Rebreather or OC for trimix. cost

[HowardE]

A lot of people wonder what the future of diving will be like. The vast majority of people I know who dive trimix see the future of helium diving as being rebreather.

Dive for dive (initial cost of gear not being a factor)... a rebreather is more cost effective for trimix dives, hands down.

The question of initial cost, and "will the prices on rebreathers come down" is another question all together?

While there are "recreational rebreathers" on the market now... and I've looked at one of such units. I personally question the value of the "recreational rebreather". The one that I saw had NO MANUAL CONTROLS whatsoever. It also ONLY allowed for air diluent. Personally, while I enjoy the benefits of having intelligent on board computer controls, and not having to fly manually... I count on the ABILITY to fly my rebreather manually if I NEED to or WANT to.

One of the great benefits of the rebreather itself is the ability to make the perfect mix for every depth that you are at throughout the dive. So why would consumers buy such a great tool, only to have it used to a small fraction of its potential? I would think that the "recreational rebreathers" would leave divers wanting more, and ultimately would put a bunch of used rebreathers on the market, so that people could get fully functional rebreathers?

 

[DCBC]

OC mix diving is cheap in equipment, expensive in gas. CCR mix diving is expensive in equipment, cheap in gas. You pay a lot either way.

Well said!

As everyone is aware helium is an expensive gas; this seems to be the hurdle for achieving cost-effectiveness for deep recreational diving.

CCRs have been used by the commercial industry since the mid 60's and are still commonly used as bailout systems for deep saturation diving. This seems to be an increasing trend in the industry.

The use of helmet adapters such as the Ultrajewel helium reclamation helmet (which can reclaim over 90% of the helium gas used by a diver) are becoming commonplace. Although this technology is being used for bell supply, I can't help but think that with continuing technology advancements, miniaturization and potential price reductions, their may be possibilities for recreational diving applications in the future.

Sorry for the spin-off, but thinking of future possibilities sometimes makes me crazy.

 

[Mr.X]

I'm not cost conscious. Just had a wonder for what the future of diving may be like...

We wrote a few articles about the future of diving almost a decade ago. The future is upon us and that is - rebreather diving. In fact, the future was staring at us some odd 30 +++ years ago when Walter Starck introduced the "consumer-oriented" Electrolung. I saw one as a kid and it was like something from the Jetsons.

Going back ten years ago there was only a smattering of RB units, out as well as certifying instructors. Some of the units were pretty dodgy - like a certain Biomarine model who's name I've forgotten. The funniest thing I remember from those days was seeing some rich weiners wearing Cis Lunars and parading themselves off as ultra-cool. This fringe "showoff" element gave RB's a early bad rep. This testosterone driven mentality still exists - go visit RB world from time to time. I will also answer a big question about RB's - they are not sexy in the eyes of most women, nor do they grow hair.

These days - most of these units are pretty darn good. The instructors, plus level of training quite consistent. Very happy to see that.

I'll qualify myself in saying that while RB diving is the ne plus these days they are still relatively expensive, persnickety (electronics) and IMO not worth using for recreational profiles.

The real future will lie in the next iteration of gas / time extension devices - electronic gills.

X

 

[adm3745]

Haha. Basically what I want in the future is what James Bond had in Thunderball. If I recall correctly, submarines can draw O2 from H20, but doing that economically and in a small enough package may not be possible. The impact would branch well beyond diving.

 

[IDS_Bill]

Yeah good OC equipment is not cheap and a good CCR is about $10K but there are other costs:

Cost to fill doubles with TMx - around $100
Cost to fill CCR Tank - around $15-20
Scrubber material or canister - $25
O2 Sensors (in the Philippines we were running through these quickly due to moisture and heat
Batteries
Set-up and Tear down time (What's your time worth?)

I love deep diving on a CCR but you can't really compare. You also have extra training costs but you will do an average of 50% less deco on 200fsw+ dives.

So draw your own conclusions my friend but if I could (I sold my current CCR to build the 427 in my '67 Camaro) I would do all of my dives BELOW 130fsw on my CCR.