X-CCR vs. HH part 1 - revolution or evolution?

Some time ago I wrote an article with a title a little taken from an advertisement for a certain well-known beer, namely “HammerHead probably the best rebreather in the world”. Almost 8 years have passed since then, many new units have appeared, technology has advanced and, importantly, CCRs have become much, much more popular.

-- Advertisement --

The HammerHead also evolved during this time. The head design changed, OLED displays appeared, the power supply changed, etc. But were all these changes enough to still be able to call it “probably the best rebreather in the world”? It is hard to answer this question unequivocally.

On the one hand, this rebreather has everything that an advanced CCR diver needs to realise his projects, but on the other hand, CCRs have already gone beyond the “circle of the initiated” and started to reach the proverbial “thatch”, i.e. divers not only professionally connected with diving, but also those for whom rebreather diving is a hobby, advanced, but still a hobby.

And here appeared problems and considerable limitations. In connection with this, about 2 years ago a project was started to develop the unit so that it still meets the requirements of advanced divers and can be used in the implementation of difficult diving projects, but also meets the expectations of an increasingly wider group of divers from the category of “advanced recreation”. And so HH evolved into X-CCR.

To give an idea of this whole evolutionary process, I should start by writing a few words about these problems and limitations. But before I do that, a few words about history.

The HammerHead was designed by the designer and CCR diver Bretislav Vaisar using, at that time, the best rebreather electronics available from Juergensen Marine. Thus, all the “hardware” is manufactured in Bretislav’s iQSub factory and the electronics are supplied from the United States by Juergensen Marine.

It is hard to imagine a better combination than two companies with know-how complementing each other. In the iQSub factory, apart from HH, components and sub-assemblies for other rebreathers are made, among them the most popular BOV in the world. Whereas Juergensen Marine electronics is or was used in many rebreathers either as an upgrade or OEM as in case of Dive Rite Optima and HH. If it looks so fabulous then where are the problems?

So the first major limitation that emerged was the lack of CE. However, the lack itself was not the biggest problem, but the fact that with the electronics solved in such a way there was no chance to comply with the European standard. Juergensen Marine was unfortunately not interested in developing their electronics for CE.

Supply from the USA was also a problem. Costs such as duty, transport, dollar exchange rate, etc. made non-modern electronics expensive. And Juergensen Marine made irregular and often incomplete shipments, which made the waiting period for ready units not only long, but also unpredictable. So there was a need for a supplier of new electronics that would meet CE requirements as well as guaranteeing continuity of supply.

The next problem was related to the sale of parts outside the company’s control. There appeared a lot of “homemade” units based on parts from HH, assembled by people often without elementary knowledge of CCR. These units, apart from selected housing elements, have nothing to do with HH. Despite that, they are sold and perceived as HH. They are deprived of anything that has any financial value. They are mostly assembled without any control electronics and with only one PPO2 reading in the form of a computer connected via a fischer connector. And the height of ignorance and lack of basic knowledge is to assemble such units with a CMF nozzle supplied with oxygen via a simple first reduction stage feeding oxygen at a depth dependent pressure. Not to mention selling such units to people without proper training, because this is, to put it lightly, assisted suicide.

The iQSub company, wanting to distance itself from this decided to stop developing the product under the HH brand, and to call the new unit X-CCR for differentiation. Thus, the X-CCR is only available as a complete unit (no individual components can be purchased) and has serial numbers on each key component. At the time of sale the unit and its serial numbers are assigned to a specific customer and from then on the entire history will be known: maintenance, repairs, upgrades, changes of ownership, etc. Each X-CCR is covered by the manufacturer’s warranty and has factory service and aftercare.

X-CCR has adopted all those things that were good in HH such as: materials from which it is made, scrubber construction, bayonet connectors etc. And changed what caused problems among others: connectors in the head for handset and HUD now are hermetic (no possibility of flooding and gassing), reduced handsets, electronics including power supply is now in the head.

In addition, a few things have been added that HH did not have e.g.: CO2 sensor, electronic HP sensors (no manometers, but pressure indications in cylinders are displayed on the handset), logbook and the so-called “black box” and many other interesting solutions, such as eliminating the risk of a complete loss of PPO2 measurement in case of a short circuit on O2 sensors.

The X-CCR is a very modern rebreather, keeping up with market developments and even surpassing them in some aspects. Most importantly, it has retained all the features of an expeditionary rebreather allowing for the realisation of advanced diving projects.

The HammerHead, regardless of the fact that its production will now be terminated, will remain a cult rebreather and will be permanently inscribed in the history of diving. And just like the iconic VR3 computer, it will continue to serve its owners well for years to come, and many years from now “old divers” will be telling stories about it.

About the details in the similarities and differences between X-CCR and HH you can read in the second part of the article “X-CCR vs. HH part 2 – does the better always have to be the enemy of the good?”. If you are interested, I invite you to read(the text will soon be available on our pages – ed.).

About the author:

Marcin Bramson is a CCR HammerHead and X-CCR instructor. He has been involved with HH practically since the beginning of its production. One of the first HH users in the world. X-CCR test diver involved with this project from the very beginning. In everyday life he deals with diving and rebreather training.