Are Rebreathers Safe?

Statistics from DAN demonstrate that the preponderance of open circuit diving accidents are related to out-of-air events. One expert on recreational sport and technical diving has said closed circuit rebreathers (CCR) are safer than open circuit for the diligent diver because running out of breathing gas on a CCR is highly unlikely. While no type of rebreather can be said to be categorically safer than another, the extensively tested recent CCR designs with electronic monitoring are a major improvement. The quality of training may be the most significant factor affecting rebreather safety.

Dive Gear Express believes a lack of experience, along with inadequate and poor quality training, is a widespread problem in the rebreather community. Our recommendation to divers seeking rebreather training is to select an instructor having several hundred hours of rebreather dives and who dives rebreathers exclusively (i.e. does not switch between open-circuit and closed-circuit styles). No rebreather is foolproof, and the fact remains that compared to open circuit there seems to be a disproportionate number of rebreather fatalities, nearly all of which have been attributed to diver error. Your safety while diving is controlled by you, not by your rebreather. Open circuit divers must always know their SPG reading, and CCR divers must...

Always Know Your PO2

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