ones: Kiss, X-boxes, etc. Have *never* seen a sidemount rebreather.

It is almost as if I wrote that. I'm a couple years in on mine now, not that last year really counted. I'm back up to something between a fair and a good diver. Not crashing the bottom (too often). But still no model diver of what perfect looks like. Making dives that are not just working on buoyancy control. That first year (admittidly I don't live next to the water so I don't get out as often as many others do) was just a learning curve. But things really started to shine once I was through that and into MOD2 (200 foot, trimix, deco).

 

[rddvet]

not Edd, KISS.

Yep, it wasn't Edd's fault. It's KISS' bs

 

[Ulfhedinn]

side note... I have been following Becky Schott for years. She seems to be in the Meg house. I noticed that Meg added a Tiburon option. Anyone dive this? Im still heading in this direction.. just a few years out.. Need more $$

 

[missionmtb]

side note... I have been following Becky Schott for years. She seems to be in the Meg house. I noticed that Meg added a Tiburon option. Anyone dive this? Im still heading in this direction.. just a few years out.. Need more $$

I dive a Tiburon, it's great. Of all the awesome modern BM units out there (Revo, JJ, KISS, Liberty, XCCR, O2ptima etc.), the decision came down to 1. can I get parts and service easily? and 2. what do people around me dive?

Also, every unit will have its tradeoffs, but with good training any of those can be made non-issues. For example the minnow counterlungs are short and kidney-shaped, making them really comfy but leaving no room for a dedicated DIL MAV. Therefore this becomes part of your training on how to reliably use your ADV as DIL MAV and otherwise repurpose your O2 MAV in scenarios where you need offboard. This is mostly a configuration choice issue, ISC sells CLs with dedicated DIL MAV if this bothers you.

Another example of this is that doing an O2? flush on BM counterlungs (on a JJ for example). In your training you'll learn that you need a head-low body position so you can use the dump valve as exhaust. Not a big deal, but something your training will help with so it's no stress when you have to do it. Also just a config. choice since you can do OTS CLs with OPV for most BM units.

Do yourself a favor and spend the money on good training with someone you jive with. This will turn a good unit into a great unit for you

 

[Wibble]

Do yourself a favor and spend the money on good training with someone you jive with. This will turn a good unit into a great unit for you

Yes. Twice yes. It doesn't stop with the course either. A day's coaching will go a long way to make things much better.

 

[sprockjohnson]

you need to turn it down if you are not using either a blocked first stage, or the dual CMF. The blocked first stage like the Fathom uses gives you a constant IP, and the dual CMF like the KISS uses essentially gives you the same effect *CMF, Needle, CMF*.
The KISS variant as linked by @grantctobin is not available for sale to the general public.

Why two CMF valves?

 

[tbone1004]

Why two CMF valves?

one isn't enough to really stabilize the flow rates so you still have to mess with it with depth changes. The second one stabilizes it to where the IP shift from surface to depth is not really relevant.

 

[_Ralph]

I’m a little late to the convo.... but here it goes.

I dive a sidemount CCR. It is my first rebreather (I am certified on a few very different units and have tried many more).

For most of my diving, it is great.... my typical dive is far, not necessarily deep. My bailout requirements are minimal on these dives.

When I do deeper dives, this is not the greatest unit and a backmount CCR would be best, as it takes up a deco cylinders spot on your side.

If I lived closer to easy access to depth (and not have to use a DPV to get to depth), I would not have considered my sidemount unit at all.

Depending on how the world relaunches post Covid, I’m hoping to add a second unit (backmount) to the stable for the deeper dives where the bailout requirement doesn’t suit the sidemount unit.

Having said that, I really like my sidemount unit and it’s fun to dive and simple.


_R

 

[Wibble]

I’m a little late to the convo.... but here it goes.

I dive a sidemount CCR. It is my first rebreather (I am certified on a few very different units and have tried many more).

For most of my diving, it is great.... my typical dive is far, not necessarily deep. My bailout requirements are minimal on these dives.

When I do deeper dives, this is not the greatest unit and a backmount CCR would be best, as it takes up a deco cylinders spot on your side.

If I lived closer to easy access to depth (and not have to use a DPV to get to depth), I would not have considered my sidemount unit at all.

Depending on how the world relaunches post Covid, I’m hoping to add a second unit (backmount) to the stable for the deeper dives where the bailout requirement doesn’t suit the sidemount unit.

Having said that, I really like my sidemount unit and it’s fun to dive and simple.

Should you move into deeper / longer / more challenging diving, would you consider your sidemount rebreather to be the basis of a bailout rebreather? Thus removing the need for lots of additional bailout cylinders?