Category — Inspiration CCR

I just come out of a pretty busy run full of teaching and exploring, tiring but fun and now as things slow down a little bit I can take the time to write about it.

When I had finished the basic sidemount course with Wayne I was off on three weeks vacation. First I had planed to travel to Dominican Republic and everything was set until my travel partner had to cancel due to work obligations. I was pretty bummed out about the whole situation but when Mauro asked me to join a project he and Alex where pursuing I forgot about the situation and was looking forward to go and explore with the two.
In the same period of time I also got the second draft version of a sidemount rig I help to design which instantly outdid all my expectations and gave me great motivation to go out and dive again daily. So besides exploring I also dedicated a good amount of time to testing the rig in various different diving environments as well as techniques ranging from wet to dry suit, stages and scooters in backmount and sidemount seized passages.

With Mauro I was exploring in Cenote Balan Ak where Alex had established the relationship with the landowner and out of Cenote Palomita to resurvey and push some lines. A great pleasure to hang out and dive with the two guys who are both so passionate about the exploration there.

After that it was back to work and I started my first course right away with Mark who came in to do a deep/advanced nitrox combo course. A cool start that gave me also the rare possibility to dive in the ocean. After one day in a Cenote for confined water training and another day in the sinkhole Angelita we lost a day to sickness. Having only one day of diving in the ocean left, we couldn’t finish the training but Mark has already booked his return in September where we will not only finish but also integrate the advanced recreational trimix course.

Before the next course I had the great opportunity to help Nadia a cave explorer that lives down in Tulum with her mapping project of Cenote Dos Pisos. It was a super experience, first of all since I had never attempted to produce a large scale cave map (besides stick maps of course) and second it was cool to hang out with her and talk about different projects she is pursuing with her husband Dave in the area as well as some of the history of  the Cenote and the Cave System.

After that I almost instantly went into a CCR cave course with two Germans, Dirk and Thomas who came equipped with an Inspiration and a Megalodon CCR. Dirk had already done his course in Thailand some time ago and already visited Florida and Mexico for cave diving but wanted to sit in and train with his buddy. Dirk was one of my really first advanced nitrox students back when I lived in Egypt and to see him now as a very skilled trimix/cave ccr diver puts a big smile on my face. Thomas being a very experienced trimix ccr instructor himself made for a great team and hard for me to challenge the two.

Thomas and Dirk back from a dive in B Tunnel

The first two days we spent in the open water working on buoyancy, trim and fining techniques as well as looking at the units and trimming them down to minimal seize. We also went through all of the ccr related exercises followed by zero visibility training and touch contact and touch and go procedures.
Third day had us in the cave ready to go and trying the first time all ccr skills while staying horizontal within arms reach of the guideline. We realized quickly that doing those skills in a dark place with limited space while staying perfectly trimed with neutral buoyancy is not a quiet easy thing to do =)
The next five days we were working on many different scenarios including hyper and hypoxia drills, boom scenarios, hypercapnia, long hose gas sharing of bail out, passing restrictions in zero viz, complex navigation, surfacing in zero visibility, solenoid stuck close and open during a cave dive, lost line and lost diver and many combinations of the above.
During the entire course we had lots of fun and a general relaxed atmosphere and shared many stories of diving the cold lakes in europe =)
Both of them came very open minded in the course and with a lot of experience which gave us many interesting topics and point of views to discuss, all in all a great time!

Dirk and Thomas tired but happy!!!

After that Dirk who had brought his own scooter enrolled in a three day basic cave dpv course. We were using Bonex(dirks), Silent Submerge as well as a Divex Cuda during the training to see different performances and characteristics of the models.
First day we were doing theory all morning discussing pros and cons, gas management, emergency procedures, conservation and other topics before driving to Cenote Ponderosa to do our initial training. We were practicing different towing techniques, how to keep neutral bouyancy while driving, touch contact, touch and go and runaway dpv failure which especially on the bonex is an easy scenario due to his master switch.
The next day we were in the cave all day long going through lots of complex exercises involving lost line and lost diver during a dpv dive, computing different RMVs and times which are essential to dive planing, zero visibility drills including picking up gear, dpv failures, time awareness and so forth. Dirk realized very fast that there is more to scootering in a cave then pulling a trigger =)
Last day we implemented all of the previous learned in complex dives in cenote Mayan Blue which turned out to be just amazing! The previous long days payed of and we could use our rebreathers and scooters effectively. We did long dives covering an amazing distance while relaxed sight seeing knowing that at all times even with two catastrophic failures we would still be able to safely exit the cave. Now Dirk must get some more experience using his new favourite tool so that next time we can bring out the long range dpvs and take it to the next level. =)

The next day I went straight over to a OC cave course with Yamil a local diving instructor who had started some time ago but couldn’t finish due to work obligations. Again we were not able to finish his training due to a bad cold that knocked him out after the first two days.
At least that gave me the opportunity to squeeze some days of exploring in and even a fun dive with friends from Utila (Frank and Andy). We were a big group consisting of Dirk, Thomas, Mauro, Frank, Andy and myself and were diving in separate teams in Cenote Muchachos. Dirk and Thomas on CCRs, Mauro sidemount and stage, the Utila gang after finishing their basic sidemount training with Nando in their new rigs and me CCR also and dpv. A great day with 3h+ dive time =)

The following day I welcomed Nick who came in to “upgrade”  from GUE Cave 1 to Technical Cave Diver. We had met before to discuss exactly the expectations that he had in the course and that I had from him as a student. Nick came in as a highly trained, skilled and experienced diver which made my job both very easy and difficult. Easy in a way that he learned extremely fast difficult in a way of bringing him close to the edge of his comfort zone to establish some limits. The main new information and skills we had to cover were navigation, restrictions, deco bottel and stage tank use in the overhead environment and reviewing the stuff he had already learned and all of that on a tight schedule which ment early mornings and late evenings, especially for me as Nick stayed in Puerto Aventuras…
Nick is an avid deep and wreck diver from Australia which made the lunch brakes very entertaining as he shared some insights on the local wreck and cave diving in the land down under. I really hope I will get the chance one day to visit him there and check it out!!!

So that was part one…part two will be up in some days…I hope you enjoy =)

cheers

What I like and what I don’t like – A personal view

I bought my first Inspiration e-CCR Rebreather back in 1999 and back then there was no choice between Classic, Vision or even the Evolution. It was plain and simple the Inspiration, now known as the classic version of a range of Rebreathers offered by AP, and manufactured in the U.K.

As it was my first Rebreather I ever purchased the choice, and my knowledge about choices, was rather limited back then so I had not much to pick from in terms of other units commercially available to the public … or at least I was not informed enough to know about them. The unit was purchased in Singapore by a friend and then came to Mexico. I did a number of deep cave dives on the unit and sold it about 3 years later to a friend residing in Utilla, Honduras where I believe the unit is still up and running.

Late last year I took the chance and offer to purchase a used Inspo from a friend of mine who was willing to part from his Vision Inspiration e-CCR Rebreather with only about 40 hours on the unit. The unit was living in Canada at that moment. When the unit came to Mexico it was in a still spanky shiny new turtle box with no scratches on it as the unit was housed during its 40 hours in a aluminum travel frame.

The things I like on the Vision & what I left as is

Decompression capability – I am actually an advocate of having the dive computer and Rebreather separated but have to say that it is quite nice to have the decompression computer tied into the actual Po2 from the sensors. My CCR capable dive computer (Liquidvision X1) is the primary dive computer and the inline Vision decompression computer housed within the handset my backup.

Handset – I like to be able to put the handset on the wrist as on the classic they were hanging somewhat below my profile and dragging in cave sediments a view times. To have only one hand set on my wrist instead of two is quite nice as well which leaves space on the other wrist for my CCR capable dive computer.

Sensor changing and placement – They changed the design of the head and now you can actually change the sensors without breaking any water sealing o-rings and need no tools anymore in order to do it. The way the sensors are connected now is better as well as on the Classic Inspiration where corrosion and conductivity issues frequently plagued my diving excursions. They changed as well the metal battery housing screw who is now not located directly opposite the second sensor anymore and does allow the unit being laid on its back without condensation water droplets dripping directly onto the second sensor.

Tempstick – I have to say that I like the temp stick display even if I do not use it as a reference on how long I can still stay and use the absorbent.

Hydrophobic membrane – I like the hydrophobic membrane on top and bottom of the absorbent cartridge which gives a bit of protection to the absorbent in case we have some water in the can.

Calibration – I got used to it how easy calibration is on the unit.

HUD -I like the HUD even if the placement is not entirely right for me … because of my big head. I guess.

The things I do not like on the Vision & what I changed

Softpack – I do not like softpacks with all of them straps and plastic buckles. After all these years of cave, wreck, tec as well as dry suit diving I have to say that I do prefer a stainless steel backplate with all through standard webbing and a sturdy crotch strap. With the use of my standard Dive Rite ss backplate I have all the d-rings exactly where I want to have them, and can use the same backplate for oc and cc diving. This is one of the modifications to make the unit right for me.

Wing – The original box wing I do not like. With the softpack went the original box wing which was replaced by a Dive Rite 55 lbs Rec wing, but can be changed for any brand, any size wing either single, double or sandwiched. This is one of the modifications to make the unit right for me.

The inflator and bailout regulator – With the old box wing went the complex and prone to leak (at least mine) inflator and second stage assembly. Not only did I have some leaks but it was hanging below my profile and is in the way of streamlining myself. It makes deflating and sharing gas with another diver at the same time a bit more challenging too. I am an advocate of having my CCR and my bailout gas separated so I am carrying always a separate bailout tank with me. This is one of the modifications to make the unit right for me.

DSV – I did not ever like the original DSV. Somehow I had a problem to remember which way is open and which way is closed. From my prior CCR diving experience I came to like a BOV quite a lot and it was a much welcomed change on the unit. My BOV is attached to the inboard diluent tank. The BOV access to the diluent tank is only a step in-between in my bailout procedure. It allows me to get off the loop very fast and convenient while I am getting my bailout regulator ready. On deep dives I change to larger onboard diluent tanks. The BOV allows my dive partners intervene externally as well in case I am unconscious or behave erratic. I attached a Golem Gear BOV to the unit. This is one of the modifications to make the unit right for me.

The box – The yellow and black plastic container I do not like. While traveling a lot I found the large plastic box a bit too cumbersome. The other aspect was that I had to drag half of it around to get my countelungs disinfected. The cover in my point of view has the potential disadvantage that it can trap gas bubbles underneath in case of a leak with either O2 or diluent, quite a bit of gas actually. I first changed that while drilling little holes into the cover. In the end I placed the unit into a steel frame which did a couple of things for me. The ability to travel light and disassemble the unit into individual pieces, to change the backplate and wing fast with any brand and size, as well does the frame allow for a wide variety of back plate and wing mounting positions helping with trim. The open design of the frame I use does allow my dive partner to see all components of the rebreather in order should a leak arise, as well the amount of gas that can be trapped below the cover is very minimal. This is one of the modifications to make the unit right for me.

Non-detachable counterlungs – Pain in the butt to keep clean and dry. Keeping the unit sanitized seemed to be a drag literally as I had to drag the plastic shell with me to the water source and then somehow place it in a way so the lungs can dry while on the floor or table. I live in a humid environment and want to hang my lungs up to dry, so I cut them off the attachment point and sewed on a d-ring each on top. The top of the lungs are now attached via a quick link to the frame while the bottom part is attached via bungee and a clip to my crotch strap scooter d-ring. The counterlungs are not attached in any way to my harness to allow me to move them around to get to my backup lights, d-rings for bailout or stage tanks or my dry suit inflator. This is one of the modifications to make the unit right for me.

Tank size restriction – The original plastic box allows only one tank size with one particular valve design to be used. As I travel a lot I may choose to travel with small aluminum tanks or don’t pack tanks at all as I rent tanks at my destination. As my destination provider may not have the tanks I like to have the plastic box is limiting me in my choice of tanks. With the steel frame mounted to my unit I can use Alm 13, 19, 30, 40 and 80 cft tanks mounted to my unit as well as 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 ltr steel tanks. This option is quite useful when traveling. This is one of the modifications to make the unit right for me with the installation of the steel frame.

Special sensor – I do not like the fact much that I do need special sensors for this particular unit but another sensor for all my other units which puts me into a situation that I need to stock two different sensors. However, with the new connector a lot of my old sensor connectivity and corrosion issues have been addressed, and all I can do it stock special sensors for the Vision.

Plastic buckles – I do not like plastic buckles and fast clips at all. In my experience they break way too many times and always at the wrong time, the time I am ready to go diving. With the change to an ss backplate with standard harness and ss buckle this issue has been addressed. With the counterlungs now detachable and connected with metal quick links and clips got me to get rid of all plastic attachment points. This is one of the modifications to make the unit right for me.

The things that don’t bother me much on the Vision

Plastic bucket – The bucket where the absorbent cartridge is living inside is made out of plastic but has hold up very well so far including the metal threading embedded in the bucket walls. On the Classic Inspo you could actually rip them out while over torqing the screws that hold the lid on the can but with the Vision you have them little black rotary clips with a lesser or no chance to rip out the metal thread rods.

Single o-rings – The unit is been designed and sealed with single o-rings in all locations only while other Rebreather manufacturers are using a double o-ring design with at times large and thick diameter. So far I had no problems and the unit is tight with excellent positive and negative checks.

Mesh webbing over counterlungs – The new counterlungs have a partial mesh webbing over the inner and actual counterlungs. Especially in cave diving sediments can fall in there and with a lot of time and rubbing action can damage the inner counterlungs but I have had no issues so far.

Battery life – The battery life is not too bad, could be better but could be worse too. I run the unit fully electronic and just carry extra batteries with me. Fortunately they are readily available in most photo stores anyways.

All in all I am quite happy with the unit after I have done the changes as outlined above. The unit is streamlined, light, is reliable (at least my electronics are), has a very good horizontal trim now with the changes done and is user friendly … at least for me.

Greetings

Matt