Join DiveBuddy.com

Meet new scuba divers, maintain a virtual dive log, participate in our forum, share underwater photos, research dive sites and more. Members login here.

#1110
Hollis Explorer
Btrax - 3/11/2015 3:09 PM
Category: General
Replies: 12

Has anyone tried the Hollis explorer yet. Its quite a nice unit. Or is this strictly a OC forum and i’m gonna get flamed for this lol
#1110
Subscribed
Btrax - 3/11/2015 3:14 PM
Before i get completely beat up, i am in the process of certifying TDI on this unit. It is a recreational unit only.
#51828
Greg - 3/11/2015 8:25 PM
We are open to discussing anything scuba related here. Open or closed circuit :). However, I don’t have experience with closed circuit systems so I’ll let someone else comment.
#4002
Subscribed
WarmWaterTurner - 3/12/2015 6:40 AM
No I have not tried it as of yet. But - my dive buddy and I have been eying it for some time. Love the look of the unit but the LDS here does not have a trainer certified for that specific unit yet. Please let us know how it goes.
#3720
Subscribed
tstormdiver - 3/12/2015 2:03 PM
I dive a Prism2, but am using it for technical & cave diving. That said, my instructor teaches both the Prism2 & the Explorer & the Poseidon MK VI . As mentioned above, it is strictly a recreational hybrid (mostly a semi closed) rebreather. It is good for 2 hr dives with the sorbant & under the MOD of the "drive gas" used. It is affordable to many, more so than a fully closed rebreather. The unit is very useful for longer dives without the weight of doubles (back or side mounted), It only periodically releases bubbles, so doesn’t scare the marine life as bad as open circuit. Many photographers like this option. My favorite part of the Prism2 is the quiet. Other than the solenoid injecting gas & the movement of the counterlungs, it is completely quiet.Something to keep in mind with rebreathers, whether semi or fully closed is there is considerable maintenance that MUST be done, both pre- dive & post dive, there are no short cuts. Check lists must be followed to the end. Period. My prism requires 2- 3 hrs of pre- dive work & about 2 hours of post dive work. Not trying to persuade or dissuade you either way, just putting out the positives & minuses.
#1110
Subscribed
Btrax - 3/13/2015 6:48 AM
I had eyed the explorer at my LDS for some time. It is one neat piece of tech. I dove rebreathers many moons ago in the military and had been thinking about it again. The cost of a full Tec unit was putting me off from getting started. I did a lot of research on the Hollis Explorer and when the opportunity came up to buy one from a friend for around half price i jumped on it. I have about 5 dives on it so far. The setup time is about 20 minutes, the tear down is about the same if you take your time and do everything by the book. It is much lighter than doubles. You breathe warm air. It uses a single tank of nitro 32 to 40 percent. Has a bail out valve built into it. It is very easy to set up and tear down. It is a recreational unit only. So far i am thrilled with it. Quiet, light, quick to set up and the electronics are state of the art. It has a go no go set up. When you are diving there are multiple warnings on any problems you may encounter and on most anything except a minor warning the emergency procedure is simple....Bail out. I am waiting for some of the ice to melt here to finish my open water dives and complete the course. I’ll keep everyone posted. I will still dive OC also but i will dive this unit a lot. For the type of diving i do this unit makes sense. I suppose that is the key to equipment and training for everyone, each individual has to analyze the type of diving they do and move forward with equipment and training from there. For me this unit is it.
#4002
Subscribed
WarmWaterTurner - 3/13/2015 7:33 AM
So you guys are gonna have to answer to my wife when I go off the deep end and buy one......just sayin!
#1110
Subscribed
Btrax - 3/13/2015 7:40 AM
Lol yeah I got it also so no problem tell her to call and yell at us hahaha
#1110
Subscribed
Btrax - 5/02/2015 1:50 PM
Am scheduled to do my open water dives to finish my cert for the Hollis rebreather May 9. Dove again in the pool for a warm up and weight check with a new drysuit. Am very excited. Will keep you posted.
#1110
Subscribed
Btrax - 5/24/2015 12:18 PM
An update to my training. Have been taking my final open water dives on the hollis re-breather. I have to say the more i use it the more i like it. Buoyancy seems to be a different horse altogether as with the countersigns you can not control your buoyancy by breathing - but with practice it is getting better. I did 2 one hour dives in 40 ft of water and still had time left on my air and scrubber. I was considering going to twinsets until i started with this unit. At 40 lbs it is much lighter than a twinset and lasts just as long. (no deco - recreational depths only)
On my last qualification dive i had an actual emergency, my H.U.D flashed red - vibrated- handset flashed red and stated bad cell Bail Out. Seems there was an issue with one cell. But there was no room for diver error - the unit had me bail out and surface at a normal rate without incident.
As of now i am waiting for my instructor to come back from a dive trip to finish my in water skills dive to complete the course.
Hey warm water turner — go get one its great.
#101
Subscribed
JHickel - 6/18/2015 7:12 PM
I love diving my explorer! At first I was planning on going sidemount but decided to bite the bullet and make the jump to rebreathers. I’m planning on keeping the explorer to make nice long rec dives and eventually getting the prism for the tec stuff. Hollis4Life!
#1110
Subscribed
Btrax - 6/19/2015 7:03 AM
Well i finally finished my last skills test. I also got to dive in salt water with my unit. It performed flawlessly and was a lot of fun. The more I dive this thing the more i like it. I am starting to get the bouyancy down. May go to dutch for a couple of dives next week to get some extended bottom time. Once you get the weighting down and work on the bouyancy the unit itself is fun to dive. It has a simple display and built in counter checks for safety. I recomend getting the co2 unit as it adds an additional layer of safety and you can constantly monitor your cppo2 in addition to your ppo2.