The following are 10 of the Best Things I learned at Mike Menduno's
Rebreather 2.0 Forum in Redondo Beach 9/26-28/96.

Comments gratefully
received; flames will be responded to in the usual manner ;-) If you get
this twice - sorry.

10. There appear to be only two companies with *experience* (25 yrs+) at
    building CCRs: Drager and BioMarine. I'd rather buy from a company
    that knows the failure rate of its components in actual diving.

09. Drager is capable of building a much better consumer machine than the
    Atlantis.

08. Not knowing what your inhaled pPO2 is, at *all times*, is like flying
    an airplane in the dark without instruments.

07. "The military has made every mistake possible over the past 25 years
    with this type of equipment" Mike Simmons USN. "Let's learn from their
    mistakes, not repeat them" Joe SantaAna SportDiver.

06. There are only two sets of deco tables for fixed pPO2s that have been
    extensively validated in real dives: Tables for 0.7 ATA and 1.2 ATA
    You are walking out on a limb if you dive a fixed pPO2 of anything
    else and think you can calculate the nitrogen load. - Ed Thalman

05. There are two ways to view investigation into DCS. (1) The Engineering
    way: "We were contracted by the Navy to find a way that works; this
    way works, don't mess with it". (2) The Scientific way: "If it worked
    we wouldn't be having this conversation and would understand how/why
    it works."

04. RN and AusN requirements of a rebreather are that it deliver 0.25 to
    3.0 L/O2/min at a concentration of not less than 0.2 and not greater
    than 2.0 ATA at the operational depths. N.B. If you are a top
    athlete, you *can* outbreath the Navy's max and you may be at
    increased risk of DCI when you do so.

03. No military types fly a rebreather at a fixed pPO2 greater than 1.3
    ATA (USN upper limit is 1.3 ATA, often flown at 0.7 or 1.2, - see 6)

02. No one should be called a "Rebreather Instructor/Trainer" until they
    (a) own one and/or have constant access to one and (b) have upwards of 100
    hours on that machine, of which a significant number of hours should
    be in the last month and (c) know how to teach. Giving your money to
    anyone else is feckless and reckless.

01. Because the units are (usually) modular, several gas sources etc.,
    safety due to "out-of-gas" events may be improved by using a
    CCR. *But bail-out needs to be very carefully planned*. As
    running out of gas is not the (usual) issue, a catastrophic
    equipment failure, e.g., the scrubber or lung, may present the hapless
    diver with a deco obligation that may be impossible to meet
    with diver-carried backup gas.

****And the No 1A reason for diving a CCR: It's really phenomenal fun!****

(Comments and dialogue gratefully received; flames will be responded to in
the usual manner ;-) If you get this twice - sorry.)

     *******************************************************************
     * Peter Heseltine, M.D., F.A.C.P.                                 *
     * Professor of Medicine                                           *
     * University of Southern California        LAC+USC Medical Center *
     * Tel: 213/226-6705                       1200 North State Street *
     * Fax: 213/226-2479                    Los Angeles, CA 90033-1084 *
     * Eml: heseltin@hs*.us*.ed*                                   USA *
     *******************************************************************

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