Triton rebreather or Hollis Prism2. Getting into CCR diving with a recreational diver background.

[boriss]

Sometime that’s not the case. It’s very rare for me that the NDL time will be the limiting factor. Most of the time is gas limiting. That’s the primary reason I want to get on CCR due to longer bottom time but within the recreational limit

What tank do you use now? You can always go larger or get doubles. Plenty of OC options before going CCR.

Hi divers

My local dive shop has two rebreather available which are prism 2 and triton from M3S. My primary reason to get into CCR is because I want to increase my bottom time at the recreational depth limit without have to keep coming to the surface and change tanks. I also like the bubble free diving and helps with my photography due to the lack of bubbles.

I am not trying to get into technical diving, but just purely want to enjoy the CCR’s benefit at a recreational level.

What are your thoughts??

Where do you plan on diving most? What platform do you dive off of? Since you're rec, I guess it's all open water. Since you're in the US a Choptima will offer much better support than Triton (if you go chest-mount). For back-mount, I know people who dive Prism2 and it's adequate, but there are better units if you're actually spending money. For free, I'd dive a Prism2 myself

Are you currently a BM or SM diver? That may drive some of the decisions. Do you plan on travel? Is that an important consideration?

There's so much more to picking a unit than just picking between the two your local shop happens to have. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those units, but for example the Triton is mCCR, do you know what that means? Will you be able to concentrate on both your camera and life-support equipment?

 

[formernuke]

The other thing. Your recreational right now but you might change your mind in the future so keep that in mind as well.

 

[broncobowsher]

A rebreather doesn't really change NDL, compared to diving Nitrox. The rebreather is just a Nitrox mixer on your back. Depending on where you are in recreational limits, you can have a lot more bottom time, or just a little more. A rebreather doesn't cancel the laws of physics.

Speaking of Nitrox, do you at least have that? You will need it and REALLY should have advanced Nitrox since you will be dealing with up to 100% O2 (beyond the level of the standard Nitrox class). The CNS that is discussed in the Nitrox classes, often as a little side note, is suddenly a real thing with a rebreather. You really want this out of the way before you start. There will be enough to learning a rebreather that you don't want to drag that class down by having to do the Nitrox class at the same time.

For quietness, (nearly) bubble free diving, and photography, yes a rebreather is a good choice. So you are looking at the right idea.

As others have stated, do not limit yourself to the local shop. The instructor is way more important in a rebreather than any other scuba class. Yes, travel is often needed. Before DiveTucson was a rEvo instructor I had to make the road trip from central AZ to San Diego to get a good instructor. There were instructors locally for other units. There was one shop that really wanted to sell me a Prism, and I could be his first student, just as soon as he had enough hours that he could teach it. If the instructor is still learning, doesn't have that much experience to pass along to the student. Might be fine for a crossover class, but I would not choose that as a first rebreather class. Have a talk with the instructor, sit down for a sandwich or something casual. Discuss what your goals are. Short term, long term, etc. What level are you at now? Do you like the instructor? What per-requisits do they want? What additional gear are you going to need? There is a good chance you need to get some basics out of the way before you take a rebreather class. Need more one on one discussion in person than you will get in an internet forum.

 

[formernuke]

Advanced nitrox is a prerequisite for my CCR class.

 

[Marie13]

Advanced nitrox is a prerequisite for my CCR class.

My CCR instructor didn’t require it. Not all do. Standard nitrox is required by TDI, but not Adv Nitrox, if you’re doing the basic air dil no deco class.

 

[formernuke]

My CCR instructor didn’t require it. Not all do. Standard nitrox is required by TDI, but not Adv Nitrox, if you’re doing the basic air dil no deco class.

I'm doing deco helitrox class. But the other two are just doing no deco air and she said it was a prereq. Could be she just meant me or could be it's just her requirement, shrug. All three of us have it so really doesn't matter.

 

[WOB0.01J]

What tank do you use now? You can always go larger or get doubles. Plenty of OC options before going CCR.



Where do you plan on diving most? What platform do you dive off of? Since you're rec, I guess it's all open water. Since you're in the US a Choptima will offer much better support than Triton (if you go chest-mount). For back-mount, I know people who dive Prism2 and it's adequate, but there are better units if you're actually spending money. For free, I'd dive a Prism2 myself

Are you currently a BM or SM diver? That may drive some of the decisions. Do you plan on travel? Is that an important consideration?

There's so much more to picking a unit than just picking between the two your local shop happens to have. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those units, but for example the Triton is mCCR, do you know what that means? Will you be able to concentrate on both your camera and life-support equipment?

I am definitely planning on traveling with my CCR so a triton fits my needs. I do plenty of shore dive and boat dive. One of the nice thing about triton is that I can still use my OC gear with my CCR. Prism 2 is just too expensive and hard to travel with. I am not a big fan of ECCR because electronics sometimes not very reliable. Mechanical CCR however doesn’t have that issue. That’s why I’m leaning towards the triton than Choptima

 

[formernuke]

I have both mine is a hccr. It was literally probably a total of 50 hours just on the phone, plus reading etc for me to narrow it down. Every one has pluses, everyone minuses and I had to weigh them each.

Not saying the ones you listed are wrong or right just take your time and do a lot of research because these things ain't cheap. Not like messing up your first bc buy where you lose a few hundred selling it used.

 

[boriss]

I am definitely planning on traveling with my CCR so a triton fits my needs. I do plenty of shore dive and boat dive. One of the nice thing about triton is that I can still use my OC gear with my CCR. Prism 2 is just too expensive and hard to travel with. I am not a big fan of ECCR because electronics sometimes not very reliable. Mechanical CCR however doesn’t have that issue. That’s why I’m leaning towards the triton than Choptima

Humans are less reliable than electronics. Humans distracted by their camera equipment are even less reliable.

"research suggests that regardless of the activity or task being conducted, humans make between 3-6 errors per hour."

You can run an eCCR manually (I did so for 2-hours today). You can't do the opposite.

Sounds like you've made your choice, however. Good luck!

 

[davehicks]

Humans are less reliable than electronics. Humans distracted by their camera equipment are even less reliable.

"research suggests that regardless of the activity or task being conducted, humans make between 3-6 errors per hour."

You can run an eCCR manually (I did so for 2-hours today). You can't do the opposite.

Sounds like you've made your choice, however. Good luck!

A constant flow orifice is more reliable than electronics any day of the week. I can clean it out once a year and it never needs factory service, fresh batteries, a new solenoid, replacement wiring harnesses, etc. There is no comparison.