REBREATHER DIVING COURSE

REBREATHER DIVING COURSE OVERVIEW
Find out why divers from all over the world are learning to dive in silence. The AP rebreather, distributed by Silent Diving Systems in North America, has revolutionized recreational and technical diving over the last 8 years. This unit offers significant advantages over open circuit scuba for all types of diving, including Arctic diving. The system works on electronic controlled 02 injections which means that as 02 becomes metabolized by our bodies; the system automatically replaces the used 02 with fresh gas. Our metabolism does not change with depth, so the system is as gas efficient at 33ft/10m as it is at 330ft100m! The other major difference of the closed circuit system is that it maintains a constant P02 during the dive. This means that instead of planning a mix for a given depth, the rebreather constantly changes the mix to suit the depth you are at.

Advantages of Closed Circuit Rebreather Diving

• Extended duration diving with greatly reduced gas consumption.
• Warmer, quieter ice diving with easier breathing.
• No bubbles - see how close the wildlife comes - great for underwater photographers and filmmakers.
• Breathing 'ideal' O2% at all times gives greatly reduced decompression times and increased No-Stop times.
• For Tek divers they can be used with Trimix or Heliox (huge savings in gas costs!)

Differences between SCR and CCR
The first difference between rebreather diving systems and others is the way oxygen is added to the breathing loop. Whereas semi-closed rebreathers inject oxygen along with other gases, closed-circuit rebreathers generally consist of at least two independent gas supplies. One of these contains pure oxygen, which is injected into the breathing loop to make up for the oxygen that is consumed by the diver. The other gas supply is called the diluent. The diluent usually consists of either compressed air or a special gas mixture such as Nitrox, Heliox, Neox or Trimix. The diluent gas mixture usually contains enough oxygen so that it can be breathed directly from the cylinder via an open-circuit system at the operating depth of the dive. This supply is used to maintain system volume during excursions to depths where the volume of gas in the breathing loop is compressed.

In some rebreathers the diluent is also used for the emergency open-circuit bailout gas supply in the event of a total system failure of the rebreather diving apparatus.

The second major difference between closed-circuit rebreathers and semi-closed rebreathers is how the two systems maintain the concentration of oxygen in the breathing loop. Whereas most semi-closed rebreathers maintain a (more or less) constant fraction of oxygen (FO2) throughout the course of the dive, closed-circuit rebreathers maintain a relatively constant partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) in the breathing loop. In most cases, closed-circuit rebreathers also incorporate an electronic O2 control system, which automatically adds oxygen when the PO2 drops below a certain level (this level is called the PO2 set-point).

Description of the Inspiration/Evolution Closed Circuit Rebreather Diving Course
Rebreather diving requires a great deal of discipline and training. Thus rebreather diving requires a higher dedication to equipment maintenance and operation than is generally required for open-circuit divers. Furthermore, rebreathers are generally more complex devices than open-circuit scuba gear, which also accounts for why they require more training time.

Prerequisites
Advanced Nitrox Diver (can be taken at the time as Rebreather Diving course). Be a minimum of 18 years old. A minimum of 60 Open Water dives. A good attitude accepting a "back to basics" approach.

Differences between SCR and CCR
A total of 500mins of underwater time will be required to complete this course.

COURSE INFORMATION

Price

$4300.00 (CAD$)
from Thousand Islands Ice Diving Facility

2010 Dates

April 8 - 12

Location

1000 Islands, Canada

Transportation

Airboat

Itinerary

Day 1 - 6 hours of academic development - Reviewing the history of rebreather diving development and closed circuit rebreather use. A refresh on Nitrox diving physics including constant PPO2 theory and CNS% tracking. A history and in depth discussion of the rebreather diving including electronics workshop. 2 hours of confined water training developing the survival skills needed to use the unit during ice diving. Set point management, buoyancy control, semi closed rebreather mode, oxygen rebreather mode, bailout skills and mouthpiece management drills. Post dive debriefing, maintenance and cleaning.

Day 2 - 2 Open water dives averaging around 60 minutes per dive practicing all of the skills learnt during the confined water training. These dives are done in around 20ft/6m-33ft/10m of water. Post dive debriefing, cleaning and maintenance. Finish academics.

Day 3 - 2 Open water dives averaging around 60 minutes per dive practicing all of the skills learnt during the confined water training and pervious day. These dives are done in around 33ft/10m – 66ft/20m of water. Post dive debriefing, cleaning and maintenance. Finish academics.

Day 4 - 2 Open water dives averaging around 60 minutes per dive practicing all of the skills learnt during the confined water training and from pervious dives. Average dive depth on these dives will be 33ft/10m -66ft/20m. Post dive debriefing, cleaning and maintenance. Finish academics.

Day 5 - 2 Open water dives once again averaging around 60 minutes per dive practicing all of the skills you have been doing during the week. Average depth here will be 75ft/25m-115ft/35m. Post dive debriefing, cleaning and maintenance. Write final exam.

Included Services

From Ottawa - airport transfers, accommodations, all meals in itinerary, books, 5 day course, gas, sofnolime, oxygen, O2 bottles, Diluent Bottles, O2 Analyzer, all charters, weights.

Not Included

Flights to Ottawa, drysuit and rebreather
(available on request)