Is CCRX of any true value?

Randy Thornton

Administrator
Staff member
Over the years, I have heard various divers and instructors make the following comment: "What ever you do, ignore anything that you read on the internet!" or something along those lines. I have always kind of scratched my head (wondered) at those types of comments, as I have always felt that open discussion on various diving related topics were very useful to me personally. I have been diving CCR for many years on many different units, received instruction from some of the most well known instructors in the world, and now manufacture our own CCR unit, but I still daily enjoy and appreciate the insight and comments from the CCR diving community from around the world. I can truly say that I have and continue to learn from each of you.

It goes without saying that you have to sift through the threads and comments to find the useful information sometimes, but I can't imagine pursuing this sport without open dialog between like minded (or sometimes unlike minded) individuals.

I am curious to hear other people's thoughts on this.

Warm regards,
Randy
 

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Personally it was only when I started reading various forums that I discovered how much my instructor hadn't told me ! Yes there is a lot of BS out there but then so there is in any club or pub discussion :)
 
What Colin said.

Theres a very long list of things I have lernt from CCRX and RBW

I did my CCR training 10 years ago and things have moved on with our understanding of how we should be diving. If it wernt for sites like thease my knowladge base would have stagnated in 2004

Quite aside from that there loads of interesting diving related stuff abotu what going out there in the big wide diving world.

Pre internet id be buying diving mags but now I just log on and scan for whats new.

ATB

Mark
 
I have picked up valuable information from most all of the forums. CCRX included. My complaints with internet diving in general is:

Some divers substitute advice given in forums for proper training.
Some divers dole out advice on topics they are untrained for.
Some advice given is downright dangerous.
 
I drift through periods of no forums to lurker to active participant every few years. Since I switched from OC I've found great value here. TapTalk has made some difference - I find that I can keep up with conversations much easier.

I am a rebreather newbie and I am still working on getting my kit squared away. Everyone's experience is helpful. Even the bad advice can be entertaining or instructional.

I use this as a reminder to keep things in perspective...

duty_calls.png
 
I read several tec oriented forumsreguarly, this being one of them.

Others rarely, if at all, cuz too many keyboard divers.
 
Personally I think there is more useful information on a good forum than there is in the text books - and the variety of tales more expansive than that of one or two instructors.

So I'd vote yes.

Matt.
 
Trip reports are the greatest part of a good forum I think.... Nothing like reading a good report whilst sat in the office to get the excitement levels up
 
I do not know what I do not know.
Reading the forums has solidified that statement.
Some of what I did not know was quite useful and some not so.
There is definitely a need for this plus the entertainment factor.
Gabe
 
I totally agree with Jim's comments below. Given his first point I find that there are times that I don't post/reply to something knowing that there is a high probability that someone may take it out of context and safety due to a lack of experience. As it applies to CCRX, Randy and the boys have set the expectation that you will behave with a level of civility or you should not show up. That's been very refreshing.

M

I have picked up valuable information from most all of the forums. CCRX included. My complaints with internet diving in general is:

Some divers substitute advice given in forums for proper training.
Some divers dole out advice on topics they are untrained for.
Some advice given is downright dangerous.
 
I feel like Gabe. But even putting the entertainment factor aside, there is a lot of benefit to sifting through opposing arguments. Anyone that thinks there is only one right way to do something is close-minded (or DIR). An instructor is a good source of info, but is only one opinion. Too many people blindly follow the direction or opinion of the instructor without asking why, or considering that there might be other opinions and ways of doing something that might work better for a particular individual. There is no substitute for an inquisitive mind. Sifting through the BS can be daunting, but worthwhile.

Oh yeah, stay away from DSix.
 
If I think what I learnt about diving, answer is easy, few things, I had very good instructors in the last years and they really taught me lots of things but, to dive, you learn diving...
If I think about CCR and equipment pros and cons, in the forums, many interesting things, you can read different opinions and from all of them, take an idea, but also sometimes a wrong idea
To be honest, the best thing I've seen in the forums is, that, if you have any problem with your equipment, after having tried to get some help from them by private messages and, the manufacturer is user of the forum, very usual fact, they almost always answer you and, sometimes they help you...:haddock:
 
In short, yes I think there's a lot of value to being able to ask, and getting a variety of answers. Then you make you're own "informed" decision on what to do!
 
I have enjoyed reading the comments on this thread because you get the thoughts of divers, instructors, manufacturers and everyone else.

I like to test my thought process on things that I am uncertain of. Being a relatively new diver I get a lot out of the forums. Here's why....

My LDS gets all their information (literally all of it) from DEMA... End of story. They don't research, they don't expand their own knowledge, they don't have technical expertise and experience other than what their organizations have told them.

Training is great but when you are being trained by people that have only been trained it blows. It's relative. Like Jim said you don't want people doling out advice in topics they aren't trained for but what's worse is a local instructor that isn't doing the dives he is instructing others to do.

Internet forums have a place and are an excellent source for innovation, thoughts, perspective, and imagination.

Sharing your success and failure can really help others.

CCRX has extreme value in the information, discussions, safety topics, and innovation sharing. Bringing the manufacturer closer to the diver will only refine the product even more which is great for the sport.

CCRX totally rocks!

- Garth


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Forums such as this are good to bring up "what if" questions and dive experience stories, in other words, bring light to some unsuspected potential issue and in general be a brain teaser.
I'd be wary about any "because" answer or universal lessons professed, if only because circumstances, physical and mental abilities, etc, vary from situation to situation and individual to individual.
I have no interest in cock fights and anything that has to do with birds in general. Which surprisingly you find a lot on underwater related forums...
Keep up the good work and thanks for having us here.
 
Without the Internet & the input of forum members I would:

1) have bought a pressure pot (remodulator) although cells can be tested in-water for linearity
2) have been under the impression that solid state scrubbers are inferior to granular scrubber material and dangerous to dive at depth
3) would have not been able to understand the value of BOV's which lead to me buying one
4) would have sold my RB :( instead of upgrading the electronics which decision I am really happy with now.
5) realised that flying RB's is more of an "artistic science"; for every plausible response there is a controversial view.
6) realised that there are like-minded RB pilots out there that are willing to spend all their hard earned money (in spite of the wife's objection) to keep their unit running
7) have not been able to make educated decisions regarding RB operations that literally can make me have a serious case of death

I could go on but I think this might be one way to answer this thread.
 
And for anyonce unconvinced, ask how else you could find this out! Nice post.
Matt.

Without the Internet & the input of forum members I would:

1) have bought a pressure pot (remodulator) although cells can be tested in-water for linearity
2) have been under the impression that solid state scrubbers are inferior to granular scrubber material and dangerous to dive at depth
3) would have not been able to understand the value of BOV's which lead to me buying one
4) would have sold my RB :( instead of upgrading the electronics which decision I am really happy with now.
5) realised that flying RB's is more of an "artistic science"; for every plausible response there is a controversial view.
6) realised that there are like-minded RB pilots out there that are willing to spend all their hard earned money (in spite of the wife's objection) to keep their unit running
7) have not been able to make educated decisions regarding RB operations that literally can make me have a serious case of death

I could go on but I think this might be one way to answer this thread.
 
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