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The Art of Bailing Out

Rebreather diving is currently one of the fastest growing activities in the diving universe. Divers’ motivations for getting a rebreather vary. Some derive enjoyment from “piloting” a sophisticated machine like a cosmonaut journeying through (inner) space. Others find pleasure in possessing a powerful tool for exploring caves, wrecks, canyons and reef walls, and being able to silently approach and photograph marine life without any bubbles.

Words:
Pascal Bernabe
Images:
François Brun
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Tech and Training

However, despite their increased capabilities, rebreathers can be subject to serious failures. Accordingly, one of the primary objectives of good rebreather training is to learn how to react correctly and quickly to a problem and perform the emergency procedure appropriate to the situation or the failure.

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Bailout on a rebreather

Bailing out to Open Circuit is like falling in the snow when you are learning to ski. It’s a solution when facing a problem—not always the most elegant solution, but always the easiest one, and most of the time, the most efficient one. But Open Circuit bail-out is actually much more than simply going off the loop and breathing from another second stage. There are lots of possibilities.

Words:
Cedric Verdier
Images:
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Tech and Training

Sanity Breaths

When dealing with most of the problems that could occur with a rebreather—equipment failure, physiological problem, etc.—one of the first reactions should be to do a diluent flush to make sure you breathe a safe gas for the few seconds you’ll need to switch to OC and take some sanity breaths from a known mix. Four or five breaths should help most of the divers experiencing any kind of symptoms to quickly regaining their ability to think properly and to react in the most efficient way.

Open Circuit Bail-out

As every rebreather diver (either SCR or CCR) learns during their basic rebreather diver course, having enough open circuit gas to safely ascend to the surface is not an option. It’s a requirement.

Why go the OC way when you have so many other options with a CCR? Because it’s safe! The rule is: if you don’t know where the problem comes from, if you don’t know how to fix the problem, or if you simply don’t know if the mix in the loop is breathable, stay on Open Circuit.

It might be wise to plan for the worst-case scenario—like having the problem at the deepest depth or the furthest point of penetration while being separated from the team. And make sure you have enough gas with at least a 30m/min SAC rate.

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