Rebreather courses

STDA provides 6 levels of training, three basic levels and three advanced levels, considering the diver level that enroll the course. There is also the Refresh CCR program, a workshop in half day or whole day with 1 or 2 in water sessions to restart diving after a period of inactivity.

The 'Intro to Rebreather - Basic' is for beginners without certifications and can be attended currently only with the ASCR Explorer.

Divers, already certified in OC, can attend directly the 'Intro to Rebreather - Adv' , the fundamentals CCR training program of STDA.

The continuation is the 'Deep' course for recreational divers and the 'CCR 1' and 'CCR 2' courses for OC certified technical divers.

Intro to Rebreather - Basic
Intro to Rebreather - Advanced
Intro to Rebreather - Deep
CCR 1 (STDA Decompression Procedures 1 workshop included)
CCR 2 (STDA Decompression Procedures 2 workshop included)
CCR 3 & CCR 3 Explorer (STDA Decompression Procedures 3 workshop included)
Refresh CCR program in two options: half day with one confined water session, a whole day with 2 in water sessions

For all the courses it's possible to attend the theory sessions through the web. In this way you can use your time at the best. Same thing if you want to come in Italy to attend your courses. You can do the theory lessons before your coming. Contact us for more info: info@stdahq.com

Currently 'STDA' considers as rebreather of reference the followings:

X-CCR by IQ-Sub, Hammerehad CCR evolution
Hammerhead CCR by Juergensen Marine, the only rebreather that has never registered a fatality since his presentation in 2007
Hollis aSCR Explorer only for recreational rebreather courses
Other ccr can be added if they match STDA requested features.

Why CCR rebreathers?

Theoretically talking, the Closed Circuit Rebreathers are considered the 'state of the art' of scuba diving. In the past, the development of these systems, faced many stops but in the new millenium, in particular with the huge improvement of electronics technology, the closed circuit rebreathers started to have a wide diffusion. The reasons were quite obvious from long time: using for deep and/or long dives a rare, strategic and always more expensive gas as helium, the most efficient system was and is without any doubt the CCR system. CCR have also an other big advantage: a CCR is really lighter (26-36kg) than OC double tanks (>40kg minimum) or a pSCR (>45kg minimum). Your back will thank you.

Moreover, during the years STDA has acquired evidence that CCR diving decrease the risk of DCS in divers affected by PFO.

Marco Valenti, STDA founder, believes in this system for many years. He's a CCR user since 2004. He's a CCR Instructor Trainer, developer and tester.

Keeping always in mind that is a different way of diving, generally more complex, CCR needs a different appproach than the open circuit. This means that it is not obvious that an experienced open circuit diver is automatically suitable for the use of a CCR. The history and the direct experience in training have brought out it clearly.

For these reasons, STDA stares at the technical training mainly on rebreather diving, with the goal to develop the use of rebreather also in recreational diving. What it's needed, it's the 'right' rebreather and training.

CCR 3 - CCR 3 Explorer courses

Targets

The 'CCR 3' and 'CCR 3 Explorer' courses aims to complete the training of the rebreather diver, following the STDA standards. The structure of the program is the same of the previous courses: theory, confined water sessions and open water dives. 'CCR 3' and 'CCR 3 Explorer' programs are mainly focused on decompression theory and procedures (applying the Mnemonic Dive Planing STDA), rebreather failures and managements, bail-out procedures. With the positively conclusion of the course the diver will be able to plan and dive till 80 meters depth and with no depth limitations for Explorer program (the limit, if declared, is the one fixed by the rebreather manufacturer) considering the diver esperience and dive logistic. The 'Explorer' program is an extension of 'CCR 3', that can be done extending the CCR 3 progam if the instructor evaluates the candidate suitable for this extension.

Prerequisites ('CCR 3')

be certified 'CCR 2' or equivalent
for CCR3 DPV Tech certification
for CCR 3 Explorer, DPV Tech and Overhead Environment Fundamentals STDA certifications (or equivalent) are requested
medical certificate not older than one year; recommended PFO examination (Patent foramen ovale)
non smoker
minimum age: 21 years old
documented experience of at least 100 hours of dives with rebreather

Before the course start, the instructor could ask to do a rebreather dive to evaluate the level of training of the candidate.

Program and duration of the course with 2 students ('CCR 3')

Diver without Open Circuit Tri-mix 80mts certification	Diver with Open Circuit Tri-mix 80mts certification or above
minimum days: on-line theory + 6 days	minimum days: on-line theory + 4 days
theory, including 'dry' labs: minimum 12 hours	theory, including 'dry' labs: minimum 10 hours
Theory sessions: 5	Theory sessions: 4
Final assessment: quizzes with multiple choice	Final assessment: quizzes with multiple choice
Maximum percentage of allowed wrong answer: 20%	Maximum percentage of allowed wrong answer: 20%
Exceeding the maximum allowable percentage leads to the conclusion of the course	Exceeding the maximum allowable percentage leads to the conclusion of the course
Confined water sessions: minimum 2	Confined water sessions: minimum 1
Open water dives: minimum 5 with a cumulated run time of minimum 340 minutes	Open water dives: minimum 3 with a cumulated run time of minimum 240 minutes
The maximum time for completion of the course: 6 months;if exceeded, the course must be repeated entirely	The maximum time for completion of the course: 6 months; if exceeded, the course must be repeated entirely

Certification limits ('CCR 3')

Max depth: -80 meters with mandatory out-board bail-out bottles with adequate mixtures and volumes (liters of the mix)
Max pO2, set point: 1,2 ata
Diluent allowed: Tri-Mix - Max fHe 0,70 - 0,10 ≤ f O2 ≤ 0,13

The certification doesn't allow to dive in overhead environment (cavern, cave, wreck, underice etc) and 'SOLO' diving

Certification limits 'CCR 3' Explorer'

During the course:

Max depth: -100 meters limit with mandatory out-board bail-out bottles with adequate mixtures and volumes (liters of the mix)
Max pO2, set point: 1,0 ata
Diluent allowed: Tri-Mix – 0,70 ≤ fHe ≤ 0,80 - fO2 ≤ 0,10

The certification doesn't allow to dive in overhead environment (cavern, cave, wreck, underice etc) and 'SOLO' diving

Rough prices: on request (info@stdahq.com)

NOT included: mixes, instructor 'room and board' for other locations, boats if needed and extra days for training or delays due to adverse weather conditions.

Extra training day cost: 200€/day

Rebreather courses

Intro to Rebreather Diving - Basic

...for certified scuba divers, introduces into rebreather diving

The 'Deep' program provides an extension in depth and mix of ...

...extending the CCR1 training...

Complete the CCR training