Question Regretting buying rebreather

[fanling]

Just curious to know. Anyone? And why?
Cheers.

 

[happy-diver]

I regret not buying one as soon as they became available to the public or grabbing a military one before that

 

[rongoodman]

I bought one a few years ago but ended up selling it when I realized I was never going to be able to do the amount of dives on it required to stay current. I had no issues with the unit itself, a Hollis Prism 2.

 

[Rollin Bonz]

I regret not buying one sooner.

You should make this a poll.

I predict 1% regret it
99% don't
Of the 99% that don't regret it, 75%+ wish they'd made the move sooner.

 

[broncobowsher]

There was a little bit of time between when I started training and finally started using it. WTF did I get myself into? Then that passed and have not looked back.

OK, a little looking back. Prior tech training wasn't as solid as it should have been. Thought I knew what I needed to know. Once I got into the rebreather I realized that my prior training wasn't that good. I've been thinking of taking a real fundies class, which might be a bit strange. What I am not looking forward to is having to go back to OC to take the fundies that I really should do.

 

[Garth]

I would regret buying a rebreather if it had to be sent back to the manufacturer for repairs versus some that are on the market that are user serviceable.
Being able to fix your rebreather by replacing a part easily is ideal. Excessive potting electronics and overly complicated components make for missed dives.
Simple is better I’ve found.

 

[lowwall]

OK, a little looking back. Prior tech training wasn't as solid as it should have been. Thought I knew what I needed to know. Once I got into the rebreather I realized that my prior training wasn't that good. I've been thinking of taking a real fundies class, which might be a bit strange. What I am not looking forward to is having to go back to OC to take the fundies that I really should do.

Since you don't need a cert card, why not just hire an instructor on an hourly basis to work on whatever you think needs improvement?

It seems like it would be more useful since the training will be tailored to your needs and your equipment.

 

[mr_v]

I regret buying one. Two - better! Three - will be awesome!

 

[JackZwykle]

Just curious to know. Anyone? And why?
Cheers.

Talk to very active CCR instructors. Up to 25% of the units end up on second hand market after the certification and 5-10 dives. Just check Facebook groups.

Reasons? From what I've heard it's quite simply "reality did not meet expectations".
Unit complexity in maintenance and during dive, lack of chances to use it in anger and keep current, availability of CCR teams/buddies, availability and cost of sofno/O2, availability of dive sites with enough depth/profile, lots of interesting ways to die (which combined with insufficiently frequent diving leads to problems), etc, etc, etc.

I personally know a VERY experienced diver, who dives every day and for a decade now ditched his CCR - in his words "I just can't be ar**d".

He's sometimes involved in body recovery, serious public safety missions - all on OC for the sake of simplicity.

Me and my wife - we're never going back to OC. But we have a CCR team (ourselves, another family member and a local active club), we love tinkering and keeping up to date and units in tip top shape (over an hour after each dive), we dive at least every second weekend and usually every weekend plus two-three CCR trips per year, etc, etc, etc.

CCR is a superior tool for a specific set of dive profiles and preferences. If you don't do those profiles and don't have those preferences - it's a tool looking for a problem to solve and ending on "CCR for sale, only 10 dives" advert.

Just my five cents.

 

[Sascha314]

I regret I cannot afford it right now.