Travelling / Boat Diving with Rebreathers?

[KevinNM]

I think you are over thinking things. With the fairly mild dive profiles it sounds like you plan to dive, you bail out. It's that simple. Needing flood tolerance and all that other stuff is more important when you are doing deep cave dives and deep technical dives. You rarely see anyone take a rEvo into a cave. While capable of doing a 100M dive when properly setup, rEvo isn't common there either. Boat dives off the coast of California, typically up to 200' (Opps, Aussie conversion, 65M) it is common for half the boat to be filled with rEvos. Good line up of rEvos on the bench in Truk.

As for if I run RMS, no I don't. When I got my rEvo it was after a long spell of the original couple versions of the sensors that were highly failure prone. Having a discussion with my rEvo instructor we (collectively) decided that RMS was not for me. With the 2 scrubbers and the rotation program I am happy with it. If I was pushing the limits of both scrubbers in a single dive very often I might want it more. But my shorter duration diving, I really just use one scrubber and the second is the backup plan.

There is a guy on the board who has taken a rEvo into Revelation Space in Eagles Nest. But everyone has their reasons for their choices.

 

[davidvan]

Something to think about. What is your dive profile going to be like? If you have enough of an issue that you flood, how much do you really need to keep diving? When you are an hour back in a cave, yes it would be nice to recover and get back on the loop. But long duration recreational dives, maybe with a light deco obligation, bailing out just works and other than jacked up buoyancy you just end the dive.

I can't see myself doing any intensive cave diving or tech diving either. I think I'd generally be happy being limited to 30-40m. A lot of my local diving in Sydney will be within 20m. My main motivation is being close to nature. I'm happy to sit for 20 minutes watching a single animal. I also enjoy photography which kind of goes hand-in-hand. So the big benefits of rebreathers for me are no bubbles and longer bottom times for exploration.
That said, a bucket list item for me is to spend time diving the Cenotes in Mexico. So some cave diving is on the cards in the future.. however I don't need to make deep penetrations. A lot of what attracts me to the Cenotes is the beauty of the light in the caverns.
With regards to getting off the loop in the case of any problem.. I'm fine with that. However, my apprehension is that there may not be much/any warning until you're breathing caustic fluid.
I don't understand why no rebreathers have flood sensors. Surely it's possible, despite the very humid environment in there, there's ways of detecting liquid water.

 

[broncobowsher]

When you get training you will learn stuff. Gurgling sounds, changes in WOB, etc.
You have worries that are answered by correct training.

I think you are to the point you need to find an instructor and have a good one on one talk with them.

 

[davidvan]

When you get training you will learn stuff. Gurgling sounds, changes in WOB, etc.
You have worries that are answered by correct training.

I think you are to the point you need to find an instructor and have a good one on one talk with them.

Yeah I have read about those signs. I also read stuartv's posts as pointed out by another contributor in this thread. He got no gurgling and only very slight change in WOB - so slight he thought it was in his mind.
I guess that's rare though. In his case it was the back cover not being seated properly. IMO that's a bit of a problem with the existing rEvo design. It was fixed in the Mares Horizon by having individual covers on each scrubber that clip in (therefore impossible to not seat correctly), and a separate protective cover on the outside. Hopefully they'll do another update of the rEvo soon and use that design.. maybe with some sort of extra flood protection/recovery - that would be very compelling.

I did go visit Southern Cross Divers in Sydney, the only local CCR trainers I've found, but unfortunately they'd closed early that day.
There's no rEvo trainers in Sydney that I'm aware of though. We do have some in Melbourne and Perth. I may give one a call soon.

I'm still just in the planning stages. Still learning a lot and still working through the Jill Heinerth book.
I'm also tentatively considering going with the Mares Horizon as a baby step. It suits my needs, has a local trainer and a bit cheaper. Just not a huge fan of sidemount. I may be swayed if I could find a second-hand rEvo with the right setup in the meantime.. eg rMS, Petrel and NERD.
When I do finally talk to Southern Cross, they may even convince me to go with an AP. I do prefer the simplicity of the loop on the rEvo, but AP does have most of the features I'd want.

Anyway.. the conversation has kind of veered off the original topic of travelling with rebreathers.
I'm not hearing any major concerns though, so maybe it's all in my head.

 

[Heat Miser]

There was a second hand Horizon on facebook in Buy & Sell Scuba Gear Australia a couple of months ago.

Buy & Sell Scuba Gear Australia

Having dived a rEvo for a year and a half, I can't really see in what circumstances I would want use a Horizon in preference.

 

[Dusty123]

I pack my micro around in a pelican 1600 and check it. I often fly on little regional jets and am paranoid about them trying to gate check it due to lack of overhead space.

 

[Heat Miser]

I pack my micro around in a pelican 1600 and check it. I often fly on little regional jets and am paranoid about them trying to gate check it due to lack of overhead space.

I have to travel to Melbourne next month and am looking / guessing what the right size case should be.

When you say "and check it" do you mean you carry it on?

What do you do before you put it in the 1600, take wing off? Will it fit in that with dreams. Is the interior size of your 1600 54.6cm × 42cm × 20.3 cm = 21.5 inches x 16.5 inches x 8 inches

Need the right size Pelican case for my micro, expedition.

 

[davidvan]

There was a second hand Horizon on facebook in Buy & Sell Scuba Gear Australia a couple of months ago.
...
Having dived a rEvo for a year and a half, I can't really see in what circumstances I would want use a Horizon in preference.

Yeah I've seen that Horizon. Possibly an option.

I'd definitely prefer full CCR. Still tossing up whether to take the full plunge. Horizon route will be cheaper in both unit and training. ProDive Central Coast will do the training for $495 to the 30M level, and an extra $685 to 40M deco.

 

[davidvan]

I pack my micro around in a pelican 1600 and check it. I often fly on little regional jets and am paranoid about them trying to gate check it due to lack of overhead space.

Where do you travel with it?
Do you dive with dive operators at these places?

 

[Dusty123]

I leave the wing on, remove butt plate. I move the mav, inflator, spg around to the backside where the cylinders would be. Its really snug even a bit of a press fit with the weight bracket. It's well under 50lbs and I put my loop hoses in and some miscellaneous items, no cylinders. This is with the revo wing.... I have switched to a diverite transpac and wing which takes up more space and will travel with the loop, buttplate, and back pad separate. I mainly am just going back a forth with it from North Dakota to Florida. I just bring it home when I got something to play with or maintenance. I don't carry it on...here in the states they have this nasty habit of taking your carry on and checking it to your final destination which makes me nervous if not in a case.