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> Kevin: what I said was that experienced divers will overbreathe the unit
> while exerting themselves. To correct this, stop the exertion. If this
> doesn't help then place the counterlung below your own lungs (put your
> feet at 7 o'clock and head at 1 o'clock and you will be able to breathe
> with great ease. If you believed that your canister was flooded, then
> breathe the unit semi-closed while adding diluent manually and you will
> get rid of much CO2. 

Or better yet, just sell that antiquated contraption and.....

(Chill, rod - please note: ";-)")

> In actuality, modern scrubber material will perform
> admirably even when damp. Kevin, I was stunned to see this post. You left
> out two important facts- this was the first ever trimix dive for you and
> it was the deepest you've ever taken the rebreather. The unit started
> doing something to you that you didn't understand and you basically forgot
> everything you've been told to do in an emergency.  Hyperventillation and
> panic nearly did you in. You are my friend and I am responsible for you
> having that rebreather and you are making me very nervous. My advice -that
> I will give you for the umpteenth time- is you need to get rid of the FFM
> and dive the unit with a mouthpiece for many hours and then come back to
> the FFM. You may still experience what happened to you at depths shallower
> than 150 (your cutoff for FFM use) under some conditions with a FFM. The
> reason I felt compelled to reveal the two important facts you omitted is
> because you wanted the post to be a learning experience for potential
> rebreather divers- the two omitted facts stated clarify that this was not
> a rebreather problem. 

EXCELLENT stuff!  Sorry, Kev - I love ya, but Rod just nailed it sqaure 
on the head.  I don't like to lecture to specific individuals (just to the 
amorphous "diving community" as a whole), but you really should have 
these accidents during your first 100 hours of rebreather diving in 
shallow water.  In fact, you should deliberately induce these accidents 
during your first 100 hours in shallow water, so you know how to deal 
with them.  Then you should lay awake in bed at night, staring at the 
ceiling, thinking about what would happen if these accidents happened at, 
say, 275 feet in, say, cold water with, say, only a wetsuit.

loha,
Rich

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