skills for shallow rebreather diving?

[Angelo Farina]

I was certified for CC rebreathers at a maximum depth of 10m during my first OW course in 1975.
The super simple pure oxygen rebreathers were very popular here in Italy until 1985. They were cheaper than an OC scuba system (tank+regulator), hence most of the training of new divers was done on these CC rebreathers, shortly named ARO.
Very simple units, no electronics, no automatism.
Here in Italy many clubs do ARO courses even today.
Of course, as you breath oxygen close to 100% the risk of hyperoxia is significant.
I am certified for 10 meters max, but I think that currently an ARO certification allows for just 6 meters max.
There are currently two main manufacturers of ARO rebreathers, Draeger and Siel (ex OMG).
Draeger is used by US Navy Seals. Here in Italy we favour the SIEL (OMG) brand.
Here the Castoro C96, the recreational ARO:
SIEL Advanced Sea System
Here a carbon copy of the Castoro, named ARO-c96, manufactured under license by another Italian company, Sanosub:
Autorespiratori ad ossigeno a circuito chiuso -
The last time I asked, the price was 1300 eur.
An ARO course here in Italy is around 300 eur.
So this is not a very expensive solution, compared to mixed-gas CC rebreathers...

 

[ps444mike]

find a Good Instructor an ALLWAYS know your Po2 an enjoy your dives

 

[lostsheep]

Are you planning on diving it locally here around Monterey? If so then I’d say focus on getting comfortable here with our local conditions. The kelp , cold, and bad viz seem to give lots of people problems. As for buoyancy and trim skills, closed circuit is so different from open circuit that I don’t think much transfers over.

If you’re looking to get a head start on closed circuit I’d focus on how rebreathers work and learning the pertinent gas laws.

 

[Gareth J]

I would also suggest that buoyancy control is far easier on OC than CCR.
CCR requires you to pay attention to the instrumentation, particularly your PO2.

Photography and monitoring instrumentation are not a good mix. I say that as someone who carries a camera and does the majority of diving on CCR.

I would suggest, that you perfect your skills (both diving and underwater photography), on OC prior to considering moving to CCR.

 

[kelemvor]

There's a shop near me that sells that Poseidon 7 to non tech divers. Useful for the reasons already covered. I couldn't tell you what is required, but I bet if you called a Poseidon dealer, they could clue you in. I don't see much point in giving you the shop's contact info as you can't get much further than Florida <->California without leaving the country.

I talked to them about the thing at one point, it's not cheap - nor is the training. In the end I decided the rigor required to dive rebreathers safely is just something I couldn't count on myself to do reliably.

 

[beldridg]

I would also suggest that buoyancy control is far easier on OC than CCR.
CCR requires you to pay attention to the instrumentation, particularly your PO2.

Photography and monitoring instrumentation are not a good mix. I say that as someone who carries a camera and does the majority of diving on CCR.

I would suggest, that you perfect your skills (both diving and underwater photography), on OC prior to considering moving to CCR.

These are all good points. I think I probably had 100+ hours on my CCR before I started taking a "serious" camera setup with me.

The one note I would add is that I think trim is even harder than buoyancy. It does, of course, depend upon the make and model of the rebreather and whether or not you are diving with a drysuit.

I personally had a harder time (and still do) with trim vs. buoyancy.

And, as @tbone1004 mentioned, diving shallow with a rebreather is both dangerous and hard due to the large percentage of pressure changes and gas expansion with small depth changes and the resultant PO2 changes in a closed circuit system. I really don't like shallow water rebreather dives and almost never do them.

I understand the desire to be silent for photography, but in terms of where a rebreather really makes sense technically, it isn't in shallow water.

- brett

 

[davehicks]

I did a 100 minute dive last night on a Rebreather with a camera. My trim was perfect.

 

[beldridg]

I did a 100 minute dive last night on a Rebreather with a camera. My trim was perfect.

My point wasn't that isn't possible.

I also did a dive yesterday on my rebreather with ~ 25 minutes of bottom time and ~ 45 minutes of deco and had my camera took and took a bunch of great pictures.

My point was that I personally found it relatively harder to dial in my trim compared to my buoyancy on a rebreather.

- brett

 

[lermontov]

What is a recommended set of skills needed for "non-technical" rebreather diving (<40 feet)? Basically for photography in shallow reefs, since wildlife gets spooked by bubbles.

hi yaraslav - traditionally people start on scubu and after getting to the "competent " stage have migrated to ccr. Most would recommend that path due the massive leap in task loading on a ccr -not saying it cant be done but its a steep curve.
skills required -ability to show lot of patience and commitment to the process and attention to detail, water skills the same and forget about the camera for a few months

 

[Blackcrusader]

What is a recommended set of skills needed for "non-technical" rebreather diving (<40 feet)? Basically for photography in shallow reefs, since wildlife gets spooked by bubbles.

Why not get some some kit that has twin hoses that take your bubbles away quietly. Much cheaper than re-breathers. I dive with regular kit and have no issues with critters as I have the skills required to keep myself motionless. That movement and not just bubbles can scare fish away, movement more so. It will take lots of dives to get to the level where you can sneak up on some critters and not have them hide.

Sometimes if you want to make a video leave your kits setup and swim away and come back later on. Critters are less bothered by video lights than large beings in the water. Go Pros can take photos as you video. Not sure what camera setup you have though.