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Dan, what rebreathers have you dived? in the ocean? Do you own? Rod On Mon, 29 Jan 1996, Dan Volker wrote: > Rich, > > As to safety and Responsibility of the manufacturer regarding reliability > and safe use of its units in the field, RBC does not stand ALONE. I have > been so caught up in specific item based arguements so far, it has been hard > to cover general information. > > Please add to this list the Cis-Lunar-- because of its far more > responsible appoach to redundancy and electronic reliability , as well as > taking the proper view about limiting "who" should use a rebreather, and > what training they MUST have..... > ....and also a rebreather company called Grand Bleu---they have made a > system for use by far less skilled divers (people more like advanced > recreational divers), and made it safe by not putting it out till it was > ready, and then limiting its use to recreactional depths with conservative > total bottom time built in....Its users can not mix their own gas---the > tanks are like a modular pack that is removed and replaced with new tanks > filled with the factory specified mix. Because it is depth limitied, PO2 > dangers have been largely removed, and its general training plan will allow > the recreational market to experiece the silent world of the rebreather for > somewhere around $3000, in considerable safety compared to most rebreathers > on the market.. > > I would go so far as to say that the CIS Lunar is the only electronically > based unit which is built with adequate safety features to be used "safely" > in the technical diving field today. The entire concept of electronics in a > rebreather demands the approach they have taken in redundancy and > reliability, and this requires a price tag at least as high as the $15,000 > fee you quoted as the expected retail on the unit when it becomes available. > >From what I have seen, there is very little similarity between the Cis Lunar > and the other closed circuit systems which showed up at Tek and DEMA, > regarding how they handle PO2's or any failure in the unit, and I would > expect a far more rigorous training program out of Cis-Lunar than any of the > other brands just referred to. > Because there is so much activity by these "other" closed circuit rebreather > companies right now, and because of the basic flaws to their "failsafe > systems", I have been generically talking about closed circuit vs > semi-closed. This was more because of the difficulty in explaining the > theoretical differences, which were complicated enough without adding in the > new twist (i.e., simplifying with anologies like the mechanical BC vs a > conceptual electronic BC)....now we have the new twist----yes, there IS a > way to make an electronic system safe....but the closed circuit units I > have been discussing so far have not utilized these technologies in the > manner Cis Lunar has. > > Perhaps, in the next go round here on tech diver, you and I should post the > differences between how Cis Lunar has handled Closed circuit electronics and > redundancies, and how each of the other closed circuit manufacturers > have---and in so doing show the real picture in diver safety with each > system....and who should be treated as a responsible rebreather > manufacturer, and who should be treated as just catering to techno-weenies > without thought as to consequences. > > So right now I see three specific markets. Cis Lunar and RBC Odyssey should > each get a piece of deep tech and commercial (high end $$$ and mid priced). > And the third market should go to Grand Bleu for the lower end recreational > market $3000 approx). > What do you think? > Dan > > > > Dan Volker > SOUTH FLORIDA DIVE JOURNAL > "The Internet magazine for Underwater Photography and mpeg Video" > http://www.florida.net/scuba/dive > 407-683-3592 > > -- > Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@terra.net'. > Send subscription/archive requests to `techdiver-request@terra.net'. >
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