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Dudes, (and Dude-ettes) I have just finished the training on my CCR-155 and mixed gas courses here in Portland, and thought I'd share with some of you the experience. My instructor was Leon Scamahorn of the National Marine Rescue Academy, which is a Federal agency for the training of technical and rescue divers. Leon was in the Specal Forces in the Army for 12 years, but doesn't talk much about it. I tried my best with liquor to get him to reveal some secrets about his anti-terrorist activities while in the military, but everytime I did, he upped my set-point another notch. At 3.0 I stopped asking questions... I learned more about the rebreather than I had ever thought. It made me appreciate just how cool the 155 is compared to everything else that has been described to me by others, or expressed on this board. It's easy for me to say that mine is the best because I own one, but Leon seemed to have a complete working knowledge of all the various rebreathers, and listed their attributes/deficits without too much prejudice. He happens to own 9 CCR-1000's (almost identical to the 155), but expressed almost equal love for his LAR-5. His course was very well structured, and got into the most minute of details. The first thing he had me do with my unit was fly it without any electronics. He stressed that the most important thing you can learn with your rebreather is how to use it when it is essentially dead. Once you have mastered the art of using the unit at its lowest potential to keep you alive, using it with all the bells and whistles is a snap. It's kind of like learning how to drive a car without brakes or power steering. On the maintenance/pre and post dive set up, he was most incredibly meticulous, to the point of being anal. This is a good thing, since those of you that know me know that I am not necessarily the most meticulous of persons when it comes to gear. (I think I hosed off my regulators the last time I changed the oil in my truck, which was around the time when Jesus was playing stick-ball). He supplied me with pre-dive and post-dive check lists to use each time I dive my unit, and I will use them (although he insisted that I "initial" each step instead of checking them off - I think I'll just go ahead and check them in the future...). Then, it was time for gas theory - Nitrox (which, those of you who know Variable Volume Mixed Gas Closed Circuit Rebreathers know is what you breathe anyway with these rigs) - Heliox - and Trimix. I've got more formulas in my head, and spread out over 30 pages of notes than I can recall here. Essentially, I now have a good foundation of understanding of gas characteristics, and their appropriate applications. Thank god I got a rebreather that maintains O2 setpoints, since calculating travel-mix/bottom-mix/deco-mix would be an absolute bitch using tanks. My hat is off to you dudes (and dude-ettes) that go through those motions... Then we did some diving... Water. Cold water. I decided long ago that I do not like cold water. I don't even like to drink cold water. Water should not be cold. There should be a law against it... Leon loaned me some thermal wear and a drysuit made by USIA (a company he is affiliated with). This stuff was actually quite cool (good, I mean). I was plenty warm, and was able to concentrate on diving my unit. First thing: My partner John has been diving his CCR for awhile - My respect level for him went way up when I started diving my rig. There is a lot of shit to keep track of. You've got a primary display, a secondary display, two pressure gauges, your manual-add valves, plus whatever other stuff you normally have to deal with, like inflators (dry suit and b.c.) lights, depth gauge etc... You don't want a rebreather if you like to do recreational dives. The units are wayyyy cool, but you have to spend a considerable amount of brain power to keep track of the system performance. Another thing - they weigh more than Hillary Clinton's ass. Getting them on in the boat (especially with 3 other CCR divers getting rigged) is difficult (to say the least) and by the time you do get all your gear on and set up, you'll be aching to suck pure O2 for a while just to catch your breath. I used muscles that I haven't used since the time I ate 2 dozen oysters before my wedding night... First dive - Compressed air as diluent - O2 setpoint 1.2 170 foot dive - Equivalent Narcosis depth to 198 FSW. We get to 170 and I start hearing the angels sing. I am soooooo buzzed that I'm trying to find my comm button on my mask (which I know the EXACT location of, even blind) and I can't find it. I finally find it and read off my current PPO2 to Leon, who himself is having a conversation with a Lincod named Larry. The other divers all all having their own private epiphanies, and/or handing their mouthpieces to passing squid, when the last non-narced brain cell in our heads tells us it is a good idea to decrease our depth. We ascend from wonderland and I stop hearing Tiny Tim singing "Ave Maria" in my head. Next dive (another day)- Heliox. Heliox is the coolest thing in the world. I know that you've got added deco concerns with it - but we were at 230 FSW and I was STOKED. I wanted to go deeper. After we came back to the boat, I felt like I had enough energy to take on Heidi Fleiss' entire employee roster. This stuff is either dangerous, or the best thing since speed. I intend to walk around my front porch wearing only my torn boxers, inhaling Heliox, and screaming (in a Heeeelium voice) "don't look at me!!" to anyone who passes by, sometime in the future. (People who saw Dennis Hopper in "Blue Velvet" will understand this one...) Later, we did another Heliox dive - bad news. I dunno why, but the whole dive I felt like I wasn't getting enough O2. I must have had some kind of CO2 buildup, 'cause I swear, even on 100% O2 during deco, resting, I felt like I was starving for air. I'm going to replace my scrubber and try again. It was a good lesson, though. I learned first-hand that Hypercapnia sucks big time. Leon told me about some Navy Seals in a lockout that accidentally inflated their life-raft in the chamber. They stabbed it with their knives to keep it from crushing them, but the CO2 from the inflators then flooded the lockout, and they all died. I can't think of a more rotten way to die... One cool thing on that dive, I was molested by a medium sized Octopus. The little hussy took a liking to me, and wouldn't stop grabbing me or my gear. John said it was a female octo and I should "explore my world" but this was a training dive, after all, so I got her number and left it at that... She kept wrapping herself around my arms and gauges, and I had to shoo her away when she placed two arms around my mask and began pulling. Since she wasn't a NAUI Open Water Instructor, I decided that I really didn't need the mask clearing drill, so pulled her off. As I ascended, she grabbed hold of my light, and hung on for a little ride. She really wanted to play. It was a cool experience that I'd like to ask some of you fish doctors about sometime. All in all it was a great experience and excellent training. I would strongly recommend Leon as an instructor to any of you who are interested in technical closed circuit or technical mixed gas diving to call him. As for me, I am now certified by several different agencies, including the Federal Government for lots of different things, and as such can proudly proclaim that I am an expert on all things on earth... Well.... Maybe not, but I've got some cool certificates to hang on my wall... And if any of you are diving off of Tacoma, Washington and run into a light speckeled-brown Pacific NorthWest Octopus, keep your hands off her - she's mine... Later. Kevin HeyyDude
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