Whether you are rebreather curious or experienced, join Jill Heinerth for a half-day workshop on rebreather diving. Her 20+ years of CCR diving wisdom will make you a safer diver.
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In 1997, members of the U.S. Deep Caving Team were preparing for a ground breaking project at Wakulla Springs. We had shiny new Cis-Lunar Mk5P rebreathers but little formal instruction....
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Calibration Errors on a Shearwater Petrel Q. I’m trying to calibrate my unit. The HUD shows 1.0 with green and yellow rows of lights. I have fully flushed with oxygen. The handset reads .97, .98 and 1.00 already. The millivolts on the first screen look right and are in range. What is it failing calibration? Looking at the failure screen the millivolts are off the charts, each reading over 200? What’s going on? A. Check your System Settings. Ensure the Calibration O2 is the correct value. After a battery failure, numerous parameters in your computer such as “units” reset. Your…
Mask, fins, rebreather and you are ready to go, right? There are many small items that you might not think about that can ruin a trip in their absence. Power Inquire about the local power supply. As an example, Mexico has the same current as the US, but many wall outlets do not have grounding plugs. You will need to purchase “cheaters” that convert your three-prong plugs to two-prong. Power strips are worth their weight in gold since wall outlets may be few and far between. In Europe, recessed wall plugs may not fit the fancy converter you bought at…
When using a car and boat, your dive destination may be a lot closer to home, but there are still a few special tips to consider. Bring extra bungee cords for boat travel. Many boats are specifically constructed for single tank divers. The benches may be awkward for a rebreather diver. Bring your own method of securing the rebreather to the bench or the floor. Consider the orientation of your rebreather scrubber. If your rebreather is lying on its back, vibrating on a moving boat or in a car for hours, will your particular canister design be subjected to drastic…
Question: You are swimming along the deck of your favorite wreck. For some reason your PO2 is dropping, causing frequent oxygen injections to catch up to your stepping. You keep dumping gas. What’s going on? Answer: It is possible that you have a leak in your ADV that is causing small amounts of gas to sneak into the counterlung. If your rebreather has a manual diluent injection button, that could also be leaking. Failures always require you to abort the dive, but you can diagnose the problem on the dive boat by removing and replacing the diluent connections to the counterlung or ADV…
I recently published this short news item in the “In The Loop” newsletter I wrote for Hollis. It examines their efforts to build full face masks for rebreathers. At the international RF3.0 (Rebreather Forum 3.0) event in 2012, delegates unanimously agreed that further study off FFMs was warranted by the industry. As a result, Hollis launched a challenging investigation and design process, while training agencies PADI and TDI decided to begin curriculum development for programs to train CCR users in the safe use of FFMs. Full face masks (FFMs) are specialized enhancements that should only be used by experienced CCR…
Rebreather Fundamentals Workshop – Saturday January 24 from 8am – noon at Our World Underwater – Dallas Classroom session: $75 Tickets available online at: http://www.ourworldunderwater.com/in-depth-workshops-lone-star-state/ (space is limited) Enjoy a half-day academic session with CCR expert Jill Heinerth. Using fascinating stories and a multimedia presentation, Jill will cover all the essentials of rebreather diving. If you are looking to purchase a rebreather, this is an opportunity to learn how to be a wise consumer and make the choice that is right for you. If you already own a rebreather and want a review of academics, new trends and the future…
A Lesson from Sidemount Divers Sidemount diving has taken the diving community by storm. The popularity of this style of carrying tanks has grown tenfold in the last few years. Now rebreather divers are taking a lesson from sidemount divers to help them streamline their bailout bottles. Standard stage rigging generally hangs bailout tanks nearly perpendicular to the diver’ s body. This is neither streamlined nor conservation-minded. It is far more effective to mount your tanks in a way that aligns them with your body. There are numerous ways to achieve this, but here are two simple solutions: 1. Use…
Joe Cocozza, DIVER Magazine and PodDiver Radio Host interviews Nick Hollis about the Explorer rebreather. Click here for full interview.