Nice write up on the Sport Kiss off the list

[Mark Chase]

I nicked this from the insp list.....


This is a report of my first experiences assembling and diving one of Gordon Smith's (Jetsam Technologies) new SportKISS. For background, I (pH) have been diving (almost exclusively) Mk15s for eight years and a classic KISS for the past year. My rationale for buying a SportKISS was it's compact shape, light weight and easy field maintenance. Traveling with a 'breather has become more difficult with the airline restrictions and climbing in an out of a boat with 100lbs on my back is a pain.

The SportKISS arrives with everything packed in its own scrubber/counterlung case (approx 42cm x 25cm x 13cm). The case is made (your choice) of stainless or anodized aluminum, open at the top and with a simple hinged metal perforated plate at the bottom (more on that later). Apart from Gordon's usual high quality machining, two design features stand out: The scrubber and the two pods which mount at the top of the scrubber canister.

The scrubber is of an unusual (forehead slap here) design: It's push/pull. When you breathe out the gas is scrubbed and when you breathe in, it's scrubbed again. This is quite different from all others I have seen or dived and IMnsHO represents a truly significant design advance in RB diving. Why? The scrubber can be much smaller and compact and you are less likely to get breakthrough due to channeling. The scrubber canister is a translucent plastic (ABS) box with two large openings at the top and two similar openings at the bottom, but these are covered by SS screen mesh. There is a vertical divider which goes almost all the way down dividing the two sides of the canister. It doesn't go all the way down and so gas, depending on loop pressure between the inhalation and exhaust sides of the canister, can move to the other side but not without passing through some scrubber.

The canister occupies about the top 25% of the case and the bottom openings attach to two counterlungs made from rubberized plastic bags. I gather these can come in different sizes depending on your lungs' vital capacity. The perforated metal plate at the bottom can be adjusted to constrain the expansion of the two bags. I left mine wide open (very little constraint) as I prefer to adjust the counterlung volume by adding or exhaling a little gas as I go. This allows me to adjust my buoyancy better for taking photos and is not different (I think) than any other rig.

The scrubber canister comes with four very convenient screw on lids for the openings. This allows you to fill the scrubber easily (keep the bottom lids on and fill through the top openings) or even carry a spare canister, all sealed up and ready to go. Filling was easy - about 5 mins (oh joy, compared to the Mk15!) - and to my surprise the canister held more than half the quantity that I get into a mk15. In tropical waters - I don't swim that hard and am old - I get about 6-8 hours from the mk15. I would guess I'll get at least four and maybe six from the SportKISS. I might in fact get a lot more, due to the fact that there are two CO2 scrubbing reaction fronts due to the "push/pull" scrubbing design. Caution: Your mileage may vary. Do NOT risk a CO2 hit. Refilling this scrubber is EASY!

Two moulded/machined resin pods sit atop the scrubber and each connects to a breathing hose with one of Gordon's excellent DSVs completing the loop. I personally think that Gordon's execution of a DSV with integrated OC bailout is the best think to arrive on the scene since (reasonably) reliable O2 sensors. Last year I actually had to bail out of a different rig with a flooded loop from 140fsw. Using Gordon's DSV, I had absolutely no trouble. A simple and easy turn of the knob and I was on OC, with only a lingering taste of 'sorb! The huge advantage is that the whole DSV is not much larger than my previous favorite Interspiro - easy on the mouth, balanced and I can see over it!

One pod contains the three RD1 (small) O2 sensors, which connects to three of Gordon's po2 meters. Each is independent and the connections are all off-the-shelf hardware store plumbing parts. The other pod has all the gas adds: O2 from the KISS valve (which provides manual and auto add) and an ADV. Additional dil can be added by cracking the DSV knob, breathing in and exhaling into the loop. This is much more intuitive than I had thought it would be, after thumbing my left hip for many years on the Mk15 (that's where the manual add valves are on the biomarines).



So, how does it dive? We went off to PseudoTech '05 ;-) This is an annual event of RB divers (my first time) and a greater bunch of nicer, experienced - mostly professional divers - could not be found. Amazing stories: one raised a B-17 from under the ice; another ran the SeaLab project; another swam around Catalina on an RB for charity! I was obviously an (old) newbie but learned more stuff just watching these guys rig their gear than I could have in a month of diving. There were Prisms, Inspirations, Megalodons, Mk15, Classic KISS and one other SportKISS - oh and one poor guy on doubles. The weather was perfect, we dived the spectacular Farnsworth Banks on the backside of Catalina Is from Bobbie Kennedy's King Neptune. It's a great and very comfortable boat. Bobbie, who with his wife Tina run Catalina ScubaLuv, could not have done more to make the weekend rebreather friendly. From late night reg rebuilding to foodsaver vacuum packed loads of scrubber (great idea for tra!
veling), they are the best. He's keen to do more RB trips.

The SportKISS performed perfectly. I rigged small tanks (14cf low pressure O2 and 18cf dil) which attach to either side of the case by a built-in mounting system - nice thought, Gordon. I swapped in two ultralight regs (I managed to get the weight under 30lbs without scrubber for travel). Weights: I used a 2lb weight on each tank and wore 2x 5lbs in my BCD (Transpac + Rec wing) and was neutral in a 5+7mm semi-dry. I skipped in and out of the water compared to the guys on their much larger/heavier rigs. Not the least my buddy, using one of my mk15.

Without my drysuit I was cold after only an hour, so I accumulated very little deco time and did not use any of the helium I brought. First thing I noticed swimming to the anchor line was how easy it was to swim and to breathe. The mk15 is a *great* machine, but not swimming on the surface. It sucks at shallow depths. After many years, I typically go straight down to 20-40 fsw and swim under any group I am diving with until they are ready to descend. That's not an option at Farnsworth. Miss the mount, you get swept off and you are in x1000fsw! Going head first down the line - yes, I was trying to stress it - the SportKISS ADV worked well. Sure, 190psi from 3/8" SS pipes in my mk15 adds more, but the extra weight isn't worth it for this kind of diving. Even so, I suspect that with a little experience on this rig, I could probably accomplish a Scamahorn Slide. At depth I immediately noted there was no major breathing difference whatever position I swam. Even on my back, mini!
mal chipmunking. Likely this is due to less dead space in the loop, despite the overall placement of the counterlungs - a little lower down the back than the mk15. I could bottom out the counterlung, sink a little and then add gas either by breathing in against the ADV or cracking the OC reg. Streamlining/drag, even with the Rec wing was excellent. The rig has a much lower profile due to the compact size. WOB was excellent. I compare it very favorably to the mk15 and much better than some other rigs I have tried.

The KISS valve performed so well that I added O2 only a short puff manually every 5-7 mins to maintain a pO2 of 1.2 I was never below 1.2. The addition was required not as often as I routinely check the pO2 meters anyway, so was not a hardship. I had swapped out one of the O2 meters for a lumberg connector to a Vr3, so I had integrated deco. Nice, but I am largely unconvinced that this is adds a great deal if you maintain your pO2 reasonably within parameters (another rant at another time).

Coming up the line and hanging was excellent. Little drag in the slight current. Again, perhaps because of the smaller deadspace in the loop (oh yes, I use the shorter hoses), very little burping and bubbling and easy breathing in the head-up position; perfect in the horizontal.

Overall I would say that this is a truly excellent rig, with some design innovations and great convenience in weight and maintenance and cost.

Gordon's website http://www.jetsam.ca has all the technical descriptions and diagrams.

[narked at 90]

thank you mark, i've been looking to this for my trips away as my monster if far to heavy to take abroard and the problems with home builds/insurance wile away,since i've been using breathers i havent been abroard becauce i cant bear the o/c!

kind regards john routley