reefrat
Contributor
I am a long time OC diver with about 1000 (genuine # - not internet BS) dives over the years and a casual interest in Rebreather diving for the last 10 years. I have try dived, sometimes several dives each, several units from KISS, Innerspace, APD and Halcyon: in the end I chose a Hollis Explorer because it gave me 90% of what I wanted in dive profiles and logistically made sense in the remote location I live in where O2 was not easy to come by. I was NOT looking for a easy or cheap option.
They say that choice of trainer is probably the most important aspect of getting into Rebreathers and that is why I chose Add Helium, they have been the internet proclaimed leaders in Rebreather education! The cost of training with Add Helium was about 30% more than any other agency- but no matter, I wanted the best!
After a significant investment in terms of the unit, airfares, accommodation, rental cars etc etc I finally started the course in November 2016 and I was grinning from ear to ear.
The first subtle red flags that popped up in the classroom were the constant patting themselves on the back as the self proclaimed gurus of the Rebreather world. The next was the wealth of pseudo cutting edge technical knowledge that was being imparted that was contrary to general opinion regarding decompression theory and oxygen toxicity- all very interesting but not entirely relevant and not central to my course. Once again there was a lot of back patting and assurance that Add Helium and in particular Peter Sotis was an authority above and beyond the realms of the general rebreather and diving community!
Then I was told that I would not be getting a certification from a generally recognized agency- it would be an "Oncourse" certification, Add Helium's own brand and of course better than the rest! In all there was more fluff stuffed into the course than a prom night bra and very little about the actual practicalities of diving a rebreather.
My instructor was a great, nice guy, honestly he really was- but a Hollis Explorer instructor? I now believe that his only instructor rating for this unit was an instruction from the boss to do it- certainly he is not listed on any instructor site, but why should he be, this is an ONCOURSE course!
For the in-water training there was a huge emphasis placed on using absolute minimal loop volume and also minimal weighting- the two of which were closely related- I was told. Regular venting via the nose or loose lips was intended to maintain minimal loop volume and descents were to be done by continuously evacuating the loop to avoid positive bouyancy until the target depth was achieved.
It was miserable and deeply disturbing. Every dive commenced with a furious struggle to submerge during which the wing was emptied and then I turned face down and kicked hard downward while continuously exhaling through my nose and sucking hard against the impotent ADV which could not hope to keep up with the increasing depth or workload. The end result was always a minute or so of not one single breath until I hit 60 feet and then struggled to fill the loop. By now I was stressed and breathless with, I am sure, a CO2 retention that would be hard to get rid of. Especially hard to get rid of because from here on I had to continuously vent the loop to maintain a minimum loop volume and the WOB was frankly appalling throughout the entire dive. After every dive I sat on the boat breathing heavily for 20 minutes to recover.
Dive 6 I was ascending carefully and then started to feel my buoyancy become positive, everything was squeezed out of the wing and the loop was completely evacuated but nothing, not even kicking face down could prevent an uncontrolled ascent to the surface. I was beat! Miserable and beat!
On the boat I told the instructor that I was done, I would not complete the course and sell the unit at a great loss.
Back at Add Helium I had to confront the boss, I told Peter Sotis the WOB had been really bad and there was no actual discussion or analysis of what I had been doing just an arrogant comment that "well it's not for everybody"!
I had done my money, I was going home absolutely defeated and yes, ashamed, all those people that happily dive Explorers can do this but not me- WTF!
After returning to Grand Turk I started re-thinking the whole course, something was definitely not right and I called a PADI Explorer Instructor Trainer to ask about my experiences- she was adamant, I had been trained badly and there was no way the unit could function correctly or WOB could be OK using the techniques I was instructed.
I then called Add Helium to see about re-training and one of the other trainers offered to review my course but in the end the lack of communication and unwillingness to actually set a training date led me to contact another PADI/TDI trainer in Florida.
In a nutshell this guy was the best, he saved the day, in ten minutes in the pool he fixed everything and on the ocean dives I had a GREAT time, WOB was just fine and I now love the unit.
Oh yeah, my instructor said if I could get the training records from Add Helium I could get credits for that and a referral/shortened course, but of course the manager at Add Helium told me that "the boss refuses to release your training records"! So I had to do the whole course again, fortunately it was a different experience, great fun and WOB was fine.
There are some good people at Add Helium but I would NOT recommend them to anyone for training and IMO there is a culture of arrogance and aloofness there that is counter productive and frankly unsafe.
They say that choice of trainer is probably the most important aspect of getting into Rebreathers and that is why I chose Add Helium, they have been the internet proclaimed leaders in Rebreather education! The cost of training with Add Helium was about 30% more than any other agency- but no matter, I wanted the best!
After a significant investment in terms of the unit, airfares, accommodation, rental cars etc etc I finally started the course in November 2016 and I was grinning from ear to ear.
The first subtle red flags that popped up in the classroom were the constant patting themselves on the back as the self proclaimed gurus of the Rebreather world. The next was the wealth of pseudo cutting edge technical knowledge that was being imparted that was contrary to general opinion regarding decompression theory and oxygen toxicity- all very interesting but not entirely relevant and not central to my course. Once again there was a lot of back patting and assurance that Add Helium and in particular Peter Sotis was an authority above and beyond the realms of the general rebreather and diving community!
Then I was told that I would not be getting a certification from a generally recognized agency- it would be an "Oncourse" certification, Add Helium's own brand and of course better than the rest! In all there was more fluff stuffed into the course than a prom night bra and very little about the actual practicalities of diving a rebreather.
My instructor was a great, nice guy, honestly he really was- but a Hollis Explorer instructor? I now believe that his only instructor rating for this unit was an instruction from the boss to do it- certainly he is not listed on any instructor site, but why should he be, this is an ONCOURSE course!
For the in-water training there was a huge emphasis placed on using absolute minimal loop volume and also minimal weighting- the two of which were closely related- I was told. Regular venting via the nose or loose lips was intended to maintain minimal loop volume and descents were to be done by continuously evacuating the loop to avoid positive bouyancy until the target depth was achieved.
It was miserable and deeply disturbing. Every dive commenced with a furious struggle to submerge during which the wing was emptied and then I turned face down and kicked hard downward while continuously exhaling through my nose and sucking hard against the impotent ADV which could not hope to keep up with the increasing depth or workload. The end result was always a minute or so of not one single breath until I hit 60 feet and then struggled to fill the loop. By now I was stressed and breathless with, I am sure, a CO2 retention that would be hard to get rid of. Especially hard to get rid of because from here on I had to continuously vent the loop to maintain a minimum loop volume and the WOB was frankly appalling throughout the entire dive. After every dive I sat on the boat breathing heavily for 20 minutes to recover.
Dive 6 I was ascending carefully and then started to feel my buoyancy become positive, everything was squeezed out of the wing and the loop was completely evacuated but nothing, not even kicking face down could prevent an uncontrolled ascent to the surface. I was beat! Miserable and beat!
On the boat I told the instructor that I was done, I would not complete the course and sell the unit at a great loss.
Back at Add Helium I had to confront the boss, I told Peter Sotis the WOB had been really bad and there was no actual discussion or analysis of what I had been doing just an arrogant comment that "well it's not for everybody"!
I had done my money, I was going home absolutely defeated and yes, ashamed, all those people that happily dive Explorers can do this but not me- WTF!
After returning to Grand Turk I started re-thinking the whole course, something was definitely not right and I called a PADI Explorer Instructor Trainer to ask about my experiences- she was adamant, I had been trained badly and there was no way the unit could function correctly or WOB could be OK using the techniques I was instructed.
I then called Add Helium to see about re-training and one of the other trainers offered to review my course but in the end the lack of communication and unwillingness to actually set a training date led me to contact another PADI/TDI trainer in Florida.
In a nutshell this guy was the best, he saved the day, in ten minutes in the pool he fixed everything and on the ocean dives I had a GREAT time, WOB was just fine and I now love the unit.
Oh yeah, my instructor said if I could get the training records from Add Helium I could get credits for that and a referral/shortened course, but of course the manager at Add Helium told me that "the boss refuses to release your training records"! So I had to do the whole course again, fortunately it was a different experience, great fun and WOB was fine.
There are some good people at Add Helium but I would NOT recommend them to anyone for training and IMO there is a culture of arrogance and aloofness there that is counter productive and frankly unsafe.
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