Video and Photographing with a rebreather

Hi!

After several Try Rebreather Diving Experiences i liked very much i pulled the trigger,
bought a Poseidon SE7EN and will start my rebreather basic and advanced certification course end of this month.

As it is mandatory - and i belive that this makes sense - to carry a stage with bail-out gas for dives deeper than 18 Meters i ordered a 7 liter alu stage for that.
I am asking myself ho much a side-mount style carried stage will influence my buoyancy and especially the ability to shoot macro as the stage under my arm will be lower than my body and probably touch/hit the ground what i want to avoid.

I will not use the camera during my course and not even for the first dives untill my buoyancy is perfect as while diving in open circuit, but i would like to start the course with some ideas how to place the stage cylinder.

Does somebody here dive and photograph with a rebreather and a stage and can share his experiences regarding his set up and experiences with other set up's.

Thanks so much!

Chris

Hi Chris,

I've been diving and shooting with a rebreather since 2007. The best advice I can give you for your bail-out is to rig them in a side mount harness, so the tops of the bottles are pulled up, instead of hanging down low. Take a look at the photo examples on the bottom of this page: http://store.addhelium.com/Sidemount_c_19.html

The trick is to have the lower portion of your stage bottle clipped off low on your body - preferable on your rear-end. The top of the bottle needs to be pulled up into your armpit. This is generally done with a bungee of some sort which is fastened to the backplate or harness behind you. The bungee is then pulled down and clipped to the top of the tank in some fashion, to pull it up and out of the way.

There are tons of different ways to do this, and divers will spend years perfecting the technique. I've been side mounting bailout for 7 years, and I still tweak the design when I see new ideas.

The Dive Rite Nomad is a great harness, and the air cell allows for good trim while on a rebreather. The side mount tank bungees Dive Rite offers are a bit weak though - they tend to fray after about 1 year of use. Hollis just released their SMS75, which has a really well designed bungee system, and Halcyon will be introducing something similar soon.

Tony

Hi tienuts,

thanks so much for your quick and informative answer and especially the link to the pictures!

I just ordered a Halcyon CCR-35 wing with their Cinch Quick Adjust Harness and i am very exited to see how it will work on my SE7EN.

I guessed that the best way is to use a tight side-mount configuration and i think that i may have to add a butt plate to sustain the lower

part of the tank.

I am in the nice position to be the owner of two dive operations and i have a several wings, tanks, etc to play with and find the best and most comfortable way to stow my bail-out tank(s).
One idea turning in my head is to use two 3 or 4 liter tanks, one each side to have smaller tanks, be more streamlined and a even weight distribution.

Chris

I second the sidemounting suggestion. For a good example of what (my buddy in black) and what-not (myself in yellow) to do with bailout tanks, checkout my video of us swimming around in a cave below. We are using 5.5L Alu tanks, one on each side. My issues were due to a failed bottom clip on one side so I used a shorter one, and poorly adjusted rigging on the other side. Flat along the body is the desirable angle and get the reg pointing into your body so it doesn't rub on the ground. Getting the bottom clip length & clip-off location and the bungee length/stretch right is key to the right tank position. On a dive where I would have deco or a roof if I bailed out, I prefer to use two smaller bail out tanks rather than one large one. I find one on each side keeps me more balanced also.

errbrr,

thanks so much for your in depth explanations and video.

I am a recreational diver and don't want to get (in this moment) in to technical or cave diving as recreational diving is my work where i live from.

Just a few miles south from where i live in Sardinia we have awesome caves and my friends run one of Europe's top-notch cave diving facility, doing dives and explorations in open circuit or with rebreathers.

Chris

You don't have to go tech to have nice bailout bottle rigging As you say, macro photography requires getting closer to the reef than someone without a camera, so streamlining and tucking things away is a great idea.

Sardinia caves are on my list...it's a long list but I hope to get over there one day.

Streamlining was my main concern and I like my front chest area free. Thinking like that I decided to buy a jj CCR which has BMCL's and I mount the bailout on the left back of the rebreather can. This way I have nothing in front except the camera. This also prevents my camera rig banging against the bailout when I deploy SMB.