Last week I had the pleasure of attending the annual DEMA Trade Show in Las Vegas. Many manufacturers take the opportunity to launch new products at the show as well as make announcements about upcoming projects and alliances. Despite the tough economic forecast, it seems that the rebreather market is running full-steam ahead.
OMS and Innerspace Systems Corp. have announced a strategic partnership by launching their new rebreather. The unit is essentially a Megalodon rebreather with a few special proprietary features by OMS. The counterlungs are a little different as is the stack can which has recessed groves for stainless clamps. The unit will ship with the Shearwater electronics package and a standard secondary handset. They expect to be shipping very soon and hope to reach a much larger market with expanded an expanded service network.
Bruce and Lynn Partridge from Shearwater Research seem to be two of the busiest people at DEMA with more rebreather companies partnering with their electronic controller package. The Shearwater Gradient computer offers a very easy user interface with a proven track record and extraordinarily low return rate. Bruce will be flying to Florida for the NACD Workshop and Rebreather Summit and hopes to familiarize more people with his product at that time.
Curt McNamee was also at the Shearwater booth distributing Mel Clark’s new Rebreather Manual. This comprehensive text covers all the major units on the market with plentiful color photographic plates that offer step-by-step instructions for assembly, checks and repairs.
Casey Olmholt and his father were roaming the floor and releasing info about their Nautilus rebreather, This unit was based on the PRISM rebreather and is being manufactured and released in Baja, We’ll have a podcast interview on RebreatherPro with Casey regarding his unit in the coming days.
Kevin Gurr was showing off the new VRX dive computer as well as his Sentinel Rebreather. I managed to pick up a VRX and look forward to experimenting with his revolutionary, customizable algorithm. His recent article “A New Slant on Gradient Factors: A Path for More Effective Decompression” describes the Variable Gradient Model his computer supports. His article will be posted soon on his site. Kevin is also going to press with a new technical diving text that will include articles from other experts. As soon as it hits the shelves, we’ll post a link so that people can find it.
Silent Diving was showing off a new rebreather cover for the Evolution, or I should say, a lack of cover. They are offering a new travel can that covers the stack and leaves the bottles open. It is lighter than the yellow box and fulfills the requests of divers looking for that lean and mean look. Sadly, I will miss that beautiful yellow cover that is the dream of underwater photographers!
Brett Hemphill gave me the skinny on new developments with KISS rebreathers. They are selling greater numbers than ever and improving some of their basic manufacturing in the process.
Unfortunately I missed tracking down Jakub Rehacek of Hammerhead and promise to reach him regarding updates and news. More and more Hammerheads are appearing in cave country and I am sure that is testimony to the solid growth of his sales.
Hollis Gear showed recent manufacturing changes that they made tot he PRISM rebreather. They are completing training of instructors in this calendar year and expect to be shipping the PRISM2 rebreather beginning in January.
Stayed tuned for more details with video and audio content in the next few weeks. -- Jill Heinerth
