What is a good way to become a rebreather diver? Is there a series of courses that that lead up to rebreather? The ultimate goal is to make a dive in Galapagos before I become extinct. I started 30 years ago with j valves and 72 steel no BC and have only graduated to the al80 and a BC. Would like to progress to rebreather a little faster than this but don't know where to start. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I am reading a text by J. Bozanic, but don't know anyone who even dives a rebreather let alone teaches it. Cheers
road to rebreather
- Thread starter vincent54
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The reality is that if you want good instruction on a rebreather, you may need to travel outside your area. I have considered going to cave country to learn, but at this point can't afford a unit or the training. I'm content on OC for now, but will eventually buy a unit and find a highly reputable instructor for that unit.
Lao do some research on the different units, as they all have their own bells and whistles, and different price points. The unit you decide on doesn't need to be the most verdure if you only plan to stay recreational with it. If you want to dive deep, with hypoxic mixes, some units are better than others in terms of versatility.
Lao do some research on the different units, as they all have their own bells and whistles, and different price points. The unit you decide on doesn't need to be the most verdure if you only plan to stay recreational with it. If you want to dive deep, with hypoxic mixes, some units are better than others in terms of versatility.
The first thing to do is research.... Research the type of unit you may want to dive- SCR vs CCR. What are your goals & purpose you want to dive a rebreather? Recreational? Technical? Once you decide on what type of rebreather, what model do you want & has the features you want. Then from there you should be able to find an instructor, whether in your area or you have to travel to get instruction. Another thing to consider would be how easily can the unit be serviced, if needed.
First why do you want a rebreather? Do you have a real need? Are you limited by a set of doubles?
I know they have recreation rebreathers but what's the point? Especially of your just doing recreation dives and the rest of the boat is on a single 80.
I would be happy to give some advice but not sure what your goals are.
I know they have recreation rebreathers but what's the point? Especially of your just doing recreation dives and the rest of the boat is on a single 80.
I would be happy to give some advice but not sure what your goals are.
I would start recreation type diving. You're never too old to learn something new. The Hammerhead eCCR looks like a good unit. The goal is to dive Galapagos with ccr and have the best animal encounters. I'll give myself 5 years to do it. In terms of my usual diving, it's solo from shore not from a boat, so there usually isn't a rest of the group. Thanks for the responses. It is looking as though I'lll have to travel to get trained, which isn't a bad thing. In terms of equipment, I don't mind paying for good stuff that works.
I have well over 1000hrs on rebreather and have dived quite a number of different units and I would strongly recommend against diving solo on a rebreather. On one particular dive I would not be here but for an attentive buddy.
Three that come to mind....
- Peace and quiet in the water
- Constant PPO2 set point increasing NDL time
- Closer interactions with marine life
OK so this is my opinion and I am sure others will different. For me getting a rebreather was to be able to do deep wreck diving and help on the cost of amount of HE needed do do these trips (4-5 sets of doubles and 10 deco bottles for a typical overnight trip) as well as quicker turn around time. It also give me the additional benefit if a offshore trip gets blown out or changed to a shallower wreck I am not wasting expensive mixes to do the dives. I believe a diver should be trained and capable of planning and conducting tec dives to at least 150' before looking in to a rebreather. When the rebreather fails you back to OC diving and should be comfortable diving OC at depth, and making gas switches correctly for your deco.
Even the simpliest rebreathers are not as simple as grabbing a BC, Reg, tank and jumping in the water doing a dive. I really dont see the need for a recreation rebreather except the agenices are missing out on money by not having a CCR program. Unless you are conducting very long shallow dives like 2-3 hours at 60' I would sick to OC.
As for wildlife coming closer I have had animals come up to me on OC and CCR as so I can touch them, so I think its more of a matter of me being slow and comfortable in the water then a function of no bubbles. So I think you should think long and hard about if a CCR is really needed and if so do you have the dive experience to do proper gas planning and making switches to bailout gas?
If you say yes I need/want a CCR then here are some questions to consider:
Rec or Tec?
Backmounted, Over the shoulder or top of shoulder Countter Lungs?
Does it need to be CE approved?
Do you want a manual, manual assisted or electronic CCR?
Are there other CCR divers in your area with similar units to help mentor you?
Can you get parts/spares for the particular unit?
I prefer backmounted counter lungs and manual assisted ccr's. I own a dive a Kiss Classic which is a simple unit, and reliable. I have had the unit in caves for up to 4 hrs and on wrecks off the NE coast of the USA in 300'+ of water. I also took revo course since some friends bought them to be familiar with the unit and I thought it was a solid unit but def with more features then my Kiss. I think for what you are looking for a hammerhead is over kill. Also I like the manual assisted units because you are more in touch with whats going on with a unit then having the electronics do it for you.
---------- Post added February 1st, 2014 at 08:48 PM ----------
OK it is quite unless other divers are OC
Are you running out of BT with your tanks? not just a single tank I mean doubles?
I have had close encounters on both I think its more of a matter of how you move in water and breath then OC vs CC
Anyway this is getting away from OPs topic.
Even the simpliest rebreathers are not as simple as grabbing a BC, Reg, tank and jumping in the water doing a dive. I really dont see the need for a recreation rebreather except the agenices are missing out on money by not having a CCR program. Unless you are conducting very long shallow dives like 2-3 hours at 60' I would sick to OC.
As for wildlife coming closer I have had animals come up to me on OC and CCR as so I can touch them, so I think its more of a matter of me being slow and comfortable in the water then a function of no bubbles. So I think you should think long and hard about if a CCR is really needed and if so do you have the dive experience to do proper gas planning and making switches to bailout gas?
If you say yes I need/want a CCR then here are some questions to consider:
Rec or Tec?
Backmounted, Over the shoulder or top of shoulder Countter Lungs?
Does it need to be CE approved?
Do you want a manual, manual assisted or electronic CCR?
Are there other CCR divers in your area with similar units to help mentor you?
Can you get parts/spares for the particular unit?
I prefer backmounted counter lungs and manual assisted ccr's. I own a dive a Kiss Classic which is a simple unit, and reliable. I have had the unit in caves for up to 4 hrs and on wrecks off the NE coast of the USA in 300'+ of water. I also took revo course since some friends bought them to be familiar with the unit and I thought it was a solid unit but def with more features then my Kiss. I think for what you are looking for a hammerhead is over kill. Also I like the manual assisted units because you are more in touch with whats going on with a unit then having the electronics do it for you.
---------- Post added February 1st, 2014 at 08:48 PM ----------
OK it is quite unless other divers are OC
Are you running out of BT with your tanks? not just a single tank I mean doubles?
I have had close encounters on both I think its more of a matter of how you move in water and breath then OC vs CC
Anyway this is getting away from OPs topic.
First place to start is getting out there and doing some rebreather try dives. Shops and manufacturers will often put these one, both at open water sites and in pools. Try as many units as you can and see what you like. There are a lot of choices out there and there's nothing like getting your hands on different units for yourself. Everyone has their favorite unit so talking to people will get you biased opinions on what they like. Next, if you aren't already advanced nitrox and decompression procedures trained/certified, then get that training done. It will be required for most rebreather courses, and even if it's not the knowledge you gain will help you immensely in a rebreather course.
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