On Wed, 10 Jul 1996 gmiiii@in*.co* wrote:

> 
> 
> On Tue, 9 Jul 1996, Richard Pyle <deepreef@bi*.bi*.Ha*.Or*> wrote:
> >On Tue, 9 Jul 1996 gmiiii@in*.co* wrote:
> >
> >> 
> >>  Rich,I will be honest with you- I don't have the balls 
> >
> >O.K....I'm lost.  What was this in reference to again?
> >
> >Rich
> >
>    I am scared to dive an electronic rebreather . i have used ones like the 
> Odessy without being scared of it, as there is nothing but mechancial failure
to 
> worry about, and that I can deal with. 

See, that's the myth both Farb and I have been trying to dispell.  If you 
dive these things with the right training, discipline, and attitude, then 
electronics failure is akin to a busted snorkel keeper.  The ONLY thing I 
worry about with the rig I use is mechanical failure - shreded 
counterlung, things like that.  If you want, I'll be happy to do a dive 
with you to whatever depth you want - and I'll take the rebreather with 
no batteries in it at all. I don't like doing it that way, because I 
can't concentrate on fish or taking pictures.  However, if my electronics 
ever failed in the midst of a real dive, I would probably not be to 
concerned with looking at fish or taking pictures anyway.  The other 
thing that can kill you is complacency - i.e., making the dangerous 
assumption that if the electronics SEEM to be working, that the gas 
you're breathing is life sustaining.  You need independent methods of 
verification that rely only on how carfeul you were mixing the diluent 
supply, and the laws of physics. Both of these apply to open circuit just 
as much as they do to rebreathers.


> I am just afraid to use the ones that 
> rely on sensors and elctronics, like the MK16, the one Farb has, or the ones
you 
> have. 

I'm afraid to dive in holes in the ground.  That doesn't mean I couldn't 
be trained to do it.

> Gavin tell sme the EX19 and the MK16 work fine for hours, but I don't see 
> him diving one. The diving I do requires that the gear be ignored and the job 
> concentrated on

That's a very valid reason not to use a rebreather. They do require more 
concentration.  Not a huge amount more, but more nevertheless. The 
tradeoff you must decide is whether the increased duration, gas 
optimization, and margin for error are worth the extra concentration.  If 
you loose the buddies, they you'll gain more freedom of concentration 
than you loose with a rebreather.

>- if I were hypoxic or hyoperoxic, I would never know it, except 
> maybe at deco

This statement would be true only if you were an incompetent stroke or 
had the wrong machine.

>, and I may not even notice hypercapnia, although that is usually 
> pretty obvious. Not for me, although if I were not afrraid of them, a unit
like 
> Farbs would realy come in handy in the Bahamas or walking around looking at 
> sinkholes. Yours is a litle large for that, chief

The one I'm using now is a LOT large for almost anything. The one I'm 
buying is smaller, ligher, and more stream-lined than Farb's.

Rich

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