Category — Rebreather training

In the end of January 2011 I went to the ISC Megalodon CCR Rebreather factory located in Centralia, Washington, USA to take a continuing education program and in the process become a Megalodon Rebreather Instructor Trainer.

Some 8 or 9 years ago I told myself that I need to take at least one training program myself once a year in order not to forget how it feels to be a student and to further my own knowledge and techniques. One of the great things about diving is that the depth of knowledge is seemingly endless and as more as I know as little I really seem to know.

I arrived in Centralia about 2 am in the morning after a long flight with a number of plane changes. When coming out of the Seattle Sea-Tac airport walking to the rental car I had to put on all the warm cloth I could muster and had brought with me from Mexico as it was close to freezing.

Walking into the factory of ISC in Centralia later on that same morning I met familiar faces such as Jerry who is responsible for sales and customer contact, Steve who is doing final assembly and met Danny who is assembling the electronics, cables, scrubbers and heads.

Leon came in a little while later and we went right into the theory and lecture part after a tour of the ISC factory. Lectures and discussions became a big part of my 6 day experience at ISC, the depth of knowledge, details, stories and backround information about the Megalodon units, research, development, CE and ISO testing as well as diving related stories where tremendous.

The lectures and discussion where interrupted by workshops, hands on training, assembly of units and detailed explanations about scrubbers, BOV’s, electronics, the APECS and COPIS versions of the Megalodon Rebreathers as well as the brand new Predator and Pathfinder CCR Rebreathers that are to be release later on this year. When they are ready they are ready is the word on the release date.

After 3 days of workshops, lectures and discussions on the 4th day Dave and Peter came in from from Canada to pick up Peters Megalodon, and take some training with Leon I was lucky enough to watch and participate in.

After unit assembly, table dives and dirt dives with lengthy discussions about boom scenarios, Hypercapnia, Hyperoxia and Hypoxia drills as well as flood recovery we where ready to go to the water.

The confined water sessions that same evening where held at the Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington where I was able to watch Leon teaching with one of the greatest teaching tools, direct Instructor to student communication with direct, immediate and detailed voice input. Awesome. During the pool time Dave and I had the chance to dive the Pathfinder CCR Rebreather. Super compact unit with Manta counterlungs over the shoulder back mounted. The Pathfinder I was diving was a hybrid version with constant mass flow oxygen injection as well as a solenoid with electronic regulated injection.

The next, the 5th day we went diving at a dive site called Sund Rock. I had with me all my cold water gear I own including a 100gr. undergarment underneath my 400 gr. undergarment, 400gr. socks, a double hood and thanx to Dave from Canada dry gloves. That day, of all days, I felt a bit sick but as I was dressed up and could hear the music playing I was ready to dance … and dive. I am glad I went, first time and dive ever for me in the Emerald Sea with cold wind and rain in the parking lot as we getting ready. It was so cool to finally see the giant Octopus, plume sea enenemies and there was even a cool wooden wreck. Very nice. The coldest part was on the surface actually, talking, briefing, de-briefing and planning. Guess it came from the rainwater runoff that was colder then the ocean water. Great dive though. Worth every effort, minute and pain.

The last and 6th days was more discussions and theory when Ron came up from Portland. So good to see all these guys, having a good time and sharing the same passion. When my time was finally over I was looking back the last 6 days and could not believe how fast the time went and how much more I have learned. A total awesome experience. I have to thank Leon and the ISC staff for taking me under their wings and provided me with so much insight. Thanx a lot again and I hope I can come back one day and do the technician course.

I have taken quite a few diving related and Rebreather related training programs over the years but being able to go directly to the factory, have access to all and everybody with the brain, designer and CEO of the Rebreather factory being my Instructor on a 1:1 basis was such a tremendous oportunity I apreshiate very much.

The trip was crowned with a day of leisure visiting Leigh in Tacoma to talk about a cave exploration and survey project we have in mind here in Mexico and a walk around the glass museum in Tacoma as well as the court house with great glass art inside the giant waiting hall. The second visit was to friends Craig and Deb in Olympia who made me a wonderful dinner accompanied with great wine and a great long conversation.

The time I had in Washington State was awesome. On my way back home the Central U.S. was hit hard by a snow storm so when getting to the Sea-Tac airport at 06:00 in the brisk morning all flights to Dallas where canceled and the rebooking line was endless. As I got to the counter the smiling lady got me onto different airlines, planes and routes and actually got me back to Cancun the same day with only 3 hours delay. The very coolest thing was the flight from Seattle to Portland in a clear crisp winter sky, flying close to Mt. St. Helen with its snow covered caldera. What an awesome sight. What an awesome trip. What an awesome insight gained.

I love continuing education.

Matt

When planning to take a ccr (closed circuit rebreather) cave diver training program, when planning to take a ccr into the cave environment a number of diver, training, drill and skill performance needs to be considered. The ccr cave diver training program is one of the hardest and most complex training programs there is.

We have to be able to do all ccr related emergency drills and skills in the cave such as hypercapnia, hyperoxia, hypoxia, partially flooded loop, complete flooded loop recovery, boom scenario and electronics failure in the cave environment while doing o/c bailouts over larger distances, running the rebreather manually simulating failed open or closed solenoids in a horizontal position not losing sight of the line, not bumping into the ceiling and not bumping into the floor causing a silt out and creating potentially zero visibility, increasing the stress factor and the potential need of embarking on a lost line scenario. You get the idea what I mean with complex activity.

As we plan to dive our rebreather in the cave we need to learn all about the cave diving skills such as diving horizontal, good buoyancy, anti silt propulsion techniques, good line laying technique in terms of getting from the openwater to the beginning of the permanent cave guideline and doing jumps or multiple jumps in complex navigation dives as well as the cave diving related survival drills such as primary light failure and backup light exit, sharing gas with a buddy providing o/c bailout gas from our bailout tank, handing over bailout tanks, touch contact in zero visibility, lost line scenarios is zero visibility, searching for a lost dive partner potentially in zero visibility just to name a few. On top of that we need to dive our rebreather.

In order to be able to learn, conduct and participate actively in the above ccr cave training scenarios the ccr diver needs to have good buoyancy and trim skills as well as having a thorough understanding of his or her particular rebreather model to be able to still manipulate and control the ccr in adverse conditions when stress might be high and visibility low. Over time skills get rusty and get lost. It is important to rehearse and hone these skills in order to be ready to receive the ccr cave diver training. If you are not ready but rusty you will be in for a very frustrating experience.

An important step to prepare for a planned and upcoming ccr cave diver training program is to work hard on buoyancy and trim skills. It is a fact that a cave diver has to dive horizontally and it is a fact that a cave diver has to stay away from the silt on the floor and the ceiling, besides not to damage the fragile cave environment. What’s the use if we like to cave dive but fuck up the cave in the process.

During a pre training program period buoyancy and trim should be especially worked on and practiced. Best to do it in very shallow water, a pool or confined water area with a max depth of 20 – 30 feet / 6 – 9 meters. I know it’s not easy but this is the point exactly. The skills to work on are the skills you need in order to dive in the cave environment safely, and all skill should be performed in a horizontally position not touching the floor or ground and neither the water surface as these both signify the cave floor and ceiling. All drills should be practiced in a way that you do not swim in circles but can do them stationary. All drills should be practiced in full cave diving gear including the bailout tank or tanks, lights, hood, primary light, backup lights, reels. The whole nine yards.

First get your diver skills up. Practice buoyancy, horizontal trim and proper weighting. Most cave environments are in fresh water so check out the weight you carry. Practice propulsion techniques out of the cave diver leg up position such as modified flutter, frog, shuffle and reverse kick. The reverse kick is super important as it lets you stop and back up without the use of your hand which could stir up sediments. Once you have these skills down practice ccr related skills. Being able to turn on a dime with the helicopter turn will prevent you from going in circles and loose direction and orientation.

Once you have your diver level skills sorted and you are able to stop, backup, do helicopter turns, hover motionless and be comfortable move on to the ccr related skills such as hypercapnia, hyperoxia, hypoxia, partially flooded loop and complete flooded loop recovery, simulate electronics failure and solenoid failure in the open and closed while diving your e-ccr manually. Practice boom scenarios. As you go through all these drills remember you are planning to participate in a ccr cave course, meaning you have to do all these drills hovering, horizontally, legs up, not touching the water surface or bottom in your pool or confined water area.

Once you have honed your diver level skills and ccr diver skills as outlined above I would consider you ready to embark on a ccr cave diver training program without being overly frustrated as you have the basics down and be ready to receive ccr cave diver training to go finally cave diving. Enjoy Matt