Rebreather Divers: A Field Guide

[macado]

Posted on 3 forums now, still no Prism Topaz. ;-)

Oh man but you could have so much fun with Prism Topaz one and I dont even own one so I could be way off the mark on some of these..


Prism Topaz Diver
Most commonly found:
In 2009 or rural Tennessee.

Most likely to say:
“The WOB is really good.”
"Best scrubber design on the market. Do you have a brush?”
"Do you have any epoxy?"
"Analog secondary gauges are state of the art electronics! No batteries required."
Least likely to say:
“Build quality is amazing. Interchangeable parts from one unit to another?”
"Scrubber basket pins are really reliable”
"Why would you need to change your setpoint on the fly?"

Tell-tail markings:
Heavily scratched cover signifying hundreds+ or thousands of hours of reliable diving A true warrior covered in fiberglass

 

[sunnyboy]

Oh man but you could have so much fun with Prism Topaz one and I dont even own one so I could be way off the mark on some of these..


Prism Topaz Diver
Most commonly found:
In 2009 or rural Tennessee.

Most likely to say:
“The WOB is really good.”
"Best scrubber design on the market. Do you have a brush?”
"Do you have any epoxy?"
"Analog secondary gauges are state of the art electronics! No batteries required."
Least likely to say:
“Build quality is amazing. Interchangeable parts from one unit to another?”
"Scrubber basket pins are really reliable”
"Why would you need to change your setpoint on the fly?"

Tell-tail markings:
Heavily scratched cover signifying hundreds+ or thousands of hours of reliable diving A true warrior covered in fiberglass

Thanks. One note: once I switched away from the Grace lime, I was able to toss the brush.

As for things we say, don't forget: "You can fly this 100% manually thanks to the secondary".

+1 on the heavily scratched cover.

 

[hroark2112]

What about us Kiss Spirit/Spirit LTE divers?

(I did LOL a bit about the O2ptima, I do like mine very much even though it's out of North Florida!)

 

[RainPilot]

Damnit now I have to toss my AO shirts.

SS sensors PPBBBBBBBBLLLTTTT!!

 

[LiteHedded]

rb80 section is...pretty accurate.
except for this part: Sure, it's heavy, complicated, and bulky as a 60s refrigerator

cus it isn't any of those things

 

[oya]

rb80 section is...pretty accurate.
except for this part: Sure, it's heavy, complicated, and bulky as a 60s refrigerator

cus it isn't any of those things

You sure you're not confusing AL80 with RB80?

Something with a double bellows accordion switch-dump-thing inside, a giant multi-switch gas block, hoses that attach everything to everything else, and two LP104s attached to it seems to hit all those metrics.

 

[LiteHedded]

funny you say that. it's called that because it's the size of an al80

switch block is optional. as are the 104s (i use lp85s on mine for deep cave bailout)
you can duct tape an al6 to it and drive it from that alone if you want. most of the weight of the unit is sofnolime. (8 lbs maybe?)

 

[PfcAJ]

You sure you're not confusing AL80 with RB80?

Something with a double bellows accordion switch-dump-thing inside, a giant multi-switch gas block, hoses that attach everything to everything else, and two LP104s attached to it seems to hit all those metrics.

A lot of the confusion comes from not understanding the config you're seeing.

The tanks on each side are just bailout. The reg config is the same as normal doubles. Really not too different in principle than the double Sidemount steel 120s that are quite popular in Florida.

The regs are the same as normal open circuit doubles plus one hose for the BOV and one hose to feed the RB (kinda like an ADV in ccr world.

The switchblock looks crazy but it's not. The two switches aren't for switching gas. They're for shutting down the two "ADVs" in case one leaks.

There are 2 inputs. One from your backgas (paragraph 3) and another one to accept offboard gas. So if u wanna breath 100% you unplug the backgas and plug in 100%. Done and done.

There really isn't much to it, and in a lot of ways it's less than a ccr.

 

[oya]

@PfcAJ

Tell you what. You're about 1/2 my age and twice my fitness...

Timed race up the new steps at Martz. You in your RB80 and I'll wear my Meg. Then we'll see which is less.

 

[PfcAJ]

@PfcAJ

Tell you what. You're about 1/2 my age and twice my fitness...

Timed race up the new steps at Martz. You in your RB80 and I'll wear my Meg. Then we'll see which is less.

Sure. You'll win. Then you'll have to go back down and get your bailout tanks.