Should I buy a Rebreather?

[llaverdure]

I'm thinking about taking a class for the O2ptima Rebreather. Can any one give me the ups and downs on the unit. I live in DC and go diving about two weeks out of the year. I don't know if I want to pay the expense on a rebreather. I was thinks about looking to see if anyone was selling their. Anyone has any feed back.

 

[HowardE]

Honestly... With only 2 weeks a year of diving, I don't see you getting a heck of a lot of benefit out of diving a rebreather. It's not something that you want to do only on rare occasion.

 

[sea2summit]

Not worth it or safe to only do two dives a year. Optima has a lot of parts and pieces so if I did do it I'd go with a different unit (not to mention it's about as much $ as you can spend on and RB without going cis-lunar).

 

[snowflake4727]

Most any rebreather class is going to require you to have the unit you are being trained on, or nearly unlimited access to one.
That being said, a rebreather is not something that you can safely dive a few times a year.
From what I can see in your profile and not knowing your dive experience and training level I would say no.
Most any rebreather course is going to require you have taken Advanced Nitrox, and possibly Staged Decompression.
There is alot of work and training involved with flying a rebreather. They are not as forgiving at being thrown into a closet all wet until next year. They can KILL you without warning.

I don't want to be a party pooper, but even though I am not a rebreather pilot, I do know what I lack. I have been around them a bit.

 

[ScubaDadMiami]

Not worth it or safe to only do two dives a year. Optima has a lot of parts and pieces so if I did do it I'd go with a different unit (not to mention it's about as much $ as you can spend on and RB without going cis-lunar).

Not sure where you are getting your information.

• The assembly of an Optima is quite simple compared to several other units on the market, and it has less component pieces. I am sure that there are a few out there with less and others with more pieces. You make it sound like it is amongst the most complex to assemble. This is certainly not the case. Of course, this goes without considering the simplicity of using the Extend Air Cartridge for scrubber over pellet scrubber, which makes assembly much faster, easier and consistently reliable.
• The retail price of an Optima with tanks and computer is about $8,000 (add $1,500 for two fully redundant wired in Trimix computers). There are a number of units out there that are higher priced that come with less.

All of this being said, a rebreather is the type of equipment that you must practice on frequently in order to remain proficient. If you are only diving a few times per year, you would be better off sticking with open circuit diving.

 

[sea2summit]

Not sure where you are getting your information.

• The assembly of an Optima is quite simple compared to several other units on the market, and it has less component pieces. I am sure that there are a few out there with less and others with more pieces. You make it sound like it is amongst the most complex to assemble. This is certainly not the case. Of course, this goes without considering the simplicity of using the Extend Air Cartridge for scrubber over pellet scrubber, which makes assembly much faster, easier and consistently reliable.
• The retail price of an Optima with tanks and computer is about $8,000 (add $1,500 for two fully redundant wired in Trimix computers). There are a number of units out there that are higher priced that come with less.

• 
  
  Wasn't trying to bad mouth any unit. The first time I put mine together I couldn't imagine being able to do it without a check list and pictures now it's too easy, I'm sure it's the same after assembling an Optima for a while.
  
  Price, I'll change to "higher end".

 

[Gill Envy]

IMHO, I would not bother with rebreathers if you can only dive a few weeks out of the year. there are a lot of skills that take regular practice to stay up on.

Have you considered doubles or even just adding a pony bottle to see if that gives you what you need before making the jump to CCR?

g

 

[Cave Diver]

I'm thinking about taking a class for the O2ptima Rebreather. Can any one give me the ups and downs on the unit. I live in DC and go diving about two weeks out of the year. I don't know if I want to pay the expense on a rebreather. I was thinks about looking to see if anyone was selling their. Anyone has any feed back.

If you're asking this question, odds are you're not ready to go CCR.

 

[llaverdure]

I would like to thank everyone for their feed back. Living in DC or Northern Virginia, I don't dive as much as I would like to. I seam to always travel to other places for my diving. As much fun as rebreathing sounds, I think I will save my money and stay with the open circuit.

Again, thank you all for your feed back. You can find me on divebuddy.com and some of the places I have been over the years.

 

[Jill Heinerth]

Here is a link to a short article by Jill Heinerth that addresses some of these questions.

Rebreather Pro: Which Rebreather To Buy?