Rebreather Pro

A Quick Guide to Buying a Rebreather

I've written many articles on this blog about how to shop for a rebreather, but given the numerous inquiries I have had recently, perhaps a reprise of information is warranted.

The bottom line is that  the last decade of statistics shows us that the actual equipment brand does not seem to be a factor in accidents. Best available stats show us that there are no more accidents on one particular brand than another based on ratios of units sold. The same appears to be true when we look at manual versus electronic units. That means, the most important decision you can make is not "which" rebreather you buy, but rather how you use it.

Four things should prevent 90 percent of the accidents:

1. Use a checklist every time you dive.

2. Do a proper, relaxed and complete pre-breathe for five minutes with your nose blocked.

3. Don't jump in the water unless all systems are working perfectly.

4. Replace your oxygen cells proactively every year.

Beyond that, several factors may influence a purchase decision:

1. Third-party tests for work of breathing, oxygen tracking, canister duration and other factors. Ask the manufacturer for those and for details on their CE or equivalent testing.

2. Portability (do you travel on planes with it and will it fit in the baggage weight constraints?)

3. Availability of instruction from a trusted, experienced and current instructor

4. Local support and role modeling from dive partners or other experienced locals on a particular unit

5. Availability of support and service (where does it ship to for service? are they prompt and thorough? any complaints?)

6. Stability of the manufacturing company. Any issues?

7. Alarm systems - visual?, audio?, tactile? How much do you want?

8. Other features such as "auto on," style of electronics, redundancy, battery type and charing or replacement, etc. Make a spreadsheet comparing features.

9. Budget

10. Ability to self-service basic needs

11. Availability of consumables (style of scrubber and batteries)

Its a tough decision and nearly everyone you ask for an opinion will have a strong one. They just bought the equivalent of a car and will likely ooze with confidence about their buying decision. You have to be pragmatic and analytical. A try-dive experience will only help you fall in love with a harness. A comparison of cosmetics will only help you decide whether you will look cool. Take time to compare features and research the unit on your own before jumping into one of the biggest purchase decisions of your life. 

Finally, make a pledge to yourself and your family that you will abide by the four Golden Rules above and make sure all your diving friends do as well.

-Jill Heinerth

New Hollis Prism 2 Rebreather Online Prep Course By Jill Heinerth

If you are thinking about, or currently diving the Hollis Prism 2 CCR, this prep course will have you miles ahead of the learning curve! 

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE COURSE PAGE

Audio Podcast: Phil Short and Jill Heinerth with the Suunto DX

Have you ever discovered a product that is the perfect combination of form, function and style? Phil Short and Jill Heinerth have been testing the new Suunto DX rebreather compatible diving computer and they agree it is a valuable new tool - and looks good too! 

Click here for the audio podcast

 

Here's a direct URL to the podcast http://traffic.libsyn.com/intotheplanetpodcast/Suunto_DX.mp3

Hollis Prism 2 Rebreather Prep Course Offered Online!

Jill Heinerth, along with the good folks at LFE.com have produced a web-based video course to prepare divers who are taking the new Hollis Prism 2 Rebreather course.

If you are currently diving, or considering purchasing this great new CCR, Go to LFE.com and check out this cool new course! (Photo of Jill diving the Prism 2 by Mark Long)

Here's the URL:

http://www.lfe.com/courses/scuba/jill-heinerth/prism-2-rebreather-preparation-class#video

Jill Heinerth's We Are Water documentary film released

Just watched “We Are Water.” My heart is pounding and I’m all jittery – motivated to do something! Outstanding, Jill and Robert. - Carol Lippincott, PhD

 When it comes to water, few speak with more authority than world renowned cave diver and underwater explorer Jill Heinerth. Jill swims through the watery veins of the earth on dangerous expeditions where she captures images of a breathtaking world few will ever experience.

 In the next decade, access to clean water will be one of the biggest challenges facing humanity. Without courageous action on an international scale, competing factions will go to war over control of the world’s water supplies. 

 Get your DVD copy here today!

www.JillsDiveShop.com

Recreational Scuba Diving Fatalities by the Numbers

Dr. Petar Denoble Friday 18 May 2012 10:30 RF3

There can be risks associated with scuba diving that may lead to accidents. Analyzing these accidents, particularly fatal cases, is an important tool we have to identify and try to prevent potential problems to improve diving safety. Using statistical analyses to observe trends in scuba diving accidents, this talk explains the disparity between mishaps and fatalities, fatality rates amongst divers, and trigger events or disabling injuries that might contribute to fatalities.

Rebreather Diving: Mixing Sensors

Mixing Sensors is a crap shoot.

Your oxygen sensors are the heart of your CCR, offering critical information about your life support status. Attempting to save money by stretching your sensors beyond their service life may greatly increase your diving risks.

Teledyne stopped supplying sensors to the diving market well over eighteen months ago. If your rebreather contains any Teledyne sensors, they are beyond their expiration, whether they have just been installed recently or not. While you are checking your sensors, ensure that you have not mixed different brands within your rebreather. Your three sensors should be of the same brand. Each manufacturer has a proprietary algorithm that compensates for temperature changes within the unit. If you mix brands you may find that they drift apart through the duration of your dive. This might not be attributed to depth, but rather temperature changes. Ensure the sensors within your rig are made by one manufacturer and are approved by the manufacturer of the unit.

It is critical that these sensors were tested by the CCR manufacturer. CE standards ensure these critical tests have been completed. If your rebreather is not CE EN:14143 approved, then contact the manufacturer for verification of their test protocols for sensors and the approved brands that are documented through their testing. If your sensors are in good order, risks are reduced and without reliable sensors, its all a crap shoot. - Photo: Jill Heinerth testing the new Hollis Prism rebreather.

Checklists are broken

The following article written by Chauncey Chapman, has an interesting viewpoint on checklists and how they can be implemented in the most efficient manner. I'll always argue that any checklist that works for you is a benefit, but he is absolutely correct in the view that a checklist can't be too complicated won't be used. I applaud Hollis for securing the "little yellow card" to all the CCRs they ship. It is a terrific signal to the new CCR user that we take checklists seriously.

From Chauncey:

One interesting tidbit I have heard is that in most rebreather incidents no checklist is found; on the unit, on the diver, or in the diver’s kit. None. So if Checklists were working, wouldn't you expect to find a checklist in each rebreather diver’s possession?

We have been working to bring a rebreather to market; one of the efforts is to raise instructors to be qualified to teach our unit. We have had the pleasure of working with some very experienced rebreather Instructors and Instructor Trainers. The first thing we do in training is to introduce the Checklist and instruct the candidates to build up a unit. The Candidates dive into the kits and start building the unit, and for the most part ignore the checklist. Out of a hundred candidates a handful started with the checklists, the balance had to be reminded and prodded to use the checklist. We were providing a checklist that had 51 steps, and for each step there was a detailed instruction set explaining exactly how to perform the task. The Checklist was 4 pages long, and was expanded to 45 pages in the first version of the manual. We expected a diver to print the 4 page version out, take it diving, and use the checklist. Ha! It seemed that in our effort to make a better checklist we were making a checklist that no one wanted to use. Being an outsider to “tech diving” and rebreather instruction may have provided a different point of view through which to observe this dysfunctional effort. In making an honest effort to make the checklist a thing of value we were making the checklist something unwieldy and distasteful.

Ideally we would put the checklist in the rebreather controller. It would consist of key words, which when touched would expand in detail, and continue to drill down to photos or videos to help the diver get it right. In time with the familiarization that comes from repeated use, all the diver would need would be the keywords. Someday we will have this in the handset. So we started to develop a keyword checklist that we could print and hang on our rebreather. Something about this size of a business card. The concept behind this is training divers to use detailed checklists for setup and to use the key-word checklist just before entering the water. We kept the multi-page checklist, but we broke it into useful short lists. We kept the long detailed description of how inspect, setup, and pre-dive the rebreather in the manual. We solicited input from several IT that held high level credentials in rebreather training, had thousands of hours and lots of years of rebreather experience. We sent the proposed check list and a white paper that explained this was intended to be a short reminder of last minute lifesaving checks to be used by divers who had been trained in the detail behind the key words.

Almost everyone who replied added information. From a half page to three full pages of details, all good stuff like which way to rotate a valve hand wheel to open the valve; and they all missed the point. Which is to provide a reminder of tasks to do immediately before entering the water that will find faults in the rebreather’s life support functions.

This is what we came up with:

Pre-Breathe Checklist

1 Begin Pre-Breathe

2. Check ADV/BOV, Oxy Add, Dill Add, BC

3. Check SPG Oxy, Dil, OC

4 Observe SetPoint Maintanined

5. Always Know PPO2 & Have Fun

Please make your checklists useful, use them, and just before you enter the water, run through this Pre-Breathe Checklist.

Sexy red rebreathers!

From our friends at VR Technology, a special order in red!