Question Regretting buying rebreather

[DS79]

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.

This is definitely not consistent with what I observe here in central Europe (Switzerland, Germany, Austria). People, who spend a 10k+ are usually commited and used to dive regularly (even before they detour to go CC). I know very few cases of divers, not using it regularly for years and years after getting certified.

 

[EternalCompression]

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

That is my thought process as well, I am not getting any younger ...

 

[Garth]

There are some who sell after the class. I bought a used sidewinder from that very scenario. It’s a commitment but definitely more enjoyable for several reasons I’ve found. Complete silence essentially, makes for a very enjoyable dive, not just for the fish life but for you as well. I find myself enjoying the dives a lot more when I’m weightless and quiet in the water - like if you had gills or something.

I would probably enjoy CCr less if I was dependent on a manufacturer for repair and parts. A rebreather that can be fixed with readily available sourced parts like a cable makes it much nicer. If one can figure out how to go mCCR, they can avoid a lot of the high cost equipment repairs.

 

[Rayk]

Selection of right CCR is extremely important for rest of the events to be unfolded. I have seen people got frustrated about diving rebreathers just because of wrong choice of unit. Then when try better suiting unit for them and type of diving they do, things turn around pretty fast.

I am biased towards and recommend JJ for majority of divers because it is bulletproof, any diver can fix, repair, replace anything on that unit even decades after Jan’s funeral and it is doing its job flawlessly.

Just like myself, everyone biased to certain rebreather(s) one way or another, some may want to sell the unit and/or instruction to earn living, some may want to get rid of the unit they regret buying, some may want to develop buddies for same unit they use etc., and only way to avoid regret is making an educated decision.

While spending $10k plus, it is not going to hurt to get certified few units that same instructor teaches, yet crossing over into another unit isn’t probably enough to know everything about that unit, still provides insight.

 

[InWay2Deep]

Bought my first CCR 18 months ago (Sidewinder) and wish I had done it 18 years ago. I've done 150 dives since then and maybe 5 of those were on OC (cruise ship). I regret NOTHING.

 

[keylargojim]

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.

As I recall you won your Ccr in a raffle!!

 

[Mobulai]

As I recall you won your Ccr in a raffle!!

Where do I sign up?

 

[broncobowsher]

Where do I sign up?

I think the last place that was doing CCR raffles ended up in this thread.

Thread 'New charges for Sotis (Add helium)and Emilie Voissem (Nexus Underwater)'

Oct 31, 2019

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/lo...IZbPULyyIbgEy-U8ZWyZT1D2aadxDfdDdj-taNcYmOwUo

I am just amazed and saddened at all the good people that get sucked into the Sotis web.

Lives lost, good names thrown away. Just sad

• cerich
• Replies: 357
• Forum: Diving Litigation

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[DiveLikeAMuppet]

I regret buying a CCR in the sense that it impacts my lifestyle - I could own a nicer car, live in a nicer place and go on more varied holidays if it wasn’t for all the diving …

 

[evandroairton]

I regret buying a CCR in the sense that it impacts my lifestyle - I could own a nicer car, live in a nicer place and go on more varied holidays if it wasn’t for all the diving …

Same here!