Revo or Optima?

[beldridg]

The adv sucks on most rebreathers. Give up. It’ll never work good on the revo

It actually works great now with the setup I have.

On descent, if I take in a deep breath, it fires and adds gas to the loop. When I'm on the bottom, I simply isolate it with the shutoff and never worry about it again.

I definitely plan to try the Choptima. I'm just waiting for @DiveTucson to get back out to California (or if we are in Florida at the same time). I was diving with him quite a bit when he first started diving it and it is definitely interesting.

- brett

 

[DiveTucson]

I currently teach on the CM O2ptima and should be teaching on the rEvo (it’s a long story-COVID BS). Needless to say I have a good amount of hours on both units.

I get asked quite a bit which unit I prefer. They both have trade offs. I guess the best answer is this. When I am going to dive for fun I have lately almost exclusively been grabbing the CM unit. That applies to deep wrecks in the 100M+ range and shallow photo focused dives and cave diving.

So I guess that being said between the CM O2ptima and the rEvo I would grab the CM unit. I truly believe it’s the most versatile unit on the market and weighs 14lbs ready to travel.

 

[Mr_C]

The adv sucks on most rebreathers. Give up. It’ll never work good on the revo

I still love my rEvo - but so true. ADV sucks!!

 

[Wibble]

My ADV's OK, needs a good suck to get it injecting. Normally manually inject but it's nice to know that if my hands were too busy doing something else I can still breathe. Have never noticed it firing at other angles.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

I wouldn't consider 5 cells an advantage, just like I wouldn't consider 4 cells an advantage. I think 3 is a good amount of cells.

People have mentioned various Optima configurations--choptima, FMCL or BMCL. You can generally convert between the three with a new head (older heads have oxygen inlet in a different spot) but there are some different pieces that you'd have to buy. Pick the style you'd like and buy that to start.

I see two topics coming up alot about dewatering and ADV. Dewatering is easy on optima and the ADV design is easily adjustable to your exact preferences.

But the real message here is, put the rebreather on the back burner and lets get Superlyte to give us all career advice!

 

[Superlyte27]

I wouldn't consider 5 cells an advantage, just like I wouldn't consider 4 cells an advantage. I think 3 is a good amount of cells.

People have mentioned various Optima configurations--choptima, FMCL or BMCL. You can generally convert between the three with a new head (older heads have oxygen inlet in a different spot) but there are some different pieces that you'd have to buy. Pick the style you'd like and buy that to start.

I see two topics coming up alot about dewatering and ADV. Dewatering is easy on optima and the ADV design is easily adjustable to your exact preferences.

But the real message here is, put the rebreather on the back burner and lets get Superlyte to give us all career advice!

I’ve helped 9 people do what I do. You were around when I was broke making $12/hour. Call me. 407-304-9288 -Peter. I’ll tell you all about it.

 

[mikesz]

I was in the same boat as you about a year ago, you may want to read the thread I started
" Making the Leap"

My advise would be to do exactly what you seem to be. Put a spreadsheet together and really study the pro's and con's of the different features and decide if they are relevant \ important to you and the type of diving you may be doing. A new RB divers priority list may differ from an experienced pilot (their muscle memory is developed and they may not want to "unlearn something").

View the advise you receive from individuals with healthy skepticism, they want you in their club or have a financial interest. Many are sincere and simply don't understand what else is out there or what other features are beneficial. Much of what they say will make perfect sense until you post it here on SB and let the experts take it apart!


Now for the Cool-Aid

I did an enormous amount of research before deciding on the O2ptima.

(I am very grateful for all the help I received here on SB, helped me from making a big mistake)
Most of the negatives about the unit are from previous versions.

One part of my decision to go with the O2ptima is the convertibility to the chest mount unit for travel. The cost is about $2,500 and I get another 17lb breather!

Not having the ability to dewater a unit is a non-starter for me.

Thanks for the advice. That’s exactly how I’m approaching it. I have very detailed research on just about all back mounted rebreathers, side by side in a giant spreadsheet and now I’m adding the insights from here based on experienced feedback. So all good on that front. Last step is to dive the units shortlisted and see how I feel about them in real’ish conditions. But I got to say, I really do like the optima so far. In my humble opinion, it is a package that offers the least weaknesses and those that remain, are very minor in comparison to other units.

this thread has been extremely useful, so I just want to say thanks to all who contributed.

 

[mikesz]

I still love my rEvo - but so true. ADV sucks!!

Yep, seems the Revo has some passionate followers. I see quite a few people here diving the “yellow jelly bean” - they do look cool, especially in groups of 5 heading down to the shore....

Then there is the odd prism or two, looking like they have a bug cocoon on their back )

 

[mikesz]

It’s really really hard to get a caustic in an Optima with either sorb though. Really really hard.

I have pulled my loop out in class at the beginning of a dive, letting it flood for a solid minute, purged the rebreather and made a two hour dove without ever surfacing.

Were you using sorb or EAC on that dive?

 

[Zebra 1]

I couldn’t care less if you’re in my club. But I wish people had been more forceful with me as I made mistake after mistake. Yes, I teach the Optima, but don’t think I’m after your money

I worded my statement badly, should have said "most people", and thank you, your comments very much helped me make the decision to go with the O2ptima.