Quote:
| Originally Posted by Mdemon As far as strategies are concerned, that was one of the reasons for looking at the 2nd RB. (I'm working on the assumption that bailout will be to the autoair or its replacement in the first instance. Then to the 2nd RB once the nerves have calmed down...) |
For crying out loud man how often do you think you need to bail out?
For me, and for a lot of people with far more hours than me, it is only on a course when a card saying "LOW OXYGEN" or the like suddenly appears in your face.
The idea of having to maintain and clean a second rebreather for those once every few years occasions seems mad overkill. I will carry two stages tops and normally just one and that will get me out bent for the worst case of a sudden joint total loop floods for both me and my buddy but for anything where I can get something from the loop I will go back on it after a couple of OC breaths to check my sanity.
Only the cave diver, who cannot follow "get shallow - get onto oxygen - asap", has a case for a backup rebreather but they will pay for it in labour terms. Even if you think the scrubber is getting tired or compromised semi-closed mode will act as a gas extender and keep the loop CO2 down.
nigelH