New Halcyon Rebreather?

[gregbenson314]

I was at a try dive event with it recently in Spain. They say that they're very, very close to the final release model. They're just waiting on some CE approvals, and they are considering changing the bag slightly (I'm not quite sure what he meant by that). I also vaguely remember them saying something about tweaking the oxygen regulator.


I was shocked by how small and light it is. You can literally lift it with one finger.

 

[makar0n]

Looks like its getting close indeed - multiple shops now list the Symbios computer, transmitter and HUD for sale, and quite a few dive news outlets are going with the story how Halcyon targets instructors with discounts for the above.

 

[Manatee Diver]

I saw a couple in the wild at Ginnie, and I think they are customer units as unlike the other times I've seem them, it wasn't the usual suspects that either work for Halcyon or work closely with them. In fact they didn't have any other pieces of Halcyon gear beyond the unit.

 

[grantmac]

I saw a couple in the wild at Ginnie, and I think they are customer units as unlike the other times I've seem them, it wasn't the usual suspects that either work for Halcyon or work closely with them. In fact they didn't have any other pieces of Halcyon gear beyond the unit.

How did they look in person?

 

[Manatee Diver]

How did they look in person?

It looked fine. It appears more streamlined than than the FX.

The HUD is attached to the mask via some adapter that looked like it wrapped around the mask clip. I didn't look closely. It was on a Dive Rite frameless mask. It looked like they were also using a wrist mounted computer as well.

I only looked at it briefly as I was getting my gear ready.

 

[crofrog]

I'm not a rebreather dive, but I was surprised by how small and light it was. It'd be super easy to carry on. It was typical halcyon sewing quality.

 

[Wibble]

Saw one of the Halcyon rebreathers on a bench at a dive shop the other day. Seems the long-awaited CE approval's imminent.

As ever, the Halcyon kit is lovely, super quality and well made.

As for the mask-mounted HUD...
Not for me as it should be like a Nerd attached to the loop and not on the mask -- masks live in fin pockets when not on your face or in your dry/wet suit pocket! The computer communications are wireless in one direction only (like AI transmitters). Any changes to settings (e.g. setpoint, gradient factors, bailout to offboard, etc.) have to be done on the controller buttons in the centre of your chest.

The biggest fail IMHO is it's not Shearwater and the logging will need to be done on a separate Shearwater Perdix/Petrel. The Symbios computers don't have the (very well deserved) reputation as Shearwater and you won't be able to use the existing Shearwater Cloud logging unless using another computer.

 

[kensuf]

I've been remaining quiet on this, but I went through a unit tear down a few months ago with one of the factory guys and have spent some time fondling the parts. The past few weeks there have been people crossing over as divers onto the unit in my neck of the woods and I got to watch one of the crossovers last weekend.

Looking at people in the water actually diving them, I can say it's a pretty slick looking unit. The profile is definitely more streamlined than the FX, GBM and OptimaCM. A friend of mine that participated in a crossover a few weeks back said it breathes pretty well in all orientations.

There are some things I like about it, ex the BOV in the head vs the mouthpiece means the DSV is significantly lighter than a shrimp.

 

[grantmac]

Anyone mention the price?