Rebreatherlabs Unit

[SLATSY]

hi all was just on a live aboard in thailand and met an interesting character that dived a rebreather, not being a rebreather diver myself but looking at it into the future i had a million questions for this individual. the guys name is andy fritz he has been a technical diver for years, he got upset with the cost of trimix and ended up going down the rebreather road , he has owned many units over the years and always played with them but was never happy , he set out to build his own ultimate rebreather and it worked so well he got so much interest that he ended up setting up a manufacturing facility and selling the units commercially , and to my knowledge the only manufacturer in the world that no one has died on one as his theory was to build the best most practical fail safe unit possible and as a result built a manually controlled unit that uses needle valves to inject the gases, long story short i was really happy with his unit and entertaining buying one in the next year when i save the money just want to know if anyone has experience with these units.

closed circuit rebreathers, parts and training

 

[kensuf]

I dive a KISS, which is similar in principle. mCCR's have a pretty decent safety record, but there is no such thing as a CCR that is foolproof and 100% safe. My KISS has a a statement stamped into the head that it will gladly kill me without warning as a reminder to be alert.

 

[JohnnyC]

The Pelagian is built with Andy's operating principle in mind. You either believe in the method or you don't. I think he has some very interesting ideas and implementations, which is why I own a Pelagian. However, the idea that it's safe because no one has died on one isn't really valid. The number of Pelagians on the market is relatively tiny compared to the big guys like APD, ISC, etc. You can quite sufficiently kill yourself on any rebreather.

The needle valve concept is great. The idea that you have control over the metered flow is nice in that you need no special equipment like an IP limited first stage does when using a CMF O2 valve. It also means that you need to know how to use it or you can easily spike your PO2 or have the bottom fall out of it. I know several people that are adding needle valves to their eCCR's to make them hybrids. The concept is sound, you've just gotta make sure you're on top of it.

The other nice thing is the instant cell validation, and cell face drying of the unit. Having the ADV blow gas right across the face of the cells is very useful and allows effortless cell checks without having to completely replace the gas in the loop. Blowing condensation off the face is a great way to make sure your cells are reading correctly without worrying about water altering the sensor. It just takes a little exhale to dump enough gas to go below the threshold that triggers the ADV, and it adds gas super easy.

I am a fan of the independent PO2 read out. I'd rather see PO2 for each cell than voting logic, however, I don't like the 2-cell only concept. It doesn't allow you to use the voting logic that exists between your ears. A 3rd cell is an option, and I really think that's the best way to go. 3 independent cells let you make a choice based on much better available information.

The small size and multiple tank ability of the x-plate is very nice for travel. You can fit the whole thing in a carry-on. That's awesome.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

I don't own one...yet. I'm really interested in the Pelagian myself for the reasons stated above and a couple others. I like that I could hook it up to a set of doubles and have my diving gas and bailout in the same tanks. I really don't like the CCR paradigm of small primary tanks with a bunch of extra tanks for bailout, so I like that I can integrate them. I also like that I can just side sling my O2 offboard and plug it into the needle valve. That's how I'm comfortable diving now, and it seems the Pelagian (along with a couple others like White Arrow and UTD) allow me to preserve almost all of my existing configuration. And having the needle valve instead of a fixed orifice like Johnny said is a really cool idea, and overcomes my main reason for not wanting a CMF mCCR. On top of all that, no electronics driven O2 injects, so one less major, scary, dangerous thing to break.

Having the ability to get two independent ppO2 readings in a unit that is designed to operate flooded, plus a third to hook into my shearwater to do all the dive/deco calculations is also another awesome thing. Integrated, low-profile but high performance BOV, option for backmounted counterlungs to free up the chest, simple, basic design to put together and dive. I'm hard pressed to find something I don't like about it. Andy has also said he can make larger scrubber tubes for exploration type diving.

 

[P-A Andersson]

hi all was just on a live aboard in thailand and met an interesting character that dived a rebreather, not being a rebreather diver myself but looking at it into the future i had a million questions for this individual. the guys name is andy fritz he has been a technical diver for years, he got upset with the cost of trimix and ended up going down the rebreather road , he has owned many units over the years and always played with them but was never happy , he set out to build his own ultimate rebreather and it worked so well he got so much interest that he ended up setting up a manufacturing facility and selling the units commercially , and to my knowledge the only manufacturer in the world that no one has died on one as his theory was to build the best most practical fail safe unit possible and as a result built a manually controlled unit that uses needle valves to inject the gases, long story short i was really happy with his unit and entertaining buying one in the next year when i save the money just want to know if anyone has experience with these units.

closed circuit rebreathers, parts and training

I have been diving the Pelagian DCCCR for some years now and the unit is great. Minimalistic in parts and easy to repair using standard diving gear. It's a great travel and expedition companion considering the low weight and the great flexibility in cylinder sizes. The rebreather is an easy fit in your carry on luggage. I have tried diving with small 2 liter steel tanks all the way up to 80cfs in lack of better options on the dive boat. The rebreather is very well proven in complex technical diving such as deep wreck penetrating dives in the Baltic Sea or Cave expedtions in France. I don't remember how many sumps they went in Ressel last year but it was quite a bit down and in

We mostly dive the units with 8,5 liter steel or 4 liter tanks that give you great balance and a natural support for donning your unit without the need for an extra stand. They are both the same length to give you a good support in and out of the water. The Pelagian gives you great balance and controll with either front or back mounted counterlungs.

I am also a technical rebreather instructor on the Pelagian DCCCR with TDI or SwedTech Diving so if anyone's interested in training regardless of geographic position just give me mess and we'll schedule something.

 

[redandblueindeep]

Any unit on the market will fail (or likely the diver will fail the unit). The more popular the unit means the more dives and more dives will mean the more deaths will be attributed, its the simple law of statistics. Having the job of recovering divers who dives go poorly it seems to be a common thread that warning signs were ignored. Don't be fooled by the thought of a "foolproof" rebreather, anything man made, that can be "modified" by a human will be and can subsequently fail. The success (or failure) of a dive falls on the diver.

 

[P-A Andersson]

Any unit on the market will fail (or likely the diver will fail the unit). The more popular the unit means the more dives and more dives will mean the more deaths will be attributed, its the simple law of statistics. Having the job of recovering divers who dives go poorly it seems to be a common thread that warning signs were ignored. Don't be fooled by the thought of a "foolproof" rebreather, anything man made, that can be "modified" by a human will be and can subsequently fail. The success (or failure) of a dive falls on the diver.

That's why we train thinking divers to take control of their machines and actually practice failures and scenarios throughout our course programs with Swedtech Diving. Divers get in trouble most often because of complacency. Take charge and take control of your unit and you will survive. If you just tag along your an accident waiting to happen.