My first (and unpleasant) rebreather experience

[Cave Diver]

Okay, I'll bite. What makes a breather "recreational"? smaller?

Not intended for "technical" dives, including hard overhead or mixed gasses such as trimix, etc.

 

[battles2a5]

Okay, I'll bite. What makes a breather "recreational"? smaller?

There are lots of things that make it a recreational rebreather;

- short scrubber duration
- "automatic" operation, totally dependent on electronics
- electronics limit the operation of the breather- just ask the guy who passed out on the surface when he tried to dive it when it wasn't in "dive" mode
- non-intuitive warnings; it's either "dive" or "bail", does not provide info for the diver to make decisions on how to resolve the issue
- air dil only
- no off-board gas
- no redundant electronics
- unorthodox use of O2 sensors- it uses 2 whereas 3 is the generally accepted minimum to support voting logic and trouble shooting. The methodology behind this is ingenius and may make its way into the tech realm, but you are still taking tools away from the diver.
- plenty of other things

 

[TSandM]

I speak as shouldn't, not being a rebreather person, but I've gotten the impression that a "recreational" rebreather offers fewer options to the operator to change things. This Poseidon unit is designed to do almost everything for you, including going through the pre-dive checklist. It's also a small unit with a short duration scrubber.

 

[Cave Diver]

I speak as shouldn't, not being a rebreather person, but I've gotten the impression that a "recreational" rebreather offers fewer options to the operator to change things. This Poseidon unit is designed to do almost everything for you, including going through the pre-dive checklist. It's also a small unit with a short duration scrubber.

I should have just waited for Battles list too, I never really paid much attention to the recreational units.

 

[Jax]

Wow, this has attracted quite the crowd!

So is anyone going to answer D_B's question:

Seeing as this thread is likely to be viewed by people with less knowledge of rebreathers, with that in mind, what are some of the books on them would you recommend ?

 

[Cave Diver]

Seeing as this thread is likely to be viewed by people with less knowledge of rebreathers , with that in mind, what are some of the books on them would you recommend ?

Wow, this has attracted quite the crowd!

So is anyone going to answer D_B's question:

Not without having more information.

What are you hoping to glean from the books? A history of rebreathers? What sorts of accomplishments have been done on them? Detailed info on how they work? A manual that covers training and unit specific information?

 

[D_B]

Well, just more info on the types, components, configurations, and typical uses for each type ... I liked Jeffery Bozanic's book "Mastering Rebreathers", pretty indepth but not over my head (much )... it's dated 2002 and there may be newer works in a similar vein

 

[sunkmail]

Well, just more info on the types, components, configurations, and typical uses for each type ... I liked Jeffery Bozanic's book "Mastering Rebreathers", pretty indepth but not over my head (much )... it's dated 2002 and there may be newer works in a similar vein

Mel Clark's Rebreathers Simplified

Much newer, and lots of info - She knows her stuff

 

[D_B]

Thank you
... Mel Clark's Rebreathers Simplified ... Rebreathers Simplified by Dr. Mel Clark
and I see a 2nd, updated edition of Bozanic's Mastering Rebreathers is going to be available ... Best Publishing Company-Scuba Diving & Hyperbaric Medicine

 

[SFLDiver3445]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience Deefstes, especially on your tryout rebreather dive, and on the Poseidon, which really is designed for the recreational diver.

It really does sound like CO2 build up may have been the culprit.

I wouldn't let it detour you. Infact, I'd suggest you take some of the previous advice and take another shot at a future tryout dive. I would hate for you to walk away from rebreathers with a sour taste in you mouth about them, because it's just not the norm, especially not with a Poseidon, which is designed to do pretty much everything for you.

Yes, most rebreathers today are not for everyone, because for the most part, they do require more focussed attention to additional data and controls, which does increase the time commitment and risk. However, when a diver has a desire and/or a need to use a rebreather, is trained properly and develops good rebreather diving habits, the benifits can far exceed the inconvenience and risk.

I've been diving my unit now for approximately 2 1/2 years now, and have used it for 10ft dives off the beach, as well as 250ft+ dives on wrecks, and I wouldn't go back to open-circuit for anything.

Btw, with over 200 hours logged with the Optima, I have yet to have a CO2 issue, or any other issue that I wasn't adequately trained to COMFORTABLY deal with.

Good luck and thanks for sharing your experience with us!