Rebreather Diving in Malapascua

Overview: Key points we like about the Pelagian

Manual

It is totally manual – this means that it is very simple to understand. Not much can go wrong, but if it does it is very easy to recognize the problem

Needle Valve

It has a needle valve on the O2 input. It is the only unit that has this innovation. Other manual units are moving towards it as an extra. This means that you can adjust the flow on the dive based on metabolism. So you should hardly have to adjust buoyancy via the inflator, you just slightly tweak the needle once or twice to compensate for depth or effort

Oxygen Sensors

The Oxygen sensors are a key feature of any unit. On the Pelagian the sensors are in the head and positioned very close to the ADV. This has two benefits, firstly if they read funny, you can blow moisture off them using the ADV, a feature used on the infamous Cis-Lunar Mk5. This is done very simply by breathing out through your nose and then taking a quick deep breath in. This gives a rush of air onto the sensors and blows off moisture.

Also and VERY IMPORTANTLY the positioning means that you can have instant validation of the cells’ accuracy. So at DATA checks, you would breathe out though your nose a little bit, and then take a slow breath in, this puts fresh diluent directly across the sensors. If you are at 30m on air you expect your PO2 monitors to read 0.84 when you do this. If you don’t have this positioning close to the ADV you can’t do it so simply.

Work of breathing

Over the shoulder lungs rather than rear lungs mean much better work of breathing in good trim position The Pelagian lungs are designed to be very low profile and wrap-around so they simulate the position of your lungs as closely as possible

Trim

Pelagian has a lung design which aids trim as they wrap around the body and give some lift in the waist area. It also has absolutely no unnecessary space in the scrubber head so there is no air at your head which can effect trim. It is valves up, which helps trim but also maintain your training in closing valves behind your head from OC – no new skills to learn there.

Tanks used

You can use both 2.7L and 11L tanks on the Pelagian and anything in between.

Scrubber duration

Despite being a smaller scrubber, due to its design you actually get more sorb in there and longer scrubber duration than most. 6 hours in warm water, 4 in cold. What this means is that it can last one or two days on a liveaboard trip. Or 2 days at the dive shop without a refill.

Size and weight

Fits into overhead luggage in a plane.

Ease of maintenance and obtaining spares

• Extremely easy to maintain
• Very simple unit
• All o-rings are standard sizes
• The ADV and the BOV are standard lead manufacturer parts in a slightly smaller casing. So they are very easy to maintain. It also means that they are very high quality
• BOV – Scubapro S600, Dacor Viper inhalation membrane and Aqualung ABS exhalation membranes (2).
• ADV – Aqualung ABS and Oceanic inhalation membrane. So anything that will be subject to normal wear and tear is easily sorted without having to ship parts overseas