Trimix Deep Dive Prerequisite

[Wibble]

Choptima is massively appealing, however almost all the people I dive with (and the instructors I have trained with) dive a JJ. I figure commonality of units would be an advantage.

^^ This.

Also the JJ is a boringly standard unit that will be easy to get spares and dive all over the place. It won't be difficult to sell when you eventually dispose of it.

One important point though: your first rebreather should be your only one for a good couple of seasons or more. You need to get very comfortable with it and know its foibles.

 

[bipolarbear]

A

^^ This.

Also the JJ is a boringly standard unit that will be easy to get spares and dive all over the place. It won't be difficult to sell when you eventually dispose of it.

One important point though: your first rebreather should be your only one for a good couple of seasons or more. You need to get very comfortable with it and know its foibles.

At 10k trust me I can't afford any others, so it will be my only one for sure!

One q you might know the answer to - can I use a NERD instead of the standard HUD?

 

[grantctobin]

A

At 10k trust me I can't afford any others, so it will be my only one for sure!

One q you might know the answer to - can I use a NERD instead of the standard HUD?

One could, but a warning that they are built like **** and seem to last about eighteen months before the depth sensor errors out. The battery adapter clip has tolerance issues with the pins. They are also not visible in a true whiteout, whereas the HUD generally is.

There are people that love them and I did once find it useful until problems started popping up.

 

[Wibble]

At 10k trust me I can't afford any others, so it will be my only one for sure!

One q you might know the answer to - can I use a NERD instead of the standard HUD?

Rebreathers are expensive both in terms of initial capital outlay, maintenance costs, training costs and time required to master them (you never master them!). Most of all though, you must regularly dive them to build your skills.


Nerds are great. They're fantastic to have the info in front of you at all times, especially the compass.

But... Nerds are hard to use when you've bailed out or when the kit is on the bench. They need regular charging with a special adapter. And nobody else can see them unless they literally pull it off your loop and their head is touching your head (memories of a recent instructor session where she was checking my settings). One other edge case is where you're in completely silt-out conditions when you cannot read the Nerd in front of your face.

Therefore you need another wrist-mounted computer that also displays the info, or a flashy-light HUD.

My rebreather has the wired Petrel controller on my wrist and the Nerd as a backup. This is a very good configuration in my experience. This also benefits as a Revo has 5 cells with 3 cells connected to the Petrel and 2 cells connected to the Nerd, thus there's two completely independent monitoring systems.

 

[billgraham]

The points about a fundamentals type class are well taken, it does make dealing with the increased gear and effort a lot easier. I know that my friend Edd Sorenson has something similar going (not GUE) and I'd call Cave Adventurers and ask him about it.