Going over to Rebreather?

[skip]

I've been thinking about a rebreather, but dang the price is awful high. And then I think about the price to maintain a rebreather and wonder if the maintenance is worse than the original purchase. any insights on what it costs compared to OC to keep CC gear in good working order?

skip

[Dsix36]

I've been thinking about a rebreather, but dang the price is awful high. And then I think about the price to maintain a rebreather and wonder if the maintenance is worse than the original purchase. any insights on what it costs compared to OC to keep CC gear in good working order?

skip

The actual maintainance costs are not very high. You will need to replace sensors about once a year ($210 roughly) and some disenfectant for the loop.

The rest is very similar to OC gears costs. ie regulator overhauls and such.

The cost of sorb is not maintainace, but usage cost.

[skip]

The actual maintainance costs are not very high. You will need to replace sensors about once a year ($210 roughly) and some disenfectant for the loop.

The rest is very similar to OC gears costs. ie regulator overhauls and such.

The cost of sorb is not maintainace, but usage cost.

oh. maintenance costs and usage cost...any other costs you can think of? replacement costs? bailout costs? extra charter/entry fee costs cause it's "technical"? increased travel costs? and all the others I'm not thinking of!?

skip

[Dsix36]

oh. maintenance costs and usage cost...any other costs you can think of? replacement costs? bailout costs? extra charter/entry fee costs cause it's "technical"? increased travel costs? and all the others I'm not thinking of!?

skip

Replacement? Hopefully you will not loose it and have to replace it!

Bailout is different. You will end up with a whole crap load of tanks so that you always have the right mixes for the dives. If things go as planned, you will never use the bailout gas and it will just sit til the next dive.

I have never been charged extra just because i was diving with a rebreather. Granted they do charge more for a tech trip than a recreational trip.

Travel is not as simple with a rebreather. You will have to take the unit with you. OC guys can just take there regs and rent tanks on site. RB can still rent tanks though.

Tienuts did a very good cost analysis of CC vs. OC on one of these forums (here or RBW or TDS) that might be worth searching out.

Sorb is not exactly cheap, but you don't use that much at a time either. There will also be batteries for your computers.

If you do any deep dives, the cost of filling RB tanks vs. OC tanks with trimix is staggeringly different. This is where the RB can begin to help pay for itself, but it takes a lot of dives to do it. Don't think that you are getting into it to save money!

[skip]

I was mainly thinking of increased bottom time with less stuff, lighter weight, deep dives, and reduced amount of gear (bm, sm, open water, deep, etc.). same gear config for all types of diving to reduce number and amount of speciality gear. then again, more stuff might just be inevitable.

skip

[jcook]

D Six knows what he's talking about Skip. I support everything he has to say, it is spot on. I dive a rebreather and have noticed I may even spend a bit less on diving vs OC (caves only). Saving gas money for driving from having to get the tanks filled is a big plus. Yet I don't dive open water or really travel much with it, so I cannot say about that.

[Dsix36]

I was mainly thinking of increased bottom time with less stuff, lighter weight, deep dives, and reduced amount of gear (bm, sm, open water, deep, etc.). same gear config for all types of diving to reduce number and amount of speciality gear. then again, more stuff might just be inevitable.

skip

Yep, the more technical that you go, there more stuff you will carry. It can piss me off at times. I have this wonderful rebreather thingy on my back that will give me 6-8 hours underwater and I still have to carry enough bailout to exit the cave or hang for deco or both. I go into the dive hoping for the best and not needing the bailout gas, BUT???

It can definitely add complexity to the dives, but without the bailout, I don't even want to go there. I think alpinist's are suicidal.

[RN]

What are your reasons for going with a rebreather, Skip? Are you wanting to extend bottom time in the 80-120' depth range? Are you wanting to dive deep? Are you wanting to take photos of marine life?

I was looking at CCRs for a couple of years. My reason for wanting one was to extend bottom time in the 80-120' depth range. Taking 2-3 stages into JB, Hole, etc, was getting old. Then KISS came out with the GEM. I researched it a little and ended up buying one. It's much less expensive than a CCR and does exactly what I want it to do for me. I can now do the dives I was doing with 2-3 stages without a stage and still have enough bailout to get out of the cave safely.

[skip]

i've seen the GEM in action in missouri once or twice and was impressed. simple clean efficient. hmmmm.

skip

[jcook]

Cannot go wrong with a KISS Classic either, just remember the GEM uses the Extend Air cartridges (someone please correct me if I am wrong) which can get rather expensive.