Anyone keeping count...

[DRE]

[Mark Y]

I don't know the 'exact' numbers of divers who died while diving on Inspiration rebreathers, but I do keep tabs from several on-site sources.

FYI - From what I've read, most divers 'committed suicide' while diving the Inspiration - the machine itself did not malfunction. And what I mean by suicide is they didn't follow the rules.

I've read of a diver who dove the unit knowing the electronics weren't reading right! Another diver who died didn't have the electronics hooked-up to the machine! It would be akin to violating the 'rule of thirds' while deep or cave diving (or any diving!). When someone violates that premise and dies, do you blame their equipment? Do you blame the training agency or dive philosophy? Who's to blame when divers die while using helium when they don't have training and certification? Not the equipment. I could go on . . . but I hope you understand my point.

I dive an Inspiration, and I know if I don't maintain it properly, follow scrubber use instructions, make sure I KNOW what gases are in my cylinders and know the pressure, do all the safety checks, KNOW MY PO2, etc., my machine will kill me. Now it's not a 'Hal 2000', it is not making a 'conscious' effort to kill me, if the user is lazy and complacent, it might as well be. And I've just thought of a name for my kit . . .

Finally, it will be interesting to find out the reason of asphyxiation.

(Note: Another source for dead divers is the annual DAN report. It is alarming how many accidents are caused by poorly maintained equipment and simple bad judgement. The report also makes it clear that if the authorities don't know why/how a diver died, they chalk it up to drowning.)

[Inspirationdiver]

To answer your question, the number is up to 21. Here is an excellent site describing the details of each incident.

[jasondbaker]

The DAN report also shows some of the risks associated with unintentional solo diving. Many of the accidents occurred when a diver became separated from a buddy.

My belief is that most people diving rebreathers are experienced divers. They may be more comfortable (or inclined?) to dive solo or experiment a bit with their gear.

I'm reminded of the story from last week where a guy almost bit it in a swimming pool with his rebreather. You can't tell me that what he was doing was in the instruction manual.

[rcojr]

DRE
On the mnscuba rebreather forum you spend most of your time trying to bash and run down rebreathers. Yet on The Deco Stop rebreather forum you use your vast knowledge and experience to recommend which rebreather people should buy. You seem confused or are there two DREs?

[DRE]

Huh???????????

I'm on TDS but I've never recommended anyone to buy any kind of rebreather (with the exception of the RB80), as I don't think they are necessary tools for diving, and dangerous at best - maybe you're confused and mistake me for someone else?!

[ccuda]

Why be so worried about statistics? How many OC divers croaked this year for whatever reason? A whole lot more than rebreathers. It isn't going to stop our diving nor does it make diving (or rebreather diving) any less safe.

People are going to die this year during everything from a very inactive activity like while sleeping - to crossing the street, falling off a ladder, skydiving, to climbing everest, and cave diving.

Those who ACTUALLY have dove on rebreathers (unlike some mouth-critics), who know them and how they work, are quite pleased with the ability of this tool to provide success for their underwater adventures.

If it's not for you, then DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT!

Nobody is going to make you dive one. And sometimes you don't have to have an opinion on something.

Maybe people with opinions and "recommendations" should ACTUALLY dive on a RB80 (or ANY rebreather for that matter) before judging, recommending, or recommending against it.

[DRE]

Yeah, but I don't need to do crack either to judge or recommend against either.

All kidding aside, I have nothing against people diving rebreathers - I personally cannot justify it for my own diving, both from a need and a safety point of view. However you turn it, rebreathers have for more inherent risk than OC due to the design (and this goes for all rebreathers, including the RB80), and since I don't have a need to spend hours at 300ft, I won't be diving one. Pure and simple!
The recent flood of fatalities/incidents show that they are much more complex, and the possibility of user error increases exponentially. What is more disconcerting, however, is that these divers apparently did not follow what is considered SOP, which is either due to their own innate stupidity, or because of lack of proper training. As the units become more and more popular and the number of instructors starts increasing, the big issue seems to be to have some kinda quality control on the training.
Food for thought...

[Inspirationdiver]

I'm with you on this one DRE. The major problem here I believe is in the mindset of a lot of CCR divers. Many of them, including myself, were doing decompression dives with mixed gases before they ever got into rebreathers. They expect to be able to use their new kit to do the same dives they had been doing on OC. Here's where the problem comes in, the rebreather is nothing like any of the gear you have used before. It's like starting all over again at OWI training. You have to relearn buoyancy control, equipment configuration, etc, and it's even tougher the second time you learn it because you have to unlearn all your OC skills. Try telling someone who has been to 250ft many times before that they can't do it anymore. :'( Some of them just don't listen.

[DiverMole]

Like ALL dive kit, they are only as dangerous as the person using them

Personally I blame fins for all the fatalities, ALL the diver deaths for many years have been wearing them :