Rebreather Forum 4: Malta, April 20 to 22, 2023
Expectations For Rebreather Forum 4 & A Glimpse Into The State of Rebreather Diving
The survey was conducted in March & April of 2023 among Rebreather Forum 4 attendees, presenters, exhibitors & sponsors.
The survey aimed to provide Rebreather Forum 4 presenters and organizers with a feel for who would be in attendance and what their expectations were.
The survey results also provide a glimpse into the current state of rebreather diving.
Thanks to all those of you who answered the survey!
Please rate, in your opinion, the importance for the rebreather diving community that the following issues be discussed at RF4.
Percentage of respondents who evaluated the topic as ‘Very Important’ or ‘Critical:’
- 85.4%: Rebreather diving safety
- 74.5%: Quality control in rebreather diving training
- 70.8%: Divers carrying inadequate bailout
- 67.4%: Divers getting complacent about checklists & pre-breathes
- 64.6%: Human factors in rebreather diving
- 45.8%: The helium penalty
- 41.7%: Ensuring affordable rebreather instructor insurance
- 34.0%: Implementing the new ISO standards
- 33.3%: Use of mouthpiece retaining straps
- 31.3%: Solo rebreather diving
- 31.3%: Dual rebreathers
- 29.2%: Hydrogen diving
- 27.7%: Modifying rebreathers
- 27.1%: Sidemount Rebreathers
- 12.5%: The pluses and minuses of eCCR vs. mCCR
Please rate your interest in the scheduled RF4 presentations from -2 (very much not interested) to 2 (very much interested).
Please note: This was not a popularity contest about the presenters. It was simply to gauge attendees’ interest in the various topics on the Rebreather Forum 4 agenda.
Each topic’s average score is in the order the topics appear on the event schedule (2 is the max & -2 is the minimum).
- Overview of Technical Rebreather Diving: 1.13
- Hazards in Rebreather Diving: 1.44
- Accident Review — The Safety Situation: 1.73
- Human Factors in Rebreather Diving: 1.40
- Military Diving with Rebreathers: 0.29
- Equipment Options for Diver Safety: 1.44
- Bailout Strategies: 1.51
- Mixed Platform/Mode Diving: 0.89
- Advances in Decompression Theory & Practice: 1.80
- CCR Training: 0.91
- Developments in Rebreather Diving Equipment: 1.52
- Developments in CO2 Monitoring: 1.40
- Demystifying Scrubbers: 1.07
- Emergency Procedures: 1.40
- Thermal Management: 0.67
- Use of CCRs in Malta Shipwreck Diving: -0.13
- School of Diving Safety & Medicine: 0.98
- The Future of Physiological Monitoring: 1.42
- Blue Sky Future CCR Technologies: 0.78
- Real-Time Physiological Diver Monitoring: 1.41
- Hydrogen Diving: 1.13
Please rate your interest in the events surrounding RF4 from -2 (very much not interested) to 2 (very much interested).
Each event’s average score is in the order the events appear on the schedule (2 is the max & -2 is the minimum).
- Diving (before RF4): 0.32
- Try Rebreather Dives in a Pool (before RF4): 0.02
- DAN Europe’s Neurological Assessment Course (before RF4): -0.31
- Diving (after RF4): -0.48
In which context do you dive with a rebreather?
Participants could select all that apply; therefore, the total is more than 100%.
- Wreck Diving: 76.19%
- Recreational Diving: 71.43%
- Other Tech Diving: 69.05%
- Cave Diving: 50.00%
- Military Diving: 14.29%
- Scientific Diving: 11.90%
- Government Diving: 4.76%
What is your highest level of rebreather training?
- 40 m: 9.76%
- 60 m: 26.83%
- 80 m: 4.88%
- 100 m: 58.54%
Please answer the following questions by stating how frequently they apply to you.
The average number of dives done…
- …in the prior 12 months on a CCR: 63
- …lifetime on a CCR: 780
- …in the prior 12 months on a SCR: 5
- …lifetime on a SCR: 72
And the average number of hours of diving done on a rebreather in the prior 12 months: 98.1.
In the last 12 months, in what percentage of your dives did you use the following equipment?
- Open-Circuit Scuba: 37%
- eCCR: 51%
- mCCR: 15%
- SCR: 3%
On Hazards, Incidents & Accidents
Percentage of ‘yes’ to the following questions:
- 54.8%: Have you ever had to bailout on a rebreather (besides training exercises)?
- 73.8%: Have you ever had a cell warning?
- 16.7%: Have you ever entered the water with a cell warning?
- 47.6%: Have you ever continued a dive with a cell warning?
- 21.4%: Have you ever had a double cell warning?
- 40.5%: Have you ever had a caustic cocktail or other CO2 incident?
- 14.3%: Have you ever dived without conducting a pre-breathe?
- 19.1%: Have you ever entered water with your O2 cylinder off?
- 21.4%: Have you ever entered water with diluent off?
Average Number of Rebreathers Owned
- 1.79 eCCR
- 0.71 mCCR
- 0.44 SCR
And the average number of rebreathers purchased for personal use in the prior 12 months was 0.49.
34.2% of respondents have purchased at least one second-hand rebreather.
In your life, how many new rebreathers did you buy from each of the following sources (online or in person)?
- Rebreather Instructor: 0.95
- Directly From The Manufacturer: 4.72
- Retailer: 0.31
Open-Ended Questions
Follow the links for a PDF document with all answers to the following open-ended questions:
Rebreather Diving Instructors Answered The Following Questions
44.2% of survey respondents were rebreather diving instructors, and here are some stats on their teaching activities. 55.6% of them were also rebreather instructor trainers.
- Average of 11.7 years of experience as a rebreather instructor
- Teaching on average for 3.4 different rebreather models
- Issued 6.9 rebreather certifications on average over the prior 12 months
- On average, issued a total of 53.8 rebreather certifications since becoming a rebreather diving instructor
With which training agencies do you teach rebreather diving?
Since respondents could select all that applied, the sum of all answers is higher than 100%.
- TDI 55.56%
- IANTD 38.89%
- PADI 22.22%
- SSI 22.22%
- BSAC 5.56%
- RAID 5.56%
- CMAS 5.56%
- UTD 5.56%
Who answered the survey?
We received 57 answers to the Pre-RF4 survey.
- 12.5% were sponsors
- 17.0% were exhibitors
- 2.1% were speakers/presenters
100% of participants were rebreather divers. No surprise there! And came from the following regions:
- Western Europe: 45.5%
- USA: 29.6%
- Canada: 11.4%
- Other: 13.5%
Also from Darcy Kieran:
- Handbook: Your Career and/or Life as a Scuba Diving Instructor: How to Make a Good Living Out of Your Passion for Scuba Diving.
- Logbook: Advanced Scuba Diving Logbook with Checklists for certified scuba divers, divemasters & dive instructors.
- Handbook: Advanced Guide to SPF Scuba Diving for Scuba Divers, Divemasters & Dive Instructors: Develop Better Scuba Diving Skills, Dive Safer, Save Money & Have More Fun!
- Handbook: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide To Scuba Diving: How to Increase Safety, Save Money & Have More Fun!
- Logbook: STARTER Scuba Diving Logbook with Checklists while getting your open water diver certification!
- Reference book: Scuba Diving Industry Market Reports, Data & Statistics.
Side note: During your surface intervals, have a look at my novels with a scuba diving twist, starting with “Mystery of The Blue Dragon” and “Shadows on Ocean Drive.”
You could help the dive industry by taking part in ongoing dive industry surveys. You will also find results from our past scuba diving market studies here.
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What now? Have a look at the complete Scubanomics Table of Contents.
