JJ-CCR Presentation with Dave Thompson by Marco Scilipoti

November 2009

The members of the TEC Deep team had the opportunity for a ‘dry’ introduction to the recently released JJ-CCR with Dave Thompson on 23 November.

This unit has undergone several years of rigorous design and testing and Dave mentioned that it has completed more than 1000 operating hours underwater in different environments around the world.

This CCR (Closed Circuit Rebreather) has been designed with the K.I.S.S. philosophy in mind – Keep It Super Simple – with the aim to reduce the potential for human error in its operation. It is a simple, robust and adaptable unit with the possibility to be configured to almost any diving situation, from full on deep technical diving to lightweight recreational travel.

Taking a closer look at the machine, we found a number of characteristics which we liked and which we think will prove popular with the CCR diving public. The first being a choice of counterlung position – either over the shoulder or our preference of back-mounted counterlungs, influencing the WOB (Work of Breathing) and helping to reduce the level of carbon dioxide retention in the breathing loop.

Redundancy is also important and the JJ has separate batteries for the handset, HUD (Heads Up Display) and solenoid, with none of them inside the loop. Therefore, if the handset goes down you can fly the unit manually on the secondary HUD with as little disruption as possible due to the primary failing.

In addition, there is a BOV (Bail Out Valve) which has a fairly smooth operation almost allowing the user to make the switch one handed. Unfortunately, we have not yet seen or tried this as Dave’s machine was not fitted with a BOV. The work of breathing has been reported as nice and easy on closed-circuit however on open-circuit it is a little difficult.

Finally, it is a compact unit with a package for the full unit, ready to dive with no options needed, or a package called ‘’light’’ available with no tanks, backplate or harness and ideal for travelling without the need for special parts to attach a range of cylinders.

We are really looking forward to diving the unit for ourselves at the beginning of December to confirm the positive reports we have heard so far and would like to thank Dave Thompson for such an interesting presentation of the JJ-CCR.