Simon Campbell

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Inspiration insanity 23 June 2008

Posted in Diving.

The innards of the Ambient Pressure Diving Inspiration

Well I have done it, I have ordered a Big Yellow Box of Death. I really didn't want to, as the very look of thing fills me with fear, seemingly being constructed out of bits of garden hose and plumbing tackle more akin to bathroom construction than to 'technical' diving. [Ed note: Read again, I changed my mind]

I love beautiful devices that have a sensible balance of form and function. Take for example the MAC Bookpro, iMAC, iPod, iPhone, Artemide lamps, Landrover Defender and the mighty Porsche 996 (911) to name but a few...

The Inspiration is ugly; it has bits sticking out of it all over the place. For example the buzzer to tell you when its all going tits up and you are about to die. The harness system is a nightmare, taking me back to my early diving days with a stab jacket. It has over the shoulder counter-lungs that clutter up the very place I have been trying to un-clutter for years.

In addition, every time I have been on a boat with one, the person unfortunate enough to have shelled out the best part of six grand (UKP) seems to be more preoccupied with the unit rather than the dive itself. Then when they are about to enter the water, it throws a wobbler, leaving the poor unfortunate on the boat whilst all the rest of the team are in the water enjoying the dive...

So, this has not been a quick decision for me; I have been looking at Closed Circuit Rebreathers (CCR) now for a couple of years and in October 2007 I bought a second hand Dräger just to get a taste of the rebreather gig. This unit is great and easy to use BUT the harness is a nightmare and very difficult to modify for your own backplate / harness as the counter-lungs must be pressing against your back. The 'add on' bits like the O2 monitor linked to the VR3 are great but cause trouble when dealing with the loose cable between the unit and your arm. It is also really difficult to attain excellent trim in the water balanced with a good work of breathing due to the back mounted counter-lungs.

With the advent of Triton Oceanic I have now been forced into making a choice as I will be diving deeper for longer and unfortunately open circuit / semi-closed rebreather will no longer 'cut the mustard'. I am not getting any younger and the draw of reasonably constant ppO2, low gas costs, less decompression obligations are now too much to ignore.

I have researched the market and the one I have been most keen on is the new Poseidon Discovery (aka CisLunar MkVI). Unfortunately there have been unacceptable delays in its release coupled with the fact it is being released as a recreational unit with a maximum depth of 40m; the trimix version still only being discussed.

In addition to the Poseidon Discovery there are the: Pelagian, KISS, Ouroboros, (ho ho), Sentinel (I was tempted here but if its like a usual Kevin Gurr release it will be three years before it is even close to being right), Submatix, Megladon (looks very cool but no CE approval and has some serious design flaws), Prism, CCR2000, Abyss etc, etc...

I am now going to attempt to justify why I have chosen one of these horrible devices.

All the big cheese divers/instructors who I respect have recommend the unit to me: Jack Ingle, Dennis Wigg and many others use the unit for their own diving and every time I ask them they always tell me the same story.
Superb support: Buddy (aka AP Valves / Ambient Pressure Diving) have always been great at support for their products and this hasn't changed. You regularly hear stories of next day deliveries and awesome telephone support, even worldwide.
CE Approval: This is a real biggie for me, for as an 'esteemed' instructor I can only teach when using a CE approved unit.
Worldwide usage: There are many thousands of these units being used all over the world and therefore most places have support / cylinders / scrubber material readily available.
Track record to extreme depth: These units have been pushed to their limits with respect to depth and have come out very well. Yes, people have been killed using them but generally its down to operator error (see my rant on Enemy of the Diver).
Vision electronics: The new electronics with full decompression software and head up display really makes sense.
CO2 live monitor: Again a live saver. OK, it doesn't measure the amount of CO2 in the loop, just the performance of the scrubber (ie the estimated life), but what's more important knowing that there is a CO2 build up that you can do little about, OR know how long your scrubber will keep removing the CO2?
Over the shoulder counter-lungs: God I hate these BUT the work of breathing using this style of counterlung does give the optimal work of breathing and should allow me to maintain a horizontal position in the water with the minimum of fuss.
There are loads of modifications available, so you can use it with your own backplate / wing by cool people like Kent Tooling.

If you want to see the full AP website without resorting to google, click here

So that's it; I would appreciate any comments on this article, good or bad...

STOP PRESS: I re read this article a few times and cancelled the order, I just couldn't do it. Very shortly I will be revealing what I have bought in its place... Training is booked, money sent.

7 comments

gregorious on 02 Jul 2008 at 10:32

Can’t believe you listed a load of dirty Apple products before you mentioned a Defender. Sacrilege.

The rest of this meant little to me, but just wanted to comment since you didn’t do a “My Lovely New Blog” post. Loving your (phil’s) work.

Simon Campbell on 04 Jul 2008 at 9:01

I am sorry mate.

I know its your dream car; I was wrong.

Dennis B. Champ on 05 Jul 2008 at 6:28

Well, now you did it. We may just end up all getting one now. Nice shot of the cause of your premature death by the way… ;o)

Simon on 05 Jul 2008 at 6:43

I was not destined to die at the hands a glorified toilet cistern…

Justin Owen on 15 Jul 2008 at 9:11

Hi Simon,

Did you look at the ‘Revo’? Just spent four days diving with John Liddiard and it looks a *very* nice unit… Would love a rebreather myself but the diving doesn’t justify the outlay at the minute. And I think a YBOD would be smashed to bits on the club RIB’s before we reached the dive sites!!!!

:o)

Simon on 15 Jul 2008 at 10:21

I have recently checked out the rEvo. It looks well built, has an interesting scrubber design and back mounted counter-lungs (good and bad points). The issues are it’s manual (good and bad points), only rated to 80m and not CE approved. This last point is the killer for me as I can’t teach with it. Currently my wife is not happy about the Inspiration idea; not the cash but the attrition rate…

Simon on 03 Sep 2008 at 10:38

I changed my mind. I couldn’t do it… I will shortly reveal what I have bought instead.

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