Assaulted by seals.
Schooling with thousands of barracuda.
Humpback family nuzzling by boat.
First dive with Nautilus-- priceless.
(Photo: Jill self portrait on the Nautilus)
Most people would give their eye-teeth for this experience. Imagine a week in Cabo San Lucas with world-class diving, expert instruction, boats, fills, consumables and outstanding educational materials for $5750. Not bad, you think? But, you also own the rebreather when you are finished! That’s right. You can own a Nautilus rebreather and receive instruction from the manufacturer for less than $6000, and that includes absolutely everything.
I caught up with Casey and Bruce Omholt at the DEMA Trade Show this fall, and recalled seeing them at a DEMA Show five or six years earlier. At that time, they had shared a stand with friends Peter and Sharon Readey who were selling their PRISM Rebreather. I recall Bruce boldly stating he would bring his rebreather to market for half the price of other rigs. His plans were to manufacture in Mexico, so I assumed he was going to take advantage of inexpensive labor. Boy, was I wrong. An engineer and expert in manufacturing, Bruce knew that if he could make a rebreather with a completely new manufacturing process, he could dramatically reduce material costs and the bottom line of the rebreather. As for the Mexican labor, he’s not only paying a fair wage, but a wage that would be coveted in America.
Add to the Omholt’s manufacturing skills, their ability to draft their own CAD drawings, make models, tooling, create educational materials, shoot and edit video and you have a unique family skill-set that keeps the unit price down.
In the exceptionally competitive rebreather industry, the Omholt’s have chosen patience. Bruce’s vision for a new rebreather began a decade ago, but as his son Casey regales, “You only get one opportunity for a first impression.” Over the course of ten years, they have engineered, built, dived, and documented and now stand on the cusp of their debut in the dive world. [With this writing, I may even be breaking my vow of patience, but I just got home from a beautiful week of diving with them and couldn’t resist!]
The Nautilus is poised to fit into the marketplace as a simple closed-circuit rig that offers recreational divers an easy transition to rebreather diving. Simple, fun, robust and safe will be their calling cards.
Stay tuned for future updates when I get permission to share the knowledge!
To many, first looks indicated the Nautilus was simply a Prism clone...
To what extent is this the case, or given history between the two companies, is it merely evolution of similar design ideas under a new manufacturing and materials paradigm...?
Posted by: Tim | 02 March 2009 at 04:28 PM
Actually, that is Casey Omholt, and we share the same good taste in headgear!
Posted by: Jill | 15 February 2009 at 10:09 AM
Hey Jill, is that you with the blue bandana on the nautilis website(photos page)?
Posted by: Dsix36 | 14 February 2009 at 06:31 PM