What to expect?

[Simon-]

After many months of 2 friends of mine exhalting the wonders of CCR, it looks like I might finally be conceding and giving it a go shortly.

Now, I have only ever dived OC, both rec & tec, for over 20 years, so it should be an interesting learning curve.

I appreciate that buoyancy control will have to be re-learnt for CCR, but what other major differences can I expect?

Thanks

 

[ajduplessis]

Keeping the loop in your mouth, checking your po2 and listening for the solenoid to fire. Have fun and be safe, these machines are dangerous in human hands!!

 

[Mr.X]

I appreciate that buoyancy control will have to be re-learnt for CCR, but what other major differences can I expect?

Thanks

Which CCR are you considering? There are some trim differences depending on the model you purchase. Not a big consideration unless you are doing some major penetrations. I personally find the maintenance issue a big pain. I like making sure there are no 'bugs' in loop so I tend to be rather meticulous disinfecting the lungs, drying bits in the lung, drying the innards of the hose and the occasional disassembly/lube of the mouthpiece / DSV etc. Also, there are plenty of bits to contend with. The Cis Lunar MK 5p always had some stupid bit breaking off.

Personally, I think rebreathers can be a pain in the butt. Unless you are doing diving that REALLY requires it. If it's just the leisurely/occasional deep dive - OC is the bee's knees for simplicity. However, for wreck, super deep or cave penetration rebreathers just can't be beat.

X

 

[rigdiver]

Mindset. This thing can and will kill me IF I let it. Do all the checks before you dive it. If one thing is wrong, dont dive it till you make it right.

Bill

 

[jepuskar]

1) Exhaling/inhaling doesn't change your buoyancy - you most likely know this already, but you're still gonna try it anyway.
2) Act of breathing is generally much much easier. Of course there are things you can do to make it much harder.
3) The maintenance and pre-dive setup etc does take a little longer, but it's not ridiculous. A casual vacation diver would argue that though.

Good luck. It's a lot of fun. Be patient though, 20+ years of OC habits are gonna go out the door.

 

[Simon-]

20 odd years of habits are going to be hard to break :shocked2:

Cheers for the input guys

 

[Simon-]

Which CCR are you considering?

It will be the recreational Posieden Mk VI firstly and then the Evolution

 

[fishb0y]

Have fun and be safe, these machines are dangerous in human hands!!

I love statements like this... I'm guessing you do not have alot of hands-on CCR experience...
I find that I have more options to remedy situations than I do on open circuit. I am enjoying finding new ways to deal with the same problems. An example is during my class, my buddy had a simulated OOA issue. When I gave him my BO bottle I then had a simulated boom requiring me to shutdown my gases. I was able to plug into my BO bottle and continue using SCR while my buddy breathed off my BO. Sure it was a drill, but that gave me confidence in the unit and the skills I was learning.

Sure there are different issues you do not have to deal with using OC, but I look at it like driving a motorcycle. You have to dive the unit, don't let it dive you.

 

[Mr.X]

It will be the recreational Posieden Mk VI firstly and then the Evolution

Interesting. I've not had the Poseidon in the pool. AP's Evo is a known unit. It will be interesting to see how you perceive differences between the two OTS (over the shoulder) counterlungs units, overall breathing resistance and minor ergonomics.

Since we work with a lot of OC techies transitioning to CCR - the first days can be a little odd as you sort out the bits and pieces of buoyancy, knowing where stuff is, monitoring PO2, exhaling through the nose etc. That said - after a week of time on the units most techies have a semi-firm ground in ccr usage through a process of unlearning/learning. As with anything mastery is repetition doing it the right way with a instructor monitoring and reinforcing the subtleties of CCR diving.

Best with your CCR experiences.

X

 

[tadawson]

I test dove the Poseidon this summer (under supervision of the Poseidon team), and to dump gas from the loop, you just gently squeeze the counterlung, and the popoff valve lets it go (if it didn't already dump the excess). To add, simply inhale deep or sharply, and the diluent valve (actually a 2nd stage - also used for bailout) adds gas. No real magic here, and as a guy who never dove CCR before, the only real quirk I found was buoyancy control.

I can't say I have tried anything else, but I have to say, from what I saw, I like the Discovery, and if I go CCR, it will very close to (if not at) the top of my list. The sophistication of the unit, coupled with Poseidon's long reputation of not building or selling junk goes a log was with this diver!

- Tim