- REBREATHERS - SPORT DIVERS ... - Stingray Divers

About Time
The other reason is time. That is, the
ability to stay where you are longer. For
example, the gas supply from a fourteen
cubic foot cylinder of oxygen can easily
provide a rebreather diver with four hours
of dive time. While most of us will never do
a four hour dive, it’s very nice to be able
to make two one hour dives on a two tank
morning dive charter and then repeat that
on the afternoon charter without ever having
to change tanks. Additionally, since you are
always minimizing your nitrogen loading you
have much longer no decompression limits,
such as over two hours at 60 fsw! This can
mean longer recreational dives and shorter
surface intervals. More time in the water -
- isn’t that why we all got into diving in the
first place? Finally, my Sport Kiss complete
only weighs 38 pounds. That’s the weight of
a single aluminum 80 cubic foot cylinder!
The second myth regarding rebreathers is
the thought that you need a master’s degree
in physics just to understand the technology.
All that is really required is an understanding
of enriched air nitrox. In simple terms, a
rebreather is like breathing into a paper bag
while adding back the oxygen your body
consumes and removing the carbon dioxide
it produces. Of note, the chemical reaction
that occurs with removing the carbon dioxide
provides a warm, moist breathing gas. No
more of the “cotton mouth” of open-circuit
diving. The carbon dioxide scrubber is good
for several hours based on workload and
water temperature. Diving a rebreather
simply means filling your scrubber and
keeping your PO2 at a reasonable limit such
as 1.2. Beyond that, just enjoy your dive.
7
Douglas Ebersole and Alan Studley investigate the coral-encrusted bridge of the RSB wreck off
Pompano Beach, Florida - without stirring up the dust for the photographer.
From your basic nitrox course you will
remember that the maximum PO2 for
recreational diving is 1.4. The value of 1.2
would be the equivalent of breathing EAN
30 at 99 fsw (4 ATA) or breathing EAN 40
at 66 fsw (3 ATA). While closed-circuit dive
computers are available, for recreational
diving, you can still get away with your old,
trusty nitrox computer and set it like the
examples above. Finally, just like driving an
automobile, diving a rebreather is as safe as
the person diving it.
A third myth is that maintaining a
rebreather is complicated and time
consuming. Basically, at the end of the dive
day you simply rinse everything with fresh
water and a small amount of disinfectant.
Let it dry and you are ready to assemble it
and dive again! For me, it takes no longer
to clean it at the end of the dive day than
www.underwaterjournal.com June/July 2007