Technical Diving Advice?

[flymolo]

That's a lot of He for that depth. CCR training is no more expensive than OC training; however, if you don't do enough diving on the unit the cost factor is higher per dive. There a lot of used CCRs on the market.

Never thought I'd hear someone complain about too much helium...

 

[GF99/99]

So my question is, used or new rebreather? Where to buy? What is the cost per dive for you using your rebreathers on Trimix? Any other advice would be greatly beneficial! Thanks!

• If your short on cash go with used if not go with new.
• New you can buy from any dealer of the unit your buying but generally your instructor would be a good start usually they can help you out with the price if you do your MOD1 with them. If you buy used check online here, rebreather world, local dive community/LDS, etc.
• Cost depends on your mix and scrubber size and duration. You mentioned 185' dives so lets just call it 60m (sorry I am going to work in metric, soooo much easier for tec diving) for round numbers. Average adult male lung capacity is 6l so at 60m you need 42l of Trimix diluent to fill your lungs. Obviously you still need to keep the counterlung with a little gas so they are not flat and no one is a perfect CC diver so you will loose some due to over venting, change in depths, etc. To be conservative since your a new diver call it 150l (50b from a 200b 3l tank fill) for a 60m square profile dive. You mentioned a 45% He mix so that would be 67.5l of He, and if my math is right your $350 LP95 doubles fill He cost you about $0.14 per liter. So the 67.5l of He you would use is about $10 worth. Plus the cost of scrubber. Ill use a JJ scrubber as an example since it big and has a very conservative duration. Radial scrubber is 2.7kg with manufacture 4hr rating. current price on subgarvity for Sofnolime is $8.40 per kg. so $22.68 per fill. Basically a 2hr. total run time square profile dive to 60m would cost you about $21.

 

[Tracy]

Those are some hefty diving goals. Not unattainable, but you are years away from them if you are starting tech at this point. I have dove a few of them, but not all.
My advice is focus on the diving you are going to be doing now. Do your intro to tech with a competent tech instructor. They do exist and they aren't all the same. Fundies would be an excellent alternative to ITT.
Do ANDP with helitrox and spend a summer or two diving the wrecks in your depth range. There are no shortages of spectacular wrecks here in the lakes shallower than 160'.
At that point, you get to make a decision, open or closed circuit. At that point, you will have some idea of how much diving you are actually doing and can better weigh out the pros and cons of each.
Rebreathers aren't cheap, but if you are actively doing a lot of deep diving, they make a lot of sense and add a nice safety factor.
New or used, doesn't really matter. You can buy a good quality modern unit much cheaper used, but you never know exactly how it was treated before you purchased it. It can go both ways.

 

[barth]

Do at least SOME dives on OC. You might quickly find that this ain’t for you. Also, developing good OC skills is important should you move to RB, because when the RB fails you’re an open circuit diver again for the ascent. Stressed and possibly suffering from profound co2 effects = a bad time to find out you aren’t strong on OC skills.

Also, the initial fill is a lot, but top offs are far more reasonable.

When my rebreather fails I’m still a rebreather diver. When I ascend my solenoid is still working and the gas in the rebreather is still expanding. Even if my rebreather is flooded I have a lot of gas in my wing to compensate the flooded rebreather.

An oc diver is not the same as a rebreather diver who is using bailout.

My instructor told me that I should become a rebreather diver, not an oc diver who is using a rebreather.

Two years and 170 dives after ccr1 with my rebreather I still consider myself as a beginner. I’m did learn a lot more by myself and there is a lot more to learn after ccr1 then after tech1. I would start rebreather diving as soon as possible.

 

[grantctobin]

Never thought I'd hear someone complain about too much helium...

Largely because he’s trolling and has no or no relevant technical training nor understanding of current methodologies.

 

[Whitrzac]

Decide if you want to be a RB diver and all the extra things that comes with it.
If its something you want, do it as soon as possible. Theres no reason to wait.

I went straight from a bp/w + pony setup to rebreather. I use it for every dive weather its 20ft looking at fish or a 200ft weck.

 

[broncobowsher]

And if you get a chance, take a few try dives on a rebreather. The first one I did was an eye opener. So much different. Remember to look at the big picture while doing it. At this point you won't be able to sort out much difference between different rebreathers. Just get an idea of what makes them so different.

The good part is you have goals. you are not asking about getting a rebreather just to have one. You have wrecks you want to see, eventually. and you are looking at the correct tool for doing the job. It's just the path to get there.

Now if we get you interested in some travel, some warm waters, Truk perhaps? My trip there (and hopfully some future ones after they open up) the gas bill with Helium was half that of the one guy doing Nitrox. Didn't realize you could use that much O2 on a dive. Helium is so hard to get it is only available for rebreathers.

 

[LustForRust]

Thanks guys! Some wonderful input here. I have dove a few dives on the AP Inspiration. If I were to purchase one it would be that model, primarily because that is what the instructors near me are using. I have doubles and intro to tec, and will have AN/Deco within a month or two. I have always heard that rebreather diving is significantly different from OC, and the two really don't have much in common.

So should I be getting used to a rebreather now in conjunction with the OC tec route? Or should I do the OC tec route, wait a few years, and then start with the rebreather stuff? Thanks all!

 

[Marie13]

Thanks guys! Some wonderful input here. I have dove a few dives on the AP Inspiration. If I were to purchase one it would be that model, primarily because that is what the instructors near me are using. I have doubles and intro to tec, and will have AN/Deco within a month or two. I have always heard that rebreather diving is significantly different from OC, and the two really don't have much in common.

So should I be getting used to a rebreather now in conjunction with the OC tec route? Or should I do the OC tec route, wait a few years, and then start with the rebreather stuff? Thanks all!

Can you afford to buy a rebreather now? With the way the cost of helium is going up, if you can afford to go CCR now, might as well do it. But I’d do your deco class before CCR. It’s good to have the OC skills. If something happened to your CCR needing repairs, at least you’d still be able to dive OC.

 

[LustForRust]

Can you afford to buy a rebreather now? With the way the cost of helium is going up, if you can afford to go CCR now, might as well do it. But I’d do your deco class before CCR. It’s good to have the OC skills. If something happened to your CCR needing repairs, at least you’d still be able to dive OC.

What are your thoughts on ER?