Rebreather Pro

Poseidon Rebreather Expedition

Although the Poseidon Discovery Rebreather is designed as a recreational rebreather, it is making deep strides underground. The United States Deep Caving Team, led by Dr. Bill Stone, is utilizing the rebreather in the "J2 Expedition" in central Mexico. The team hopes to reach points deeper in the earth than humankind has ever been. A rotating team is spending three months laying miles of rope to reach the point where they must penetrate a series of short sumps to continue forward. The lightweight Poseidon Rebreather is extremely beneficial for these short runs underwater since it will not need to be carried out for refilling. A small cache of tanks can be ferried to the subterranean camps to enable a series of dives for a small team of explorers.

News from the team reached us today from Michael Pugliese. He reports, "I personally reached a depth of -1100m and spent 10 consecutive days underground with Bill, Vickie, and 2 others shuttling dive gear to camp III."

The current surface team reports today that, "Wednesday preliminary dives yielded information on an upper lead on the far side of sump II. This lead is said to be extensive, and large open borehole. It is probable that this allows a bypass of sump III. 9mm line and communication was successfully rigged through sump II yesterday and camp 4 has been established on a sandy spot on the far side."

If you are wondering whether the team is worried about the flu that is currently ravaging Mexico, they reported that the team was hit by a bad virus a couple of weeks ago, but all members are healthy and flu-free now!  Jill Heinerth

PASCR Users Code of Conduct 1.0/09

Submitted by our friend and colleague: Argyris Argyriadis

A voluntary set of guidelines for safe PASCR diving

Dedicated to the memory of the late Sheck Exley*, April 1, 1949 – April 6, 1994.

Although PASCR diving is well established and continues to evolve, there is currently no set of agreed operational guidelines. This code of conduct was initiated in the Rebreather World Forum and was developed with the help of many individuals throughout the PASCR user’s community and based on what is perceived as the "best practices".

1. Get proper Rebreather training and dive within your training limitations. Dive Analysis & planning, is the key learning process.
2. Standardize mixes and repeated profiles.
3. Finish 100hrs of Rebreather time before continue in advanced or deco levels.
4. Listen for the injectors firing and bubbles on exhale "Feel the system - Hear the system - Breath the system."
5. If in doubt, change to the open circuit and bailout.
6. On the surface - open circuit.
7. Do not use from the surface on the rebreather gases that contain lower than 50%O2.
8. Do frequent breaks for sanity breaths from the open circuit.
9. Air is not a gas option for PASCR dives.
10. Use a scooter to reduce effort/WOB/CO2 retention.
11. Avoid diving with OC guys while using a Rebreather.
12. Always keep 1 hour scrubber left for emergencies.
13. Do not unpack absorber between dives.
14. Use only Soda-lime rated for rebreather, based on max CO2 retention efficiency.
15.On extended range dives or whenever is possible keep backmount tanks as a bailout reserve by driving the rebreather from a stage bottle.
16. Do not dive a PASCR without BOV.
17. Always make sure that buoyancy devices can support a competed flooded unit.

* It has been 15 years since the loss of the great Sheck Exley. He was one of the key individuals responsible for developing and applying "accident analysis" to cave diving. His book, Basic Cave Diving: A Blue Print for Survival is a required reading for all technical divers. In 2009 Sheck would have been 60 years old.

Regards,
Argyris Argyriadis

Rebreather Diving Checklists (Again)

One of my favorite issues is to highlight the need for procedures when preparing and diving rebreathers. If you type “checklist” into our search engine, you’ll find links to almost any pre-dive checklist available. Yet, my Megalodon students this week found the list to be cumbersome and the language unfamiliar. My suggestion is to use the manufacturer’s checklist while you are learning your rebreather and the new set of terminology. After completing your class, there is no reason why you can’t customize the checklist so it feels like your own. The important thing is that you use it regularly. After well over a decade of rebreather diving, I still use my check list every time I prep my rig. It guards against complacency, helps me keep good maintenance records and helps protect me from mistakes caused by momentary distractions.

My final checklist is a mental one. Every time I head to the danger zone, either a rocking boat or the top of a set of stairs leading to the water, I recite this simple reminder:
Tanks on. ADV enabled. Safe PO2 in the loop. Manual works. Jill Heinerth

Still Places to Dive in North Florida

Many people have heard about recent flooding in North Florida. Although the water height was not quite historic, some unusual phenomena have occurred. Manatee Springs (usually the last place to go under) actually began siphoning for the first time that anyone can recall. The Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers are very still compared to their normal flow and the Suwannee River is moving very briskly. Despite the high waters, there are still plenty of places to dive. Ginnie Springs is still open for cave and open water diving. The cave is very low flow and the springs are deep and expanded. A local manatee has even been seen in the main spring at Ginnie. Blue Grotto and Forty Fathom Grotto are still open for regular business with good conditions. Access to these sites allowed me to complete a Megalodon rebreather class this week with Tom Pritchard, Don Bishop and Vince Ferris (pictured above).  Congratulations guys!  Jill Heinerth

Your Comments and Opinions of the New Media

Facebook, MySpace, Twitter...Second Life, YouTube and Google. All great examples of the New Media.  We are a tiny part of the new media movement, blogging away in this little technical diving corner of the Internet.  It is fair to say that media is evolving on a daily basis.  Many newspapers and magazines are on life support. But what comes next?  Will all media delivery be online?  What about niche interests-like diving.  Will the dozens of print magazines that cover diving survive?  Will they need to adapt?  What about the Forums?  Deco Stop is for sale and ADM just bought Rebreather World.  Are the forums also dinosaurs of the 20th century...soon to be replaced by Facebook and Twitter?  These are interesting times, aren't they?  We'd like to know what is on your mind regarding this blog.  Why do you come to RebreatherPro.com?  What do you like or dislike?  What would you like us to change? Keep the same?  What topics interest you? How can we improve this project in coming years?  All feedback is appreciated.  Just click the tiny "comments" link below and let's have a conversation.  Jill Heinerth and Robert McClellan

Cis Lunar Mk5P Rebreather

I've been getting lots of questions about the dual Cis-Lunar Mk-5P Rebreather that we developed for the United States Deep Caving Team expedition back in 1998-99. We were dropping caches of open circuit tanks in the cave, but decided it would be better to develop a dual rebreather for dives beyond 10,000 feet penetration. When you've never done something before, there can be some interesting and sometimes funny results of your exploration into gear development. While test-diving the new dual unit, Matt Matthes nearly experienced a loss of a limb... well sort of. He was descending on the rig and the ADV was not firing into the second loop. As he dropped, he decided to switch over and equalize the back-up breathing loop. He threw open the mouthpiece, at which time, the vacuum in the loop started to suck his tongue into the loop. The vacuum was strong enough to collapse and damage the triple-layered ballistic breathing hoses. He managed to extricate his tongue and survive the ordeal. I commented, "wow, Matt, you must really have a strong tongue." He answered, "well, some women have told me that."

More tales to follow in future posts... this visit with John in Australia is bringing back lots of long-passed memories!  Jill Heinerth

Back in the USA

We are back in the States after an inspiring month in Australia.  We did not always have Internet access in the bush, so could not post as much as we would have liked to.  However, we have heaps of photos and stories to share.  We start teaching a CCR class tomorrow, bright and early, so it is off to sleep for now. Thanks to everyone for your continued support of RebreatherPro.com.  Jill Heinerth and Robert McClellan

Honeymoon in Australia

Did we mention we were also enjoying our long-delayed honeymoon while we were in Australia? After the OzTek diving conference in Sydney, we drove down to Melbourne to visit old friend and expedition mate John Vanderleest.  We dived the caves at Mt. Gambier and went on an Aussie 4-wheel drive camping trip to the mountains. Now, we are slowly making our way back to Sydney along the coast, staying in romantic little seaside towns, eating too much fresh baked bread and pastry, and finding time to walk and discover the real Australia. It  is a refreshing experience! Here's our official honeymoon self portrait, taken at Buchan Caves National Park in Victoria.  Jill Heinerth and Robert McClellan

Rebreather Pro Podcast Feed

A few folks have mentioned that they'd like a "direct" link to the podcast feed:

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/RebreatherprosPodcast

There ya go.