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I am an example of a real recreational diver, despite several attempts, technical diving was never something for me… too heavy cylinders, tons of equipment and long decompression stops (especially those in cold water) rejected me completely. On the other hand, long night dives, photographing flora and fauna, visiting wrecks or finding new interesting dive sites is something that stole my heart.
Additionally, I like new challenges very much and I try to develop my diving skills all the time, that is why at the end of May this year I took part in rebreather training on the Hollis Explorer… after a week my world stood upside down.
First a few words about the Hollis Explorer rebreather – it is a recreational rebreather, although for some these two words are mutually exclusive, yet Hollis has created a machine that combines the best of closed circuits with the ease of use of open circuits. The Hollis Explorer is neither a fully closed circuit (CCR) nor a semi-closed circuit (SCR), it is a combination of both, using the best features of both systems. The Explorer is unique in that it uses only one gas – NITROX – and is controlled to achieve the best balance between dive time and oxygen partial pressure.
I started my adventure with Explorer from INTRO at the pool. I was expecting long preparations before entering the water (sometimes I’ve seen my friends preparing their machines for diving), so I was positively surprised how little time it takes to arm the unit so that it is ready for diving. After going through all the required tests (the computer guides us through step by step) we finally jumped in the water…. I remember my first breath underwater on the PADI OWD course and it was something extraordinary, but now after hundreds of open circuit dives, my first breath from the Explorer surprised me. For the first time I felt like I was out of breath and no longer felt as comfortable as usual. Immediately the thought crossed my mind: “This is not for me” …. but after swimming a few lengths of the pool, improving my balance and harness, I started to like it more and more. So my next step was a course.
In a lovely holiday resort in Czaplinek, under the watchful eye of PADI Course Director Maciej Jurasz, together with Marek Bochniak and Paweł Forczmanowicz, my adventure with Hollis Explorer Rebreather began.
Having the pool classes in mind I was prepared for high breathing resistances and buoyancy problems (unfortunately rapid expiration of air from lungs when diving on rebreather doesn’t change anything :-)). When we went under water my amazement was enormous, breathing resistance was suddenly very close to the one on open circuit, with buoyancy also not a big problem (this is the result of such a clever combination of closed circuit with semi-closed circuit). Let’s not forget what the rebreather was designed for, i.e. diving time… using only a 5 litre cylinder we spent 2 hours underwater. We all came out of this dive with gigantic smiles on our faces. I have to say something that charmed me the most about this equipment: after 2 hours of diving in quite cold water, I DID NOT FREEZ!!! Anyone who has ever read anything about rebreathers knows that it always feeds warm and moist air (as opposed to open circuit where the air is dry and cold), but you have to try it for yourself to see how much difference it makes to your thermal comfort.
Diving on the Hollis Explorer rebreather I experienced that fantastic feeling again, which is hard to describe. It accompanied me when I went underwater for the first time, then when I dived for the first time on a coral reef and I can’t forget about my first wreck. It’s a fantastic machine that makes you rediscover diving and it’s ease of use and light weight makes it perfect, but that’s just my subjective opinion…dare you check it out!
Edit: 29.10.2014 – The author has supplemented her article with the following:
I am very sorry for the delay, but I am already answering your questions. Compared to Dreger, the main difference is that Hollis is fully automated. We, as a user, only have to control the computer parameters but we do not have much influence on them. Therefore it is a recreational rebreather.
The cost of the Explorer is high and amounts to 20 thousand PLN (as of today), whether it is worth paying so much for warm air and a few kilograms less is an individual matter of each diver, but it is worth remembering that we pay for the set (bag, computer, harness, etc.). It is also very comfortable when travelling (I checked it on plane trips), it weighs 14 kg plus the lime and cylinder so a total of about 16 kg.
Now, let’s move to the ballast; in comparison with the configuration with the 15l cylinder, at the beginning I needed 1.5 kg more, but after swimming I got rid of that cube, so there is no difference. The longest time I was underwater was over 2 hours, but you can easily stay longer.
Nobody can give you an exact time because it depends on too many factors (for example how much you control buoyancy – less nitrox consumption). My limiting factor is a small bladder :), and P-valve in women’s version is still a TABU topic for me…
I am enclosing a diagram of the construction. I hope I have answered all your questions. If you have any further questions, please send me an e-mail: marta@krokodyle.com.pl
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