To CCR or not to CCR...that is the question

[techintime]

Im at fork in the road and looking for input. I'm a OC technical diver (AN/DP) with a little over 200 dives and about 20 true technical dives. Im no youngster, middle aged with a family, so hopefully no reckless tendencies. The next logical step is OC normoxic trimix and then perhaps hypoxic trimix. Based on the limitations of deeper OC dives, and the higher costs of helium, I'm considering going straight to CCR and then working up through the training with that equipment.
Here is the twist...For the next 2-4 years I will live in a place where I can dive almost every weekend year round. After that, I will be moving to a place where I can probably make about 4-5 dive trips per year of 2-4 days each (call it 10-15 dive days per year). And there will be breaks in diving of 3-4 months at a time.

My question is this...I read that a CCR is something you need to dive regularly to stay proficient...more so than OC. If I get a couple of years of experience regularly diving with the CCR, what would people consider to be the minimum amount of diving to remain safely proficient as a CCR diver? What kind of breaks in diving are acceptable with a CCR?

PS: Looking for serious input. Flamers need not reply.

 

[PfcAJ]

My only thought (that I'm going to share) is to make sure you're good at OC and you stay good at OC. Gas switches, bottle handling, gas management, all that jazz. When the CCR ****s the bed, you're right back on OC. The last thing you want/need is additional problems.

 

[rjack321]

There's not enough information in your post to know if some sort of rebreather is a good idea or not honestly. If all of these tech dives (in 2 yrs time or now) are 140ft deep, then big whoop I'd stay on OC and save your money. If they are 350ft then maybe CCR's a good idea. What about buddies too? will they be OC, CCR or instabuddies?

 

[Mr.X]

Personally - I wouldn't worry too much about it. Sounds like you will get a lot of time (initially) to develop some core skills and the time to repetitively commit those skills to reflex memory. That said - instruction should be from a top notch instructor who understands the value of influencing the affective and psychomotor domains in their students so as to create life long / safe learners. An instructor just going through the CCR standards is one thing. It's quite another with an instructor that teaches life / survival skills.

X

 

[techintime]

To clarify...The place I just moved to has an active tech diving community that is almost exclusively CCR. It's a pretty tight group that I would be diving with for the next few years with lots of opportunity to do dives in the 150-300 ft range, some shallower, potentially some even deeper. From discussions with the instructor, I have confidence in his ability to teach CCR. I have seen his students and they are excellent divers in general. I am also confident of his ability to run the tech dive club focused on CCR divers in a competent teamwork-focused manner. I am confident that he could teach me well (and would also have the fortitude to wash me out if I don't cut it). If I make the jump, the next few years is not what worries me. I feel confident that I can develop my skills (on CCR) under proper supervision and progress up the skills/difficulty-of-dives ladder. And I will have plenty of opportunity to dive for the next 2-4 years to gain/maintain experience.

The question is what happens when I revert back to less frequent diving. And the answer will (in part) determine whether I make the jump or not. When you dive a lot, your skills stay sharp. When you don't dive a lot, you skills weaken, but depth of experience can help moderate the decline. I don't want this new CCR to become an expensive paper weight that I can't maintain enough proficiency on to dive it safely. Hence my question...Assuming I build a solid base as a CCR diver over the next 2-4 years, after that, what is the minimum amount of diving that would be considered adequate to maintain proficiency as a CCR diver? I'm not expecting an exact answer, just some stories, rules-of-thumb, personal decisions that others have made, etc.

There have got to be some folks out there, probably a lot of people, who made the jump to CCR, developed their skills, and then (for whatever reason) ended up dialing back their diving and had to face the question of whether they were diving enough to remain proficient enough to stick with CCR. That is who I am hoping to hear from.

 

[Dsix36]

My personal opinion, and only that an opinion.

Skip the OC tech training and go directly to CCR. In the 2 years that you are doing a lot of CCR diving, you will develop the skills necessary to keep your butt alive on the CCR. Later when you are not able to dive so much, then you can make a decision for yourself as to if you think your skills are to diminished to dive after a 4 month wait. You can always go back to OC and sell the RB if you want to.

The fact that you are currently surround by a CCR tech community is the thing that you may not have to opportunity to be involved with again. Take advantage of this and expand you knowledge and experiences.

Your skills will actually become "muscle memory" and although you will get rusty, if you start again in several months with a slow and safe approach instead of just jumping in for a 300' dive the first time, you should gain competency again.

 

[tstormdiver]

I will be beginning my CCR training this week, getting my unit wet in the pool for the first time. I've been doing some simple surface skills (packing the sorb canister, calibrating the O2 sensors, assembly & disassembly of the unit). Things have been off to a slow start from the holidays & a FL cave trip. Now to get down to business. Even though I already have some OC tech training, I am going into the CCR starting open water, then hoping to relatively quickly move on over to cave & eventually to trimix. I'll be posting on my experiences as I go, if you are interetsed.

 

[techintime]

I will be beginning my CCR training this week, getting my unit wet in the pool for the first time. I've been doing some simple surface skills (packing the sorb canister, calibrating the O2 sensors, assembly & disassembly of the unit). Things have been off to a slow start from the holidays & a FL cave trip. Now to get down to business. Even though I already have some OC tech training, I am going into the CCR starting open water, then hoping to relatively quickly move on over to cave & eventually to trimix. I'll be posting on my experiences as I go, if you are interetsed.

Tammy,
Very interested. I have followed a few of your threads. You are an inspiration.

DSix,
You are right that this is likely the only time I will be able to dive this much and be around a set group of CCR divers. Definitely a consideration. Anyone know what the depreciation is on a 2-4 year old CCR? Hope they are not like cars, but suspect that they are worse.

 

[tstormdiver]

I will likely be posting in the regular rebreather forum, not the T2T, so that more people can read it.

 

[Dsix36]

DSix,
You are right that this is likely the only time I will be able to dive this much and be around a set group of CCR divers. Definitely a consideration. Anyone know what the depreciation is on a 2-4 year old CCR? Hope they are not like cars, but suspect that they are worse.

I think that you should use the local RB divers to help you decide on what kind of RB you want and then locate a used one to start off with. Many RB divers will change to a different unit after they dive one for awhile and learn all they things the do/do not like about them. I am personally on my third one right now.

You can get an optima for under $4000, but that is NOT my recommendation (I had one of them). Talk to other divers that you will be diving with and learn from them. Use their experience to help you make a more informed decision.

I will add a shameless plug here - go to ADD HELIUM and check out their used rebreathers.

I dive a rEvo, but think a Meg is also a solid choice.