Michael Menduno details the highlights of the various presentations given during the sixth biannual international Rebreather Meeting, which took place 1-5 May 2019 on Ponza Island in Italy.

How did some of the advanced technologies we use as divers today come to be? Simon Pridmore takes an intriguing look into the early days of rebreathers with an excerpt from his new book, Technically Speaking—Talks on Technical Diving, Volume 1: Genesis and Exodus.

“Rebreather Friendly” dive centres—what exactly does this mean? With emerging technologies becoming more mainstream in the diving world these days, more and more people are making investments in rebreathers. Everyone knows the advantages of these pieces of kit—extended dive time capabilities, reduced gas usage, quieter and less obtrusive to the aquatic world, etc. But are dive operators thinking along the same lines? Do they see the potential for increased business opportunities?

Technical diving instructor and inventor Gregory Borodiansky is qualified to dive 20 different rebreathers. He is also a rebreather instructor on many units and a rebreather instructor trainer. Since Borodiansky has a background in electronic engineering and computer science, he took the features he liked on each unit and designed a front-mounted rebreather. Larry Cohen reports.

Rebreathers are great pieces of kit that do away with the need to carry an excessive amount of dive cylinders on deeper dives. However, this advantage is offset by the need to also carry additional open circuit cylinders on which a diver can bail out in case of a rebreather malfunction. Using another rebreather could be a better solution and to that end, a bailout rebreather course has been developed.