small RB?

[caveseeker7]

Here a picture of smaller versions of two current CCRs. On the left the Megalodon and the MiniMeg, on the right the Inspiration and upcoming evolution.
The smaller versions use what looks like 13 cu.ft. tanks, what I consider the minimum bailout gas for a recreational (100 ft./no deco/no overhead environ) dive. Both of those will take you into deco obligation easily if you don't pay attention.

Oxygen rebreathers tend to be very small, but running on O2 can't be taken deep (more than once). The C96 is one that is available through
http://www.divesafe.net/
Dave Sutton's Minimum bailout RB is based on this little rig.
For a seemingly endless amount of RB pics go to
http://www.therebreathersite.nl/

 

[pipedope]

Gotta send ya back to Tom Rose again.
Take a look at this one;
http://www.atlimp.com/hcmain.htm


I can think of worse ways to die than underwater with my own rebreather.

 

[Robert Cook]

So does anyone know when the mini-KISS will become available ,

Thanks,
Robert

 

[db8us]

Hi John,

do not forget that you still need some bailout if you are not only diving where you can bolt to the surface !
This adds up nicely to the "small rig", making the size of tanks not the biggest issue...

Michael

 

[dolphinJS]

I think the smallest RB is the Japanese Ouba. You can check out some photo's of it at: http://www.angelfire.com/sports/scubascans/Rebreathers/Fieno/index.html Click on the Ouba tab.

It has a duration of just 10 minutes

 

[jplacson]

OMG! That is the coolest RB!!!! Trust the Japs to shrink things down!!!

It's almost as small as the RB of Batman!!!! :lol:

db8us, it was just a thought since most OW dives aren't that long anyway.

If they perfected an OW RB unit that gave you the same bottom time as a regular no-deco, OW, single-tank rig... I think they'd be onto something that could revolutionize diving as we know it. This way, the mass-produced units would fund research for the more extreme RBs that require more training, bigger tanks...etc..

I think RBs are the way to go.. they are smaller, easier to swim with, and don't scare the fish.

I'm sure current RB users are saying "why bother with RB if you don't want extended bottom time?" ... that's not the point. Most RB users now are highly trained divers who get more training to stay down longer. If the technology was perfected already to allow simpler RB units with shorter bottom times, and a curriculum for OW training... more people will take the RB path... thus bring down over all RB industry prices... increasing awareness of RB procedures and advantages... increasing manufacturer funding and causing more manufacturers to make and support RB units... making more RB units available... lowering impact on marinelife... increasing number of RB divers... increasing RB research for advanced units... making extreme RB units more reliable and longer lasting! It's a win-win for everyone.

New divers will have smaller rigs... better diving experience... manufacturers can now move into the next phase of diving... more advanced RB divers will have more choices and better units due to the increased demand!

 

[SeaJay]

...That RB's don't have the massive shift in buoyancy over the course of the dive, either... Making the need for huge BC's a thing of the past.

Someone would have to manufacture the active chemical... "Sodasorb?" (I can't remember the name of it.) In a filter packet... Like those premeasured coffee filters. They'd have to retail for $10 or less each.

Then make the bottle of dilutent/O2 small enough to be comfy, large enough to work, and capable of doing both of those at low pressure (<1000 psi). If you did that, then you could simply own a couple of HP120 scuba tanks filled with the correct gas... And do three or four fills from your HP120, change the filter, and go...

...Of course, you'd need to make sure that the unit was free from electronics, save perhaps from a depth guage/computer... I've heard less than positive things about electronic life support in water...

 

[caveseeker7]

You never fail to make me wonder, Sea Jay. One moment you make me gringe because you're radically DIR, the next one you have a perfectly open mind and good ideas. Dr. Sea Jay & Mr. Hide ...

Anyway, as db8us pointed out, the most restricting part of RBs is bailout.
Just about any size unit has been build, from the momumental early Cis-Lunars to small Baby-KISS to those tiny japanese contraptions.
But if you want to spend any time underwater, you need enough gas to get back to the surface. From the 30-40m rec limit we're talking 13-20cu.ft. of gas to keep things safe. Deeper/deco, and you're at the status quo: Large tanks on the RB, large tanks for bailout or both.

As for the scrubber, have a look at the attachment, Microprene's ExtendAir cartridge. Currently available for Dolphin and Azimuth, should comesoon for the Inspiration. Price is still up there at $76 for four of them, but hopefully will come down as volume increases. Can't beat the convenience and ease. From what I hear they'll have new cartridges at DEMA.

 

[SeaJay]

caveseeker7 once bubbled...
...you're radically DIR,

I am?

I think I need to change my avitar... If I'd use a picture where I don't look so big, and not wearing a black T-shirt... Maybe I wouldn't look like such a "radical." I swear, I really am a nice guy more "on the road to DIR" than anything else.

...the next one you have a perfectly open mind and good ideas. Dr. Sea Jay & Mr. Hide ...

My mind is always open. I wouldn't have been open to DIR if it hadn't been. If you look back at some of my first posts, I was very much once quite "anti-DIR." I thought they were pretty much fruit loops.

...But when I dove with them, I saw all of these really great ideas...

By the way, have you seen Halcyon's rebreather? It's pretty impressive... About the size of an AL80, and quite capable... You know, that's the invention of some pretty open minds...

That cartridge-filter thing looks like "just the ticket." I like that... Assuming, of course, that it works and that they're not charging an arm and a leg for them...

Wouldn't it be cool to see the industry go that way?

 

[jplacson]

Yup, I saw the Halcyon RB... but that's my point...most RBs on the market now, are aimed at serious divers looking for 10 hour bottom times... and as wonderful as that sounds... you can sustain a business model catering to only ultra-high-end consumers. Diving as it is, is already a niche market... to cater to a niche of the niche... well, that limits your funding for research and development...not to mention raises prices of all prototypes...and limits production runs.

Most OW divers just want to have fun, dive with friends, something to do on the weekend kind of thing... if I owned a Rebreather, it would really be pointless and, quite frankly, stupid if I dove with regular air people... and not extend my bt.

I honestly think that a small RB, something that could just keep up with a single AL80, with a 130' depth capability... and a specially structured certification class (no need for prior scuba certs... something made for RB from the very start) would open up a whole new world for diving.

If that Jap Ouba RB could've given the same range as 32EAN, I think that would've been a major break through in diving!

I'd love to see the day when traditional scuba gets phased out and everyone is on a rebreather of some kind. I feel the fish would be very grateful!!! Imagine having those noisy muffler cars driving through your neighborhood at all times of the day? That's probably how the fish feel whenever divers are close by! :lol: