Question Rebreather Full Cave Diver crossover

[fanling]

I am by no means one of those exceptional ccr diver as mentioned above but I still somewhat disagree with what was said. I was always very comfortable and capable on OC and had absolutely no OC tech experience (never had doubles on my back and hopefully never will. I was where you are now and was ready to start my tech adventure. A trusted friend, and tech instructor, told me to just skip the OC stuff since I was planning to go to a ccr anyway (I was currently diving a scr a lot also) and just jump right to the ccr to save time, money, and having to unlearn muscle memory from OC. I did the "zero to hero" cave training on my ccr when I had about 75 hour on my first ccr. I will say that if you are not 110% comfortable with all aspects of OC that maybe this is not the right route though since it will be your life line when (not if) your ccr fails.

My I know which ccr unit u have? Thx.

 

[Mobulai]

My I know which ccr unit u have? Thx.

From some (unintentional) online stalking (sorry @Dsix36, you’re kinda famous) I believe Revo, Choptima were among the lineup

 

[Dsix36]

My I know which ccr unit u have? Thx.

My first one was an Optima which I did my cave training on. I have used Optima, rEvo, Meg, Defender, Inspiration, Titan, Prism, Choptima, Sidewinder, and my own homemade units. I currently back to my trusty and reliable rEvo.

 

[rddvet]

May I know why?

I'm not going to get into it here. Theres another thread with more context.

I am by no means one of those exceptional ccr diver as mentioned above but I still somewhat disagree with what was said. I was always very comfortable and capable on OC and had absolutely no OC tech experience (never had doubles on my back and hopefully never will. I was where you are now and was ready to start my tech adventure. A trusted friend, and tech instructor, told me to just skip the OC stuff since I was planning to go to a ccr anyway (I was currently diving a scr a lot also) and just jump right to the ccr to save time, money, and having to unlearn muscle memory from OC. I did the "zero to hero" cave training on my ccr when I had about 75 hour on my first ccr. I will say that if you are not 110% comfortable with all aspects of OC that maybe this is not the right route though since it will be your life line when (not if) your ccr fails.

I would say that you are probably the outlier though. Zero to hero and starting in ccr is definitely not the norm or what most instructors are recommending. But I would say it's definitely doable, but when you look at the "masses" no OC cave training and zero to hero cave (regardless of oc or ccr) is not ideal for most.
I'm no ccr or cave expert, but my opinion is based on discussions with instructors and students as well as personal experience. When I started my cave training if I had started with CCR only I don't know that my skill set would be as good and honestly looking back I think it would have been a negative long term. Eventhough I had years of training and diving, I don't think I was good enough to do exceptionally well in class if I was ccr and likely would not have had the same confidence after my first cave class. Lack of confidence and comfort in the caves I believe is a huge contributor for why most people aren't cave diving after 3 years (other than cost and time to dive). I think my skills going into my initial cave class were pretty good when compared to the average person I see at peacock taking their first cave course, leading me to the belief that "most" new cave divers are better off learning OC first.

 

[rddvet]

Hypothetical: if I do cave ccr with only mod1 (is that even possible) and then do mod2/3 in ow, can I cave ccr dive to mod2/3 limits or do I have to redo the class?

That is beyond my pay grade. Thats a question for @kensuf

 

[rjack321]

May I know why?

It has some serious depth limitations amongst multiple other concerns. You can do better things with your money many of which are well described in other threads here

 

[Dsix36]

I'm not going to get into it here. Theres another thread with more context.

I would say that you are probably the outlier though. Zero to hero and starting in ccr is definitely not the norm or what most instructors are recommending. But I would say it's definitely doable, but when you look at the "masses" no OC cave training and zero to hero cave (regardless of oc or ccr) is not ideal for most.
I'm no ccr or cave expert, but my opinion is based on discussions with instructors and students as well as personal experience. When I started my cave training if I had started with CCR only I don't know that my skill set would be as good and honestly looking back I think it would have been a negative long term. Eventhough I had years of training and diving, I don't think I was good enough to do exceptionally well in class if I was ccr and likely would not have had the same confidence after my first cave class. Lack of confidence and comfort in the caves I believe is a huge contributor for why most people aren't cave diving after 3 years (other than cost and time to dive). I think my skills going into my initial cave class were pretty good when compared to the average person I see at peacock taking their first cave course, leading me to the belief that "most" new cave divers are better off learning OC first.

I think I sucked as a rebreather diver when I took my cave training. Hell, I still think I suck, but I try to constantly improve. I agree with your remarks since I have seen way to many ccr divers doing what I consider, dives beyond their experience/ability. I still remember what my instructor told us after the class, "Just because you are certified to be able to swim to the EOL does not mean you should do it, this card is just a license to keep learning and progressing".

 

[Garth]

The question I would ask would be whether you could get CCR training on the go then later do a crossover to another rebreather later. I’m not sure you can do a simple crossover if your first rebreather is the GO.

If you plan to do most diving in the cave environment, a sidewinder style rebreather is ideal. Some will say chest mount is nice, I don’t dive one and don’t see the benefit for chest mount as only rebreather in a cave for most cave divers.

If you want to do anything deep, I would go backmounted for first rebreather. Just my personal opinion. You can do it differently of course.

My favorite part of this thread is that DonSix is somewhat of a legend! Lol
Too bad you can’t see TheDecoStop or Rebreatherworld forums anymore… bwahahaha

 

[Mobulai]

My favorite part of this thread is that DonSix is somewhat of a legend

I see his handle everywhere I go — RBworld (Dr. Simon M led me there); FB reb classifieds, and ofc here

 

[Dsix36]

My favorite part of this thread is that DonSix is somewhat of a legend! Lol
Too bad you can’t see TheDecoStop or Rebreatherworld forums anymore… bwahahaha

LMFAO