Mailing List Archive Mailing List Archive
>>On 30 Jun 1994 22:24:30 -1000 (HST) Epic Dive Shop
>>epic@so*.ha*.ed*>
>>wrote (Subject: Re: Solo@90*?):-
>>35 years ago (or so) rebreathers hit the market, do the lack of proper
>>training and unresponsible divers they quickly got "bad press" and even
now
>>are struggling in their return... *that* is a damn shame. ...
>I live in England and I have never been in USA. In the late 1960's or some
>time in the 1970's I heard, by word of mouth and in scuba diving magazines,
of
>oxygen-rebreather-only sport scuba diving clubs in USA, and one in Canada.
>(1) Are any of these clubs still going? What happened to them? Can USA
>divers still buy them?
>(2) What makes of sets did they use? Like USA frogmen's sets with the bag
on
>the back?, or like UK frogmen's sets with the bag on the chest? or what?
Once
>when I wrote to a USA scuba diving magazine called `Skin Diver' about this,
he
>said that "the few sport rebreather divers that he had seen, were using
>British-made rebreathers".
>(3) How well organized are/were these clubs? If I was running one, I would
>be tempted to order:-
>(a) No private rebreather diving, but only on Club organized dives.
>(b) Pure oxygen only: don't try mixture rebreathing (with set design as it
>was then). (A USA sport diving manual that I saw advised this.)
>(c) If possible, have a standby diver with an aqualung on.
>Some sport USA diving manuals that I have seen taught about rebreather
>diving as if it was ordinary like aqualung diving; while in UK sport diving
>manuals say nothing about rebreathers at all, except "Here be dragons, keep
>out!" or the like. UK diving literature routinely mentions "oxygen" as a
>diving accessory, and "oxygen training", and automatically assumes that the
>reader will understand it as "resuscitator"; and once a UK diving magazine
>mentioned "rebreathers" without further explanation, meaning
"rebreather-type
>resuscitators"!
>How far has research got into finding the exact neuro-cybernetic and
>neuro-biochemical etc mechanism that causes oxygen convulsions and other
>hyperoxia symptoms? Is or will there be a drug to suppress these symptoms
and
>allow deeper safe diving with pure oxygen?
I doubt if there are any active pure oxygen rebreather clubs around. The
units cannot be safely used below 33 ft. and most of the technical (I hate
that term) diving community limits 100% O2 use to 20 fsw and less. The
average divers buoyancy control isn't good enough to stay within the safe
limits.
- Wayne
Navigate by Author:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Subject Search Index]
[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]
[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]