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Freedivers Recovery Vest Mark II-S
copyright Oceanic Safety Systems LLC., 2015
YOU DECIDE HOW TO PROGRAM YOUR FRV.
You have the option of setting your maximum depth and time. This will take some fine-tuning for those
who do not know their precise diving envelope—that is, how deep you can safely dive and for how
long. We advise that you give some thought to your dive profile when you set your triggers. Keep in
mind your normal depth and time. Setting these parameters too far outside your safe envelope will
limit the value of the FRV to you. If you set them too conservatively, for example setting the time at
1:00 minute when you frequently dive for one minute and 30 seconds (1:30), you will be frustrated
and inefficient and you will find yourself on the surface having to repack and recharge the unit. Along
with choosing your time and depth triggers, you have the option of having the FRV monitor you at the
surface following a dive by your choice of settings in the Surface Minder options. You may change
your trigger settings on the surface between dives. We believe, a very important feature of the trigger
settings is that you MAY NOT change them once a dive has started. The idea is that divers make the
most rational trigger settings while fully oxygenated on the surface. Once a dive starts, these settings
are non-negotiable.
TIME AND DEPTH TRIGGERS.
The FRV allows you to program an envelope in which you expect to dive without deployment of the
FRV. In other words, you will set your own limits for depth and duration for the dive. The following
example represents a depth of 9 meters (30 feet) and a time setting of 1:00 minute. As long as you
do not dive deeper than 30 feet or exceed 1:00 minutes under the water, the FRV does not deploy. It
will deploy, however, if you exceed 30 feet in depth or stay more than 1:00 minute under the water.
Typically you will set the time trigger 5 or 10 seconds past your personal longest reasonable dive.
But you are free, of course, to set your own time buffer. Another way to view these selections is to
ask yourself, what is the duration of the dive that you never want to exceed and at what depth do
you desire the FRV to inflate? For your depth setting, consider selecting a depth that is 2 to 3 meters
deeper than the deepest dive you plan to make during this dive session. Keep in mind that if you set
the maximum depth deeper than the bottom you are diving over, this trigger will be useless. We will
discuss the importance of proper weighting later in this chapter.
You may change these settings any time you are on the surface. For example, you might want the
FRV to fire if you ever find yourself deeper than 15 meters or submerged for more than one minute
and 45 seconds (1:45 minutes.)
DIVING WITH THE FRV
DIVE START:
The FRV starts recording a dive when you descend below 2 meters ( 6 feet) and only
after the FRV has been cleared from the previous dive. The FRV is in the cleared state when it is first
turned on for the day or when you clear it after a dive as described below.
DIVE ENDS:
When you ascend to within 1 meter (3 feet) of the surface, the dive ends.
CLEARING THE FRV:
The FRV is cleared with a press of the remote communicator button.
Depending on the mode, Surface Minder On, or Surface Minder Off, the method of clearing is
different. In either case, when the FRV is cleared, the remote light does not show.
NOTE ON THE SURFACE INTERVAL:
Freediving instructors agree that your buddy should observe
you for 30 seconds after surfacing. We encourage this practice. However after comments from early
FRV users, we have reduced the surface interval from 30 seconds to 15. Instructors we consulted felt
it unlikely for a diver to pass out at the end of a 15-second surface interval—when recovery breaths
are complete—and after locating and pressing the remote as required in the surface minder ON op-
tion. We all agree, however that a diver’s buddy should observe his newly-surfaced buddy for at least
30 seconds.
VII. PROGRAMMING THE FRV
