skills for shallow rebreather diving?

[broncobowsher]

OC skills to work on before CCR;
Get your drysuit right.
Practice gas switches. You will need to be comfortable so you can be comfortable to do a bail out.
Start slinging some cylinders, because you will need them for bail out with CCR. Even those shallow recreational dives.
Get your advanced Nitrox and deco procedures out of the way, you will need an understand of those to understand the rebreather. Even if you are not planning deco, the class teaches theory and practice that carries over into the rebreather.

 

[doctormike]

Nope, just got open water certified. Basically trying to estimate which skills I would need/hours needed, before it makes sense to buy one.

Thinking about this -

OP, I understand that you are excited about diving and photography, but I would forget about rebreathers for now.

If you are very new to diving, you probably should just get some dives under your belt before even taking a camera, let along worrying about rebreather skills. I certainly don't think that you should be worried about bottle switching, dry suits, the cost of training and equipment right now. Some of what people talk about as "rebreather skills" are just good diving skills, that only come after spending time in the water.

Focus on getting experience as a scuba diver within your current training. In a year or so, after a number of dives, once you are comfortable diving with your camera, then think about this question again. You will be in a much better place to decide if this very expensive venture, which obligates you to dive regularly (not just on vacation a couple of times a year), is worth the questionable benefit of getting closer to wildlife.

 

[tbone1004]

No risk of hypoxia? Doubtful. My only near miss with hypoxia in almost 2000 hrs on RBs was many moons ago on a Draeger Dolphin, 32% gas with correct flow orfice swimming really hard at the surface against current to get to the front of the boat. It was only when I stopped swimming to rest before descending that I heard my oxygauge screaming at me. My PO2 was climbing back up and was at 0.16 when I looked. It came back fast but if I had kept swimming, who knows. I have always felt SCR are no safer than CCR.

depends on type of SCR. I think ones like the KISS/RB80 that flush x% of your breath vs. the orifice kind are a lot less risky. Depends on the type of injection it is using.

 

[beester]

There are many diving incidents that I've seen (and some that I've been part of) linked to camera work underwater (both photo and video), I 've been involved in quite a lot of GUE projects were camera work was a big part of the project scope. I'm not a camera man, but always a light diver (assisting the camera man lighting objects).

The main dangers are getting too task focused and losing all awareness (gas, depth, surroundings) or getting task overloaded. Add to that a machine that you absolutely need to stay on top off (a rebreather) in shallow water and it's a potential recipe for disaster.

I would take a step by step approach:

- Do a great number of dives expanding your experience in your local dive environment and focussing on trim and buoyancy. (maybe even take a course like fundies).
- Only after you've done that and all basic underwater skills are 2nd nature add a camera to the dive. Do again a load of dives on OC using the camera.
- Only then introduce a rebreather, and when you start rebreathing diving leave the camera at home for a great number of dives.

A great number of dives in my opinion is at least 100 dives, but your milleage may vary.

A great axiom of (technical) diving is NEVER introduce more than 1 new element in your diving. I'm sorry but there are no safe fasttrack options. Even with a "simple" sCCR or O² rebreather you are introducing complexity without real benefit (at this stage of your diving).

 

[Blackcrusader]

I would take a step by step approach:

- Do a great number of dives expanding your experience in your local dive environment and focusing on trim and buoyancy. (maybe even take a course like fundies).

GUE turn out divers who have good buoyancy and other skills. My BSAC instructor was the same we would not get the Sports Diving Novice certification if buoyancy was not mastered with trim for the conditions it was needed in.

 

[beester]

GUE turn out divers who have good buoyancy and other skills. My BSAC instructor was the same we would not get the Sports Diving Novice certification if buoyancy was not mastered with trim for the conditions it was needed in.

I was involved in creating and teaching a class for Belgian CMAS video and photographers. Our part was a workshop just focussing on trim, buoyancy and finning techniques. It became so succesful that we had to start refusing divers who were not interested in video or photo, because we got a lot of people coming just for this workshop.

If you wanted to participate as a teacher in that workshop you had to have at least a GUE technical certification or pass a simple test we would perform in a deep (15m) indoor diving pool. Just hang still in a more or less horizontal position without moving your feet/fins or hands/arms for 3 minutes at 6m. We had 3 star cmas instructors coming in unable to do it, it really was an eyeopener for a lot of them.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I was involved in creating and teaching a class for Belgian CMAS video and photographers. Our part was a workshop just focussing on trim, buoyancy and finning techniques. It became so succesful that we had to start refusing divers who were not interested in video or photo, because we got a lot of people coming just for this workshop.

If you wanted to participate as a teacher in that workshop you had to have at least a GUE technical certification or pass a simple test we would perform in a deep (15m) indoor diving pool. Just hang still in a more or less horizontal position without moving your feet/fins or hands/arms for 3 minutes at 6m. We had 3 star cmas instructors coming in unable to do it, it really was an eyeopener for a lot of them.

Maybe I am not that good but I have had other divers see me and come over and pull on my fins or BCD thinking unresponsive diver, no bubble trail, motionless in the water.. Oh my god he was only taking a photo. OK that can be done when no currents but anyone in a current is going to use fins for control. If the water is rocking in and out I am like a hummingbird my arms stay at a fixed distance while the rest of me moves back and forwards or sideways with the water.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

For a decade I didn't dive without a camera in my hands--the SLR with dual strobes and usually 1 or 2 slave strobes. Then I got a rebreather, and promptly put the camera on the shelf for a long time.

I would say the 100 hour comment is spot on, and I still switch to OC when I have a big photo dive, unless it's deep and flat. Below 100', the rebreather is just an absolute dream.

You just need your hands and brain a lot more on a rebreather, especially shallow, and even more if the profile shifts a lot and it's shallow.

It's not at all impossible, assuming you are a great photographer in oc, but I highly recommend starting with a gopro or something you can easily clip or stuff in a pocket, to make sure you are ready for the task loading and know when to clip it off before you need both your hands.

A lot of stuff you read about rebreathers doesn't make sense until you actually experience it in the water, and it's easier to start off with a conservative plan vs. planning on a camera right away. It also gives you time to focus on personalizing stuff about your rebreather which will help you accommodate the camera sooner.

I would practice changing profile depth and getting the bouyancy change right with as futzing as possible, diluent and adv management as you go up or down, especially if it's temporary for a photo, and paying super close attention to how those changes impact your po2. Make sure your predive routine is solid and if you notice you have missed something due to distraction, leave the camera on the boat. Can't take good photos if you are dead.

It used to be when I hop in the water, I check my housing for a red blinky light. Now, my first priority is my HUD blinky light.

 

[stuartv]

Nope, just got open water certified. Basically trying to estimate which skills I would need/hours needed, before it makes sense to buy one.

You need good technical finning techniques - frog kicks, helicopter turns, and back kicks.

You need to be proficient and completely comfortable with basics like swapping regs and clearing your mask.

If you're going to be diving dry, you need to be completely proficient with diving in a drysuit on OC.

You would be well served to get good at u/w photography on OC first. Being an experienced land-based photographer is only moderately helpful. Underwater photography is its own beast. The Martin Edge book, The Underwater Photographer, is an excellent one to read to help you get started there.

From there, I will break from what others have said and say that, if you have those skills at a reasonably high level of proficiency, you could reasonably start on CCR training. My opinion is 50 dives could be enough, if you actually work at the skills. If you just go diving and don't pay any attention to actually working on the skills, then it will take longer. Potentially, a lot longer.

As has already been observed, learning to dive a CCR is like learning to dive all over again. Buoyancy is completely different. So, what advantage is there to waiting (once you do have the skills you need)?

Your first cert would be for 100', on air (for dil), with no decompression (at least, with TDI, but I think most other agencies as well). That should be all you need for the dives you described. You can stay at 40' for the duration of your scrubber or O2 cylinder (i.e. anywhere from 4 to 8 hours) without incurring a decompression obligation.

Once you do get onto a CCR, plan on logging enough hours to get some basic proficiency with it before you take a camera in the water with you. When I did my initial CCR training, my instructor told me if I spent 30 - 35 hours diving it in shallow water (say, 40 feet or less) and swimming around, including going up and down over things, going between shallower and deeper parts and so forth, that should bring my buoyancy skills on CCR to a fairly proficient point. That worked out for me and I started diving with my camera again after that (with no issues).

 

[doctormike]

Nope, just got open water certified. Basically trying to estimate which skills I would need/hours needed, before it makes sense to buy one.

So I mentioned this before, but I'm not sure of the answer. How many dives a year do you plan on doing?