Rebreathers: The Future of Diving or Not?

[H2Andy]

with bottom times of up to 10 hours, rebreathers may be
revolutionazing diving.

will the future see our beloved scuba tanks replaced by
rebreathers?

should rebreathers be embraced by all divers as the wave
of the future?

 

[rmediver2002]

Well, price is always going to be a limiting factor but...

With the price of helium continuing to rise it is soon going to be comparable or more cost effective to use re-breathers in the deep commercial diving industry within the next ten years.


I do not see re-breathers becoming commonplace for divers whose diving is in the 0-100 fsw range, there will always be a cost / benfit gap between open circuit and closed but could see them becoming the norm for deeper diving in the future.

Good question Andy!

 

[fdog]

"...you need to dive with the frame of mind that the box on your back is always trying to kill you..."

Sorry I can't remember the source of the quote! I'm sure that some day the technology will be reliable enough (and cheap enough) for recreational, low time divers, but not soon.

All the best, James

 

[pipedope]

The big problem with rebreathers is complexity, both in maintainance and in operation. Most divers simply won't put up with the hassle.

Some tech divers will likely switch, especially if He prices get high enough.

Rebreathers are a gadget freaks dream but for many divers they can be a nightmare.

 

[H2Andy]

Rebreathers are a gadget freaks dream but for many divers they can be a nightmare.

nice pun :35:

... still, given enough time, they are bound to get
cheaper and easier to use, aren't they?

 

[jonnythan]

Might want to give some sort of time frame here.

10 years from now, do I think they will have supplanted scuba in any way? No.

200 years from now, do I think anyone will be breathing compressed gas? No.

 

[sharkmasterbc]

If one is diving RB and goes into deeco...what happens if the unit decides to kack out? If you go to your bailout 40cuft tank...which presumably has a mix appropriate for your depth, how would it be possible to finish your now rather long deco ?

 

[eod]

I guess the rebreathers are the future of diving, for everyone. They will become cheaper, easier to use and more robust as they become more and more popular, and you won't have to carry around large cylinders with gas. But that is just a guess, it can be the other way around too!

 

[padiscubapro]

If one is diving RB and goes into deeco...what happens if the unit decides to kack out? If you go to your bailout 40cuft tank...which presumably has a mix appropriate for your depth, how would it be possible to finish your now rather long deco ?

Thats part of your training..
I have done dives with well over 4 hours of deco!
It is also unlikely for a rebreather to TOTALLY crap out.. There are different levels of crapping out, each has its own solution..

 

[DORSETBOY]

my oppinion of rebreathers is very much coloured by the experience I had on the drager atlantis dolphin I used in training... leaked constantly. the result being that water got into the breathing loop, reacted with the lime and I ended up at 18m+ inhaling a frothy acidic mix of water, very painful. I lost the bail out reg behind my head (my fault) and got into a big panic. Have to say it scared the hell out of me. Up until that point though I enjoyed using the rebreather, like going back to open water training though as the bouyancy aspect is completely different in so far as you cannot use your breathing to control it. I can see many benefits to the rebreather though, especially since if used properly it goves you an added benefit of redundancy in the bail out (if used properly).

As for the fully enclosed rebreather, I have yet to be convinced that any of the models currently available (and the buddy in particular) are not inherently dangerous.