TECHNICAL DIVER
57 divErWe continued to offer rebreather
workshops and “try-dives” (not “buy-
dives”) hosted by manufacturers at our
annual tek conference. Manufacturers
were promising that their units would be
available soon, but they were slow to
materialise.I
N 1995, Dräger launched the Atlantis,
a semi-closed-circuit rebreather
designed for recreational divers.
Having a major manufacturer with more
than a half century of rebreather
manufacturing experience enter the sport
market gave needed credibility to the
notion of a sport-diving rebreathers.
Ironically, of course, some of the first.VECTEEZY.COM
absent in the sport-diving market.
Commercial divers had rejected
rebreathers as being too complex and
unreliable.
As Thalmann cautioned during the
forum: “A scuba regulator is the steam
engine of diving gear. It’s been around for
a long time and they’re incredibly reliable.
“By comparison, a rebreather is like
a space shuttle. The problems are not
academic. If you don’t know what you’re
doing, then you’ll wind up dead.”
Third, it was clear that training
requirements for rebreather diving were
significant. And, finally, semi-closed
rebreathers were likely to be the first
adopted by sport divers, because of the
relative simplicity and lower cost.
Interestingly enough, unlike nitrox,
there were few concerns that the
technology might not be appropriate for
sport divers. On the contrary, it seemed to
be only a matter of time.
As the prescient PADI technical
development director Karl Shreeves
observed: “When rebreather technology is
ready for the mainstream, PADI will be
there to offer training.” ☛Left: Author Michael
Menduno wearing a
Peter Readey prototype
semi-closed Prism at Fort
Bovisand in 1993.Above: Cave-diver Olivier
Isler enters Doux de Coly
in France in 1998 with his
fully redundant RI 2000
semi-enclosed unit.Right: British explorer-
engineer Kevin Gurr with his
Cis-Lunar Mk 4.Below, from left: Martin
Parker, MD of Britain’s AP
Diving, with a prototype of
the first production closed-
circuit sport rebreather, the
Inspiration; WKPPcave-diver
George Irvine with an early
Halcyon PVR-BASC aka‘The
Fridge’ semi-closed
rebreather; Leigh Bishop
preparing to dive in 1993.Forces Combat Diver School in Key West,
Florida which trains divers in the use of
oxygen rebreathers.
There were also presentations from
trainers from both the US and British
Navies that taught mixed-gas closed-
circuit diving.
It was the first time such a group had
ever been assembled. As forum co-chair
Robinette put it: “I have been involved
in rebreathers for nearly 25 years and
a meeting like this has simply never
happened before.”T
HERE WERE SEVERALfindings from
the forum. First, it was clear that there
was clearly a market for rebreathers at a
US $5,000-$10,000 price point. The only
problem was that you couldn’t buy one.
I remember photographer Marty
Snyderman waving his chequebook in the
air, challenging any manufacturers in the
room to sell him a unit. They couldn’t.
Second, the military was the only
diving community that was successfully
using rebreather technology, and its
success was based on strict discipline and
massive support, two features likelyBILL SADLERJOHN THORNTONGAVIN NEWMANLEIGH BISHOPAPDdivErNEt.com