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
Comments