Rebreather Diving
Rebreather diving is often thought of as expensive, and it’s not surprising for people to flinch a little when they see the costs of the equipment. If you’ve been diving for any amount of time, you’ll probably be aware that scuba diving is not an inexpensive hobby, and the cost of rebreathers is often a barrier to entry for this type of diving. Today we’re going to explore what makes Rebreather diving appealing to people, as well as some of the information you might want to know before you try this type of diving.
Rebreather diving is a type of scuba diving that involves wearing a special device called a rebreather. This device captures the diver's exhaled breath, cleans it of carbon dioxide, and then returns it to the diver to breathe again. This allows the diver to recycle their air supply, rather than relying on a tank of compressed air that is depleted with each breath. This, as you can imagine, has some advantages. As the air is being recycled instead of expelled, rebreathers can significantly increase dive times. There is also the silent factor, as the diver is quiet rebreathers are often liked by underwater photographers who can get closer to marine wildlife without scaring them off because of noise.
There are two types of rebreathers which you should know about. Closed circuit rebreathers, often just called CCRs recycle all the gas you exhale, and require two different gas supplies to use, dilutant air and oxygen. Semi-closed-circuit rebreathers, known as SCRs, recycle some of the air you breathe, and do release some bubbles. SCRs only need one supply of enriched air. Choosing the right kind of rebreather for you is important because of the high cost associated with them. It’s also important to note that because rebreathers are more complicated than open circuit mechanisms, there are more points of failure. As always with scuba diving it’s crucial that you have the right kind of training if you want to give rebreathers a shot. PADI has a course in order to learn rebreather diving, but it’s required that you do an open water course and enriched air certification before you dive into this one.
If you’re used to open circuit diving, sometimes the transition to using a rebreather is a little bit jarring and Buoyancy control can become a little different, because you’ll no longer move up and down as you breathe. The air you breathe in will also be warmer, which means you’ll be warmer as you dive and there’s a lower chance of you getting a classic dry mouth post dive. Using a rebreather means you’re not going to go down to the depths you’re used to, once you exceed a depth of about 6 meters, your chances of oxygen toxicity increases. If your rebreather fails, it’s possible that you’ll still be able to breathe but the mixture you breathe in doesn’t support consciousness, which can lead to a diver passing out or even dying. It’s not my goal to scare you, I want you to approach CCR or SCR diving with as much knowledge as possible if you choose to try it.
So, is the cost of Rebreather diving worth it? Ultimately that is up to the individual diver. With much lower depth times and lack of bubbles, it’s not surprising why some people really enjoy this form of diving. Before you venture out on an underwater adventure using a rebreather you’ll need to have proper training, that way you can explore the underwater world safely and confidently.