Scopel breathing system

[Phil23]

Does anyone have comments/advise on the Scopel or similar brand short breathing apparatus considering for underwater area inspections or maybe between haul cleaning.
Would a Hookah unit be better and can you build one DYI.

 

[O C Diver]

Many of us use a hookah rig either driven off an air compressor or scuba tank. Do you know how to scuba dive?

Ted

 

[jleonard]

I use a scuba tank with a 50 ft hose/regulator.
No BC just a weight belt, mask snorkel, fins.

A buddy of mine uses a oil less pancake compressor and a regulator.

 

[HopCar]

I had to lookup that Scopel gadget. It looks like a Spare Air bottle that you can fill with a hand pump. It looks like a lot of work to compress a couple of cubic feet of air to 3000 psi by hand. If you’re going to fill it from a scuba tank, might as well put a long hose on the scuba tank.

The advantage I see is that you can use it without electricity or a scuba tank compressor.

I think I’d choose a more conventional hookah rig.

 

[ghost]

The guys who do this for a living pretty much to the man use a regular scuba tank, itching fancy. Consider that you might be over thinking this.

Or given the silly device mentioned, under thinking this.

My history is technical mixed gas diving and many many hundreds of dives. Personally I hate working on my own boat underwater and hire someone. When I do an inspection or clearing a line in the prop resulting from mine own stupidity, most often I use a snorkel. At least once I had to borrow a pair of shorts from a guy twice my size and tie them on with a dock line. There are a number of folks here who have great luck with an inexpensive oil less compressor, a long hose and a second stage. But honestly, if you can’t make a snorkel work, just grab a scuba tank. Keep it simple. My boat rig was nothing but a harness and a single tank. You really don’t need much.

 

[shufti]

How long does a tank last if you’re only going under 1-2m max? Roughly I mean - ballpark for reasonably fit guy.

 

[SoWhat]

The ballpark is 1 hour for an 80 cu ft tank, assuming you stay at a very shallow depth. But... it is highly dependent upon exertion and experience. If you are vigorously scrubbing your hull your consumption will go up. If you are an experienced diver you will learn to move slowly and control breathing so consumption will go down.

Hookah off a tank is simple and reliable and easy to store but so is a regulator. A 30 cu ft tank is more than enough to clear a line wrapped around shaft.