Prism Topaz
Posted By Grant Graves on 5 September 2003
“Four hours. Really, four hours, 100 feet / 30 meters maximum depth. All no stop.”
“Why did you come up”?
“Had to pee.”
“What?”
“Drysuit and I got cold.”
When I am asked what my longest recreational dive has been, this is the response. The next question usually is how did I do a four-hour dive. I tell them a PRISM Topaz Rebreather. The average recreational diver will then give me a strange look and ask, “What is that?”
The PRISM Topaz/Invader is a computer controlled digital mixed gas closed circuit rebreather. PRISM stands for Peter Ready’s Incredible Steam Machine. Peter has been designing and building rebreathers for over fifteen years.
Many rebreathers have not been truly independently tested. True capabilities and capacities are left to the buyer to figure out on their own.
The Topaz has recently successfully completed manned, phase three, testing with the United States Navy. Making the Topaz the first and only off-the-self, commercially available rebreather ever to pass this rigorous and independent testing. The navy is looking to replace and upgrade its aging fleet of MK 16 rebreathers.
The Topaz comes in at just under 45 pounds / 20 kilos fully loaded. This
makes the Topaz the lightest available rebreather with its capabilities.
The unit carries six pounds / 2.7 kilos of absorbent. Tested and true
duration ranges from five hours with appropriate reserves in 40 degree F / 5
degrees C at high workload and all depths to twelve hours at moderate
workload in 60 degree F / 16 degree C at or shallower than 70 feet / 21
meters.
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