The Buddy is a low end CCR aimed at a large audience as opposed to something
like the $60,000 MK 16 machine that the Navy uses. Both are subject to the
same laws of physics, only you get what you pay for. The sensors in theBuddy
are downstream of the scrubber, so hot , moist gas passes over sensors that
are likely at a lower temperature, and condensation forms. After a while,
this will alter or block the reading of the sensors, and you then could make
a deadly mistake. This becomes more time critical in shallow water, less so
deep due to the volume of oxygen in the loop relative to what is used by the
body.  At least 12 people have died using the Buddy so far. The MK 16 has a
ring of sensors inside a double insulated scrubber that is shaped like an
auto air cleaner and keeps the temp relatively constant on both the sensors
and the surrounding gas, so the problem is not as pronounced. That scrubber
alone costs more than two Buddys. The Cis Lunar has a scheme for dealing
with this well known problem which places three little nozzles over the
sensor faces in the sensor block. The diver can inject diluent directly onto
the sensors and then view his readout to see if the correct ppo2 is being
displayed. The Cis is a $20,000 machine, but I believe it is no longer made.
There are all kinds of other attempts out there to cheat physics or find a
way to bet your life on underwater on the fly gas mixing electronics, but
there is an easier way to get gas leverage without these risks.

With the Halcyon, there is no attempt to mix the gas or to monitor the gas.
There are no sensors. Basically, if the machine is working, you can breathe
and you can hear it adding gas quite clearly. If it is not working, you
either can not breathe, or you can not hear it adding gas. Machines like the
Buddy or Cis are capable of giving you 40 or 50 to one leverage on your gas,
the Halcyon is variable ( the old halcyon ) and the new Halcyon is fixed .
Mine is fixed at 10:1 so that my supply gas is breathable at the depth I use
it at on open circuit, not a subject for discussion here. You can set
diluent in a CCR to be breathable at the depth you plan to dive, and add
oxygen as it depletes. The Halcyon is intended to be a gas extension device,
not a true "rebreather" in the classic sense. Mine is very small, less than
the size of an aluminum 80 tank, and I mount it between manifolded doubles
that are separated by a frame which holds the tanks on the outside and the
rebreather in the middle.  My doubles are rigged normal DIR, and there is a
supply hose to the rebreather and then I use a separate drive bottle of gas
to dive with the doubles being bail out. At any point, I have my 10:1
leverage plus my bailout in tact.

This gives me a tremendous advantage on any kind of dive. For cave, I have
800 cu ft of gas for each 80 cylinder, and effectively 3200 cu ft on my
back, or 320 bailout open circuit, and for wreck I can dive either that rig
or smaller doubles , depending on the situation. The rebreather weighs 38
pounds with a full scrubber, so my total is that added to whatever doubles
rig I am diving. The net result looks like having triple 80's on your back
as far as dimensions. I will not dive any machine without adequate open
circuit bailout, and in my case I will not dive any machine that requires. I
do not have to. I also will not use any device on a dive that would cause me
to have to call the dive if the electronics of the device failed to work. If
you do not have them, they can not fail. The Halcyon is too simple for that
nonsense.

I realize that not too many people understand this, I am not going to
explain it unless you buy a Halcyon and happen to be lucky enough to have me
teaching part of the class, and I also realize that pure rebreather people
want the electronic machines. That is fine with me.  I have dives that
require massive gas logistics and I want to live through them and do the
dive not play with the gear, but then that is why JJ and I hold all the
records, we figured this balance out and are not pie in the skying or
kidding ourselves, we are doing what it takes to get the job done.

I hope this answers any questions, as I do not feel like discussing it or
arguing it. If anyone wants to know what we do with rebreathers, go to
www.wkpp.org or watch NBC Discovery or the Learning Channel, or Outdoor
Adventure, of public TV or Fox and see one of our many shows, or go get some
back issues of National Geographic.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Carre" <Paul.Carre@po*.co*>
To: "Jim Cobb" <cobber@ci*.co*>; <techdiver@aquanaut.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2001 3:07 AM
Subject: Re: Deep wreck in FL


> Hi Jim,
>
> Which aspects of the Buddy RB are flawed ?- I do not have one, or plan on
> owning one in the near future ( so no axe to grind ) but am interested.
>
>
> --
> Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'.
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>

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