Deciding to purchase and dive a Closed Circuit Rebreather (CCR) is not one to be made lightly.
There are many different reasons why people make the transition, including extending diving knowledge, reduced costs of deeper dives, additional bottom time or even for photography.
Most rebreather divers will tell you that when you start out on a unit it’s like learning to dive again.
My experience was completely different.
Personally I found the hardest thing to get used to was buoyancy, as you don’t expel bubbles you can’t use your breath to fine tune your position in the water column. All the other skills are just like learning new drills.
Once over the buoyancy barrier, diving my rebreather became much more comfortable and enjoyable. For recreational diving, a rebreather is slightly more expensive per dive, as you have to buy sorb (CO2 absorbing compound) and oxygen instead of just an air fill.
Where you really start to see the advantage is on deeper dives not only for decompression reasons but cost. A twinset of trimix 21/35 costs around $170+ compared to a measly $15 needed for the same dive on a CCR.
For me this was the deciding factor in purchasing a rebreather as I do a fair amount of deep diving and have recently experienced the advantages of OC trimix beyond the 30m mark.
My trimix training on a rebreather is a little way off at the moment but I’ll get there soon enough.
Along with cheaper deep diving (in the future) I’m enjoying some of the other benefits of a CCR, none of which I really took into consideration when making the swap but just add to the experience any way.
It’s easy to see how photographers reap the rewards as it’s so easy to get close to fish, even the timid ones. By not making bubbles you blend right in with the aquatic realm allowing you to interact with it much more.
This means that photographers may be able to get closer to a subject allowing them to get that priceless shot.
Watch this space as I keep you up to date with my progress, sharing my experiences along the way.
Tom Crisp
