Thinking of a rebreather

John,

how is your trim with the rEvo. Do you need extra weights at the top?

Peter

I like to be a bit top heavy - a photographer’s habit to get my nose closer to the critters. 6 to 8 lb attached to the grid at the top works about right for me. Those using a rEvo who are just diving it seem to go for 4lb or 2kg.

John

I recently switched from an Inspiration rebreather to the rEvo. Finally a small unit that can be handled while I take my camera with me.

I took a look at the new Boris Sentinel the other day. It seems a very well engineered piece of kit with bags of redundancy. No one's saying anything bad about them and a lot of them are being trialed at NDAC - one of the UK's deepest inland sites. For me, the choice would probably come down to an Evo Vision or a Sentinel...

I believe the Sentinel is too big and too heavy. I don't see any point in getting a Sentinel and not the rEvo. The Sentinel is new and has not proven to be a stable platform for photographers yet.

For some reason, the units that come to mind are the Evolution, rEVO and KISS. I know that Ryan moved from the KISS to the rEVO, and I'm dying to know why. It could influence my decision a great deal!

Get the rEvo. I don't like the over the shoulder lungs of the Evolution or the Inspiration. That was maybe my main issue to switch over.

I just installed the Shearwater Pursuit computer on my unit (well Paul dit that). It's connected with three cells, so I have another PPO2 display. I have decided not to move to the fully eCCR package right now because I want to learn how the handle the rEvo manually. The solenoid will be added next year. I will hopefully do my first story in the Red Sea later this year on the rEvo.

I have moved around a lot, so maybe I'm not the best test case. A bit of a gear head I guess.

While I can't believe I'm saying this, I think Sentinel is probably the best rebreather available for keeping an idiot alive. The electronics package is very well designed. It is far too big, heavy, and has too high of a loop volume for my needs.

I can't stand over the shoulder counter lungs. Pelagian was the best, as they curve under my arms, bu they are still enough in the way to be a bother. rEvo breathes so well that I don't miss them, and the 2008 rEvos breathe significantly better (on a machine at least) than the one I have.

The rEvo is much faster to tear down, clean, and prepare for the next day's diving than anything else I've used. The build quality far exceeds every other mCCR on the market. The huds are a requirement for my diving, and they are integrated extremely well. The integration with the Shearwater Pursuit adds a very solid setpoint controller package which I have purchased, but not installed yet. I've used the Shearwater Pursuit as my deco computer for almost a year, and am extremely impressed with its simplicity and reliability. I wanted a bit more scrubber capacity for big dives than the stock revo has, but that has been solved with the new radial scrubbers as an option. I may only use them once or twice a year, but I am glad to have the safety margin when I do.

As is the unit is pretty heavy in the water. I wish I had purchased the titanium case. I have carbon fiber tanks which make the in water weight a lot better, but the rig is very negative with 3l steels. I also wish the rebreather were lighter for travel. Other than that I'm very satisfied.

As is the unit is pretty heavy in the water. I wish I had purchased the titanium case. I have carbon fiber tanks which make the in water weight a lot better, but the rig is very negative with 3l steels. I also wish the rebreather were lighter for travel. Other than that I'm very satisfied.

I own the titanium (mini) version and it's great. Not too heavy at all and suitable for traveling.

I own the titanium (mini) version and it's great. Not too heavy at all and suitable for traveling.

How much does the titanium version weigh (without tanks & sorb, fully loaded)?

How much does the titanium version weigh (without tanks & sorb, fully loaded)?

I thought it's around 17kg with carbon tanks. Is Paul still active in this thread?

Aloha-

Both my husband and I are rebreather certified and own the Sport KISS, have been for about 2.5 years now.

As for the machine itself, it works great, is the most simple I have seen to put together, and is designed exactly for recreational diving.

We have another point of view on the subject:

-the learning curve is very different and it takes awhile to get used to the entire process

-you have to check your PO2 every minute so get used to looking away from your subject often

-we find the setup and testing to be cumbersome and each time requires a tweak/fix of some kind. The rebreather doesn't break, it just seems to be the nature of rebreather systems.

-we do not see a HUGE difference when filming animals by not having bubbles (I know people will argue this) but weighed against the setup and cost, I am not convinced it's worth it.

-I personally prefer to focus my money and attention on my camera versus the rebreather

-If you want to travel with it, get ready for setbacks. We went with a group out of the country and the O2 compressor broke so they each only got 1/2 02 fills for the day. In addition, absorbent isn't always available and multiple members of our traveling party have had their bottles confiscated by TSA.

I just wanted to give you another POV since we are considering selling ours after a huge investment. You have to really really want it and know if will make a big difference for you.

One of the guys we met during our cert process told us to go buy a corvette instead, he was on to something.

Good Luck!

Diva

Rebreathers do work but the cost/benefits must be weighed in with the type of shooting. In Vandit's case, he wants to get close to fish in the Andamans. A CCR will allow him to swim into schools of fish without bubbles interfering with the shot (aesthetics) and get a little closer to skittish fish (there is still the whole big hulky diver to consider, so the proximity to subject isn't going to be suddenly in your face close). Obviously the difference wasn't enough for you to justify the costs involved, but a corvette?!?

My own experience with CCR and SCR is that it works amazingly well for certain marine life, especially the bigger ones like sharks and cetaceans. In fact, I'd say for a few projects I've been involved with, the CCR were invaluable and the whole shoot would've failed without them.

That said, they are a pain to travel with. I usually fedex the rebreather ahead. The ever inconsistent TSA is unfortunately solely a US problem. The airlines also set up their own rules so it's best to have something in writing to show TSA. That said, the few times I've seen TSA confiscate tanks is when the passengers try not to declare it and/or pack it with valve inserted.

You are absolutely right in saying that rebreathers are not simple plug and play toys. I would hope anyone contemplating getting into it will understand the technical and rigorous maintenance it requires.

We are on the same page. It is a big decision and your points are well taken!

Vinnie,

Hi there, hope all is well out in the Andamans

At the moment the consensus at non expedition level, for all round performance, reliability, and sustainability would appear to be the Sentinel (albeit that it is a new kid on the block), especially when the travel/OSCL version becomes available probably early in the 1st quarter 2009. The rEvo (at least in Europe) is also gathering a considerable following but they are quite different units.

There appear to be few (very few), professional instructors or experienced RB divers of its closest competition, that cannot compliment its superior performance range and reliability overall.

The quality of support from CCRB Ltd is already legendary, and the lineage of the Ouroboros as a foremost expedition RB in the recreational market speaks for itself.

If you are going to have to suffer the normal distractions of underwater photography, the Sentinel probably provides some of the best electrical support to enable you to do this with the quality of the HUD and the computer function.

I think I've lost your email, if you can email me I've got a lot of stuff on the Sentinel (but there's also a whole load on the CCRB and other Websites) I'll send you

The "high" capital cost of rebreathers is an alien concept to most OC divers, and of course 99.9% of divers come from OC, but it begins to show comparable economic sense when you actually evaluate the real costs at most scales and scopes of mixed gas OC technical diving operations.

Gas production cost, availablility, transportability, with related containment costs, plant and machinery etc are all costs/facilities that need to be satisfied one way or the other. I think you know more than most that the compressed gas part of the equation can become the most involved.

I think someone needs to work up a good graphical cost comparison model

"cost-v-function/capital-v-expendable/small maintenance-v-large maintenance/portability-v-destination sustainability"

As a technical diver (with cameras) yourself, you know that some of the above costs can invert when you think of air travel - an oc diver won't take bottles, just his regs, a RB diver has to look at baggage weight allowances seriously even with some of the bare bones RB travel rigs, and of course doesn't want to carry the extra weight of sofnalime weight if they can get it at destination.

I think recreational diving has actually been operating at a technical level far longer than we realise in terms of simplistic decompression diving before the advent of PADI etc. However we all know that mixed gas has become more and more available in OC, and that CCRB diving has become incredibly more sophisticated as computer and sensory electronics have advanced. Neither market has really matured yet but doubtless the eCCR market will now ride and climb the fast moving IT wave.

There is definitely an emerging demand for try diving rebreathers both in the UK and in the Red Sea. Many organisations are rising to this challenge in order to close on purchasers doubts and worries. Nearly all the prominent UK RB outlets offer these, as in the Red Sea do Tekstreme(Emperor) Sharm and Hurghada, and Orca need a mention as well. (There are others!)

I'm sure all of this is deliberately sent to try us, and make us value it or hate it, all the more!

Best Regards

Gordon Theo & Ben