Help wanted...

[Noel Johnson]

Right, I have 5 grand burning a hole in my pocket as I've sold one of my cars today. Which rebreather should I buy? Nothing concrete just yet but I have pink permission and I'm just getting some ideas, I may not actually make the leap at all but there's no harm in asking.

I'm IANTD advanced nitrox qualified and dive on a semi regular basis in excess of 40 metres.

Cheers all,

Noel.

[Juz]

I'm still a big fan of second hand Classic Inspo's.

Pick up a good example for £2,250 - £2,500. Add on £400 for training and you're away.

My experience of APD has been good and UK based support is preferred for me.

Juz

[Noel Johnson]

Thanks Juz,

I have been erring toward the inspo as it's a tried and tested unit but don't really know where to start.

Cheers,

Noel.

[Digger]

I'd start with budget. With 5 grand you've ruled out a couple of options - Meg and Boris. No great loss there, they're nice units but they're more than you want to spend. You could probably get a secondhand Meg for that comfortably I suppose, so really you've ruled Boris out.

Everything else is possible with that money.

Classic KISS or Inspo will come in at about the same, though demand is fairly high for KISSes secondhand as there aren't a lot for sale. But you ould get a really good unit with spares for £2,750 no problem. Or you could buy new for that amount with change.

If it were me, I'd go and dive a load of units. You will find a unit which you like, and which works for your style of diving. I tried most of the units out there when I got mine, and decided that short of designing and building my perfect unit, the CK was the only option.

Things to think about:

Secondhand market. A lot of units are sold, and you will usually have the option of a few different units and ages, hours on the units, models etc.

Training. Think about who can do the training, and whether they're any good. There's a lot of shit Inspo instructors out there, there's a starter for ten. There's a couple of shit KISS instructors too, some of whom don't seem to have ever dived one. Or at least talking to them they seemed that way.

Divers you respect, who are doing the diving you want to do, or will realistically be doing in the next 5 years. If it works for them, talk to them. Find out if they'd get a different unit now. Find out who they trained with. Find out if they're any good.

Who else are you going to dive with? Most CCRs are much of a muchness, and I on the KISS nearly always end up diving with Inspo divers or other ECCR, because there aren't as many KISSes around as other units. But worth thinking about from a spares and repairs point of view. I currently have a problem with handsets that either I can fix, or I have an hour and a half drive to try and sort something else out. If I dived an Inspo there would be someone within 10 miles I could beg borrow or steal from (that said, you wouldn't be able to fix the handset!)

Where's it made. Where has it got to go back to for repairs/servicing. UK is good for this. I still can't believe that no-one has set up a KISS service centre in the UK and started getting units in every few years for a decent strip and rebuild for people who haven't got the time or inclination to take things to pieces. Or for people who have fun putting things back together

Other than that it's a cse of personal preference. Remember all units are a compromise, and that the upside with one could mean you don't get the upsides of another. There's bits of the Inspo I would like to have, but I wouldn't trade bits of the KISS to get them.

And finally, budget on a BOV. Either the unit comes with one, or you want to fit one. They save lives in a big way, and I wouldn't dive a unit without one. They can cost a fair bit to retro fit if you have to buy one new, so bear it in mind.

Oh, and budget for spares and consumables. That will eat through probably £250 for most units, if buying secondhand then these can save you a fair bit. A tub of lime thrown in saves you £50, a couple of spare cells saves you £100.

Digs.

[Digger]

And if I were buying now I'd have a long hard look at the Revo and the CK with the new displays. Depends if you plan on getting much below 100m. If not then these are what I would do in your position. But then I'm not in your position, you are.

Digs.

[Richie]

Originally Posted by Noel Johnson

Right, I have 5 grand burning a hole in my pocket as I've sold one of my cars today. Which rebreather should I buy? Nothing concrete just yet but I have pink permission and I'm just getting some ideas, I may not actually make the leap at all but there's no harm in asking.

I'm IANTD advanced nitrox qualified and dive on a semi regular basis in excess of 40 metres.

Cheers all,

Noel.

BARSTEWARD

[Dave Crampton]

Go dive a few Noel,

There are bound to be a few divers on here who would let you have a fly of theirs, I dare say a few instructors too. I read a lot about the Classic Inspo when I was thinking about buying. They seem to have expensive maintainance issues if you buy an older model which hasn't been back to AP for a while, indeed a few that have regular servicing appear to have expensive service bills too. To be honest I knew what I wanted even before I try dived the Inspo on Holiday a couple of years ago.

Dave C

[scribley]

You can still get a COPIS Meg for that money, easy. Plus if you were interested in a full Electronic Meg this one was for sale.

APECS Meg for sale - Rebreather World Forums

It belongs to a friend of mine who was on the same training course as me.

[richstevenson]

Hi Noel,

I have quite a few units for sale both new and used, take a look at diving equipment for sale and feel free to give me a call on 07791 152 317 if you want to discuss anything

I also run try dives too on Megs, KISS, Inspo Vision / Classic and Evolution so you can compare all the different units in the pool.

Hope this helps

cheers

rich stevenson
Deep Blue Diving