switching to no-bubbles

[PeCeDiver]

Hi all,

first I want to thank the forum for the excellent advice I got a while back.
Last week thursday we did a rebreather try-out in a pool with a SCR Dolphin and a CCR Dolphin. It went very smoothly. Bouyancy contral was a bit weird, but certainly not a problem. And the CCR was silent. Just what we were looking for.

So on Friday I ordered my EVO. Wait time will be around 8 months ... ouch. The good thing is that any problems will be discovered by other divers. The bad thing, open water dives in freezing temperatures (3 degrees Celcius) and low vis (6 feet is good vis where we dive).

I have a question for the EVO divers out there. How do you attach your bailout bottle and light cannister to the unit?

Thanks,

Peter

 

[Camerone]

Hi all,
I have a question for the EVO divers out there. How do you attach your bailout bottle and light cannister to the unit?

(Excellent choice - I'm biased, though...I spent the dough for an Evo as well)

Bailouts can be attached one of two ways. First, Silent Diving sells a mating bracket pair that bolts through holes in the side of the shell. One bracket on the bailout, one on the rebreather. The cylinders can be put on either side, so you can balance argon, for instance, against a 19 or so of bailout gas. Talk to Cliff or your LDS about getting a set.

Alternatively, you can do what I am doing - just sling a bottle. A 30 works really well, and, once in the water, isn't really an issue.

With regards to the light, you could do one of three things (that I can think of...) Use a strap on the side around your hip strap (or clip to D-ring), use one of the mounting brackets/plates, like a bailout cylinder, or, alternatively, depending on what your power source is, there's actually space inside the yellow shell for a battery canister, with the lighting cord run up and over, just like the handsets are.

Silent Diving even has a clamp set up designed expressly for mounting lights inside the yellow shell...AFAIK, they were in talks with one of the larger light distributors to even sell canister HID lights as an option with Evo orders...

 

[PeCeDiver]

Hi Camerone,

when is your unit going to arrive?

I side sling is not really an option because of my video setup.
see http://users.pandora.be/PCDiver/pcdiver_small.jpg

But cylinders mounted to the side of the EVO sounds like a good solution. Great.

What about mounting a cylinder horizontal under the EVO? That would keep the entire unit more streamlined.

 

[Camerone]

Um, the official word is "any day, now..." Take it for what you will, although I have people here, locally who have already received units and have been diving them. Target time for me was promised as early May, although I'm not sure at the moment. Although it sounds like I'm griping, I'm not, actually - I've got a bit of sinus trouble that's been plaguing me for a few months, so not diving for a while's actually a good thing.

My avatar photo is indeed of me, on an Evo during training, although it's not my unit, unfortunately.

Underneath might be a little cumbersome, although I'm sure it can be done, if you're using a small cylinder. The Evo is just so tiny on my back, that I'd have a hard time picturing anything larger than a 13 crossways without sticking out the sides. I think it'd tend to limit manuverability...I'm a smaller guy, and I found the extended size of the Inspiration is significantly less comfortable on me than the smaller Evolution, primarily right in the area you're proposing to mount a cylinder. Plus, you'd have to drill into the case; not an issue, but it's already set up for side brackets from the factory.

For what it's worth, I have dual bottles that I drilled/bolted/clamped on my Drager Dolphin on the sides - one each for argon (6 cf) and inflation/bailout (19 cf), and then I run either the steel 28 or an AL 50 across the bottom as the loop gas. The 50 cf is a pain not to whack things when gearing up on a boat. However, the side bottles, I don't even notice, and the Drager is a lot less ergonomic and a lot bulkier than the Evolution...