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Aloha all, alot of people have asked about the finos, here goes a post on our experience so far. please don't think that i am suggesting any sort of proceedure or operating protocal by this post.. don't do as i say.. this is just for information. the units are great, and i mean really great. at first we thought the mouth piece would be a bummer cuz it was so large compared to the whole rebreather, but as with the rest of the unit it is WELL thought out. it automatically shuts off when you remove it from your mouth, there is a button that you would think is a purge button on the face of the mouthpiece, this operates a diaphram that acutally shuts off the air flow and thus the chance of water getting into the loop, when you push it the mouth piece spreads to fit your teeth, this holds the diaprham open as long as it's in your mouth. there is also a purge lever which has a one way valve on the bottom to purge any water that gets into the mouthpiece area, this works perfect in or out of the water. one of the problems we had with the drager is that you had to use two hands to shut off the mouth piece, and the lever was quite difficult to operate, even with two hands, with the finos you just have to spit it out.. it's cool. the dragers had no purge either. the mouth piece looked like it would be big but we found it very comfortable and causes little drag. the hoses looked small too, but they work great (been to 100fsw so far and swam really hard, will let you know about deeper depths as we get more confident with the units). the hoses are also shorter and more ridged than the dragers, this makes it a little harder to turn your head but again it works better than having the long hoses flap and cause drag, would opt for the fino here too. (i don't mean to slam the drager, just have most of my experience on these two units, and know that there is interest in these two units, they compare somewhat). The canister looks like the insert in an auto oil filter, is almost exactly the same size, and fits into the housing easily, the end screws off and the canister drops in, they are rated for 40 minutes and are said to cost $15.00 each.. we didn't buy ours so cant tell you about that, we are repacking our own but that isn't recommended, we also easily got two hours on ours but would not recommend that either. the cylender looks about 18 cubic feet, and has lasted up to 2.25 hours on a multi level dive to about 60 feet... the unit works really well at depth, well uh, sorta depth, 60 to 100 feet, we expected the breathing resistance to get harder but so far had only one problem there and it was in shallow water, around 30 feet. there seemed to be water in the system or something blocking the flow of the loop, the exhaust phase was semi difficult, but we couldn't find any thing wrong on inspection, and found absolutely no water.. IN FACT, IN MORE THAN THIRTY DIVES WE HAVE NOT HAD ANY LEAKS WHAT SO EVER, EVEN WHEN THE MOUTH PIECE FELL OUT OF THE DIVERS MOUTHS MORE THAN ONCE. on the subject of water intrusion, they have incorporated the coolest water drain on the exhalation side counter lung (there are two, and btw, the material is softer and thicker than the drager, looks like the combined volume is smaller than the drager tho, and this gave us a problem with one of our really large divers, 300lbs, he kept filling up the counterlungs and used up the gas faster), anyway back to the drain, it is actually a pump, there is a small plastic, hell the whole thing is plastic and weighs 38lbs, yes 38lbs, fully charged and dripping wet.. anyway the pump, it is about 3 inches by 5 inches, a small plastic bellows which is under the exhalation side bag and has a small hose attached to the bottom of the bag with a check valve in it, when you breathe the counter lung smashes the smaller bellows and this sucks out any water caught in the bag and spits it out inside the case.. in fact every thing is inside the case.. it's so streamline it's like youre not wearing anything... MUCH UNLIKE THE OTHER UNITS OUT THERE.... the unit has a really small pressure guage and compas, about half the size of a convential oc console, the bcd attaches with clips and a threaded nut in the middle of the back, it is quite easy to remove if needed, as in cleaning or inspecting, (it's pretty small but even fit the large diver we had in the water, and also fit my wife 5'1'', 95lbs), with a low pressure inflater which is normal oc stuff... attached to the first stage on the on board gas. we will replace this with a zeagel octo plus and a 30cf pony for oc back up. most likely will also put an on/off valve to use the 30cf for the loop gas if needed/desired. i would expect the drag to be about one third of the drager. we did have to almost double our weight tho, i usually have eight pounds on my belt, needed 16. the unit calls for 40/60 nitrox, we have used higher o2 mixes but not less. the back removes for cleaning and inspection, the clips (4) are also plastic and look like they will be the first thing to break, i will order replacement parts soon just in case, the whole unit comes apart in about five minutes, some parts i put in the dishwasher, one complete unit fit in one side of my kitchen sink (standing up), it is extremely easy to clean, the plastic counter lungs look very durable and are simple to remove and clean. the mouth piece and hoses come apart as well, and reseal easily. unlike the drager, there are only five places that a leak can occur, unless you break the canister (except the mouthpiece). for me the gas is replinished about every fith to seventh breath, and this is the only noise you hear except your breathing, a short hiss. oh yeah, i noticed that my fins squeek once in a while too, something ive never heard before. :-) the mostly plastic housing conserns me a little, i can see someone sitting on the cover while changing the bottle, but the parts are simple and must be inexpensive, the whole unit is only $3000.00us i will just order extra and then not worry about it. also one doesn't have to worry about rust or corrision. i think there are only two orings in the unit, as far as i've seen anyway. there is one place on one unit that the housing doesn't match up perfectly, you have to push it to fit and it pops out at times but does not effect the operation and is behind the canister so you can't see it. the gas bottle fits in a neat little compartment in the back, faces valve down and every part is covered buy the compartment lid, it clips on with two spring activated levers. you can very easily reach the valve knob to turn on your gas as it's open on the bottom of the unit (even while wearing the rig). but it's not in a place to be turned off by hitting on something. i am not, and will never will be, comfortable without a ppo2 indicator, i will have these installed by tracy robinette when the newness wears off and i can stand to give them up.. then we will put them to some real tests, no george, not in caves, just walls and a little deeper. will also look into some other gas mixes but know that the flow rate is set for only one gas and may not be able to do that safely (don't worry jason). plan to test the gas at different times with an analizer this week, will post the results of the test. the canister doesn't produce near the heat that the drager does, may be good or bad depending on what you want. we will try lithium hydroxide in the near future and let you know how that goes. there is absolutely NO TASTE to the absorbment, much unlike the drager, don't know if that's due to the small size of the canister or the stuff the japanese use. maybe both. would like to know what rich and rod say about what they use. just for those that may not be familure with this unit it is a semi closed rebreather made by the nissan company of japan.. every one that has seen it says it's looks like a bug on your back, i think it looks sorta like a squid. the rigs came with an alarm that beeps when you get to the depth of your gas, we have never used it so don't know how it works, is about eight inches long and looks like a fish (whoaa, now rich is gonna want one). it straps to your inflator hose with velcro. i think it is really hot and is gonna be THE choice of the rec market. no i don't sell them, as far as i know you cannot get them anywhere but japan.. can't tell you where i got mine or i'd have to kill you :-) if you have any questions about the unit you can post me privately, if you are in hawaii or coming here and want to dive one let me know. dp john will you post this to cis for me, and anyone else to aol if you want.
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