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Add Helium has a little blog about myths in rebreathers and it has brought out a rather lively discussion on the subject and a lot of criticism of the points in the blog.  Now, I am no expert in the field and my opinion probably will not be terribly important to most people, but I have never been one to keep quiet.  I would like to point of some of the items that seem rather obvious to me.

1 – Peter, by his own admission is a “scuba whore”.  This is not necessarily a bad thing.  It is just him being willing to freely admit that this is his livelihood and sales is a large part of that.

2 – Add Helium has on display, trains on, and sells many different rebreathers.  This, in itself, is probably one of the best resources for a rebreather curious diver to gain some very valuable information.  I know of some personal negative thoughts that the Add Helium crew has towards some of these units, but they will never sink to slinging mud at any of the different units.  They are very honest and forth right with the information and abilities of all of them.  They do not try to force or convince anyone to take any specific route.  They offer information and let the customer make an informed decision.

3 – In the process of building the display stands for the Add Helium showroom, I had the opportunity to get my hands on all of the different units that they have.  I have not had any formal training on any of them and have very limited knowledge on the detailed workings of them.  I was able to see many positive aspects to all of the rebreathers and also some negatives.  Upon discussing my findings with my arch enemy, Tony Land, some of my thoughts were proven to be wrong and some were accurate.

4 – Add Helium really does go the extra length, to not only know everything there is to know about the build and training of their rebreathers, but they also do the same for everything in their field.  Their commitment to continued education and advancement of knowledge really impresses me.  I once asked Peter how in the hell he always seemed to know industry “secrets” before there were released.  His reply was simply “Because it fascinates me and I make it my business to know”.  That right there tells you a lot about the quality and value of both his knowledge and expertise.

5 – I know that I now sound like a poster child for Add Helium and make this disclaimer:

This blog is mine personally and does not represent the thoughts or feeling of any of the Add Helium Staff.  I am not being paid to be their spokesman.

Honesty in Advertising