Why have a rebreather?

[jkromelow]

I disagree with the third item. Think about it: A shark emits no bubbles (normally, at least), so if the theory of 'no bubbles=tame fishies', do you really think the fishies would still be there to look at? Fish don't survive by being friendly with a 6' long neoprene-covered object that's trying to get closer to them....

Sharks move quickly and their presence ,when displaying predatory behavior, creates a reaction that is observable in other marine life that is a trigger to marine life that are not even aware of the shark. On a rebreather with no bubbles, moving slowly and silently you can get very, very close to marine life. An unspoken danger of rebreather diving is that you may bump your head on a fish-soo watch out!

 

[MikeM_scuba]

Thank you very much for fast answer, Silent Runner.
One more question, absorbant is cylinder too, right?
So, you have to check it in open, right?
How difficult it is to assemble it in let's say Mexico?
Does rebrether used regular cylinders, like aluminum 80's? Sorry if question is stupid, I'm starting on rebreathers, but have over 50 dives with regular cylinders under my belt.
Thanks again.

 

[BigJetDriver]

Failure modes. All your eggs are in one basket and some failures (whether diver error or apparatus error) will render you unconscious before you realize that there is a problem.... OC is much more forgiving in this respect.

R..

Well, RO,

It's been a long time since you and I disagreed on something, but it looks as if this is going to be one of those times.

What you posit above is true in some ways, but not the way you state it.

You have a couple of failure modes that are different from those of OC divers, but all of your eggs are NOT in one basket. Your RB system gives you several ways to recover from a problem, as opposed to only one in OC work.

You are correct that there are failure modes that will render you unconscious, IF you are not paying attention.

This is why we liken it to flying an airplane. It is very safe if you are paying attention. If you are not paying attention however, you might as well bend over and kiss your sweet behind goodbye! :11:

This is an area where dumb or careless divers need not apply!

Rob

 

[jptrealty]

I know nothing about rebreathers. My first question is why would you want one? What are the advantages to diving with a rebreather?

Google " rebreathers" and start reading. The pos. points of RB diving are to many to list.

www.therebreathersite.nl/

www.metacut.com/rebreathers/

www.iantd.com/rebreather/rb.html

This will get you started

 

[Diver0001]

Well, RO,

It's been a long time since you and I disagreed on something, but it looks as if this is going to be one of those times.

What you posit above is true in some ways, but not the way you state it.

You have a couple of failure modes that are different from those of OC divers, but all of your eggs are NOT in one basket. Your RB system gives you several ways to recover from a problem, as opposed to only one in OC work.

You are correct that there are failure modes that will render you unconscious, IF you are not paying attention.

This is why we liken it to flying an airplane. It is very safe if you are paying attention. If you are not paying attention however, you might as well bend over and kiss your sweet behind goodbye! :11:

This is an area where dumb or careless divers need not apply!

Rob

Well....I guess I just still have the Dave Shaw video playing back. Things like that just undermine my trust. I am confident in OC that if the gates of hell were opening around me I'd be able to wiggle my way out of it....at least on the dives I'm doing. I think if Dave Shaw were on OC that day then he could have gotten out of his little mess.

Maybe all of your eggs aren't really in one basket but it says a lot to me that all of my RB buddies take OC bailouts with them.....when it really comes down to a shoving match with Mr. Murphy, they'll all abandon the RB and fall back to the trusted standard.... (ok, ok, a little troll but you get the picture).

I think you're right that you need to be alert all of the time, but I think that's also the problem. I don't really believe that many divers have that kind of discipline. It's not human nature. Eventually everyone gets complacent and Murphy visits them. Maybe at some point rebreathers will be a little more idiot proof than what we have now but for the time being they're still not on my Christmas wish list....

R..

 

[wedivebc]

. I am confident in OC that if the gates of hell were opening around me I'd be able to wiggle my way out of it....at least on the dives I'm doing. I think if Dave Shaw were on OC that day then he could have gotten out of his little mess.

Dave Shaw wasn't there to recover the body of a rebreather diver.

 

[Diver0001]

Dave Shaw wasn't there to recover the body of a rebreather diver.

Point taken.

Is it fair, then, to characterize RB's as entailing a higher risk than OC? That's really the ball we're kicking back and forth here, isn't it?

R..

 

[caveseeker7]

Well....I guess I just still have the Dave Shaw video playing back.
Things like that just undermine my trust. ...
I think if Dave Shaw were on OC that day then he could have gotten out of his little mess.

For one, Dave died on a recovery dive of an open circuit diver who died 10 years earlier.
So your argument doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

For another, how much do you know of what happened, what were the contributing factors?
Judging by your post not much.

Finally, the cause of incapacitation that lead to the drowning of both divers is most likely hypercapnia.

Maybe all of your eggs aren't really in one basket but it says a lot to me that all of my RB buddies take OC bailouts with them ....

That's exactly the opposite of placing all eggs in one basket now, isn't it?
That's what most OC recreational divers do: One gas supply, one first stage to deliver it.
So your buddies' bail out tanks makes them even, the RBs are on top of it.
Aside from additional modes a CCR can be used in.

People make mistakes. Some are dumb arse mistakes. On rebreathers they can easily injure or kill you. But as I wrote recently in another thread, don't think for a second that on OC many of same dumb arse mistake couldn't occur or wouldn't kill you!

 

[wedivebc]

I think both sides of this argument would agree OC scuba is way less darwinian and dumb arse mistakes are less likely to result in a fatality with OC equipment.

 

[Diver0001]

For another, how much do you know of what happened, what were the contributing factors?

Well... Maybe there's something to be learned by this. I don't think you need to take such an aggressive tone but I'll answer your question anyway.

What it looked like to me is that he got in time pressure, he was task loaded dealing with floating body that he wasn't expecting, and he got wrapped up in his line. He turned the dive too late, got all busy and working too hard trying to deal with the entanglement and then (what it looked like) just blacked out. I read that it was hypercapnia but I honestly can't place that in the context of what I saw. You seem to know more about hypercapnia than I do so I'm open to you explaining how this conclusion was reached.

I have no idea how the other diver died and I have trouble believing that after 10 years on the bottom that anyone could say for sure that it was one thing or the other....

R..