Octo on left or right?

[tomboyy]

I just purchased a MK25/S600 with a S395 octo. When I went to pick it up the 2nd was on the right and the octo was on the left. I asked the LDS owner if he would swap it for me and he looks at me and says "why" I explain the my old setup was that way and again he says "why" I told him thats the way it was when I bought it from you. He went on to say that he wouls never set up a reg that way. After telling him again that I did indeed buy it from him set up that way and that it was one off his old rentals, he said ohh it"s prolly so old it has to be set up that way. It's a US Diver SE3 w/ a old yellow Aqua lung octo.

Any hoo, he goes on the explain that with the octo on the left the person needing the air can swim next to you on your left with out kinking the hose.

I get the the dive ramp and ask his employee, a DM to help me finish putting me depth gauge, psi compass on. he looks at it and asked me why why octo was on the left and not the right. I explain thats how the LDS owner said i should route it. He goes on to explain that it should be on the right with the 2nd because in an OOA situation you should have your buddy right in front of you and be grabbing their BCD and making a accent, not swimming.

Then speaking to the LDS again, he says well what if your 150 yds from the boat and you need to swim back. he said you don't want to surface that far from the boat and you can't swim facing each other. He also said trying to make a controled accent hanging on to each other is a hard thing to do.He said the other DM master was PADI trained and refused to change his thought process.

I did a search on this but didn't find what I was looking for. I'm not trying to start a bash PADI thread either .. I was just repeating what the LDS said.. so lets not go there.

I just want other opinions. I have to DM telling me 2 different things. I would like more info before I make the decision that I think is best for me. Thanks

Tom

 

[1_T_Submariner]

Octo on the same side as your primary. I think even the long hose 2nd stage crowd does it this way on a single tank single regulator.

 

[String]

BSAC we always have on the left. The theory being its rigged for your buddy ensuring the maximum length of hose and correct way up donate. If for some reason you do need it yourself then obviously the shorter twisted hose isnt an issue.

I sat my padi IDC and IE with this setup and was told there is no problem - nothing against it being on the left and my justification was fine. I passed so obviously its not a big issue.

(ive now switched to a long hose/primary donate though which in my view is a better system altogether).

 

[BKP]

Assuming we're not talking about an integrated octo-inflator (which HAS to be on the left), I'd agree with octo on the same side as the primary.

Either you'll donate your primary, or get it ripped out of your mouth... Either way it seems it'd be more natural to replace it with, and breathe from, an octo routed from the same side.

 

[String]

Either you'll donate your primary, or get it ripped out of your mouth...

The statistics for OOA dont back that claim up in the slightest.

 

[BKP]

The statistics for OOA dont back that claim up in the slightest.

Ok. I'm always willing to learn.

Where do I find those statistics?

 

[ReefHound]

First, the LDS owner and his employees need to get on the same page. Better that they all pick a side and send a consistent message that be confusing divers with conflicting advice.

I don't profess to have studied the issue and have a definitive answer but for standard rec I would wear octo on the right simply because that is where most people in my part of the world expect it to be. Who cares if they swim on your left or your right or you both swim sideways? The primary objective here is to share air and get to the surface. Getting back to the line is nice but the definition of recreational diving is that you can ascend directly to the surface at any time.

 

[DIR-Atlanta]

Either you'll donate your primary, or get it ripped out of your mouth... Either way it seems it'd be more natural to replace it with, and breathe from, an octo routed from the same side.

The statistics for OOA dont back that claim up in the slightest.

I would like to review these statistics that you mention. Can you point me to a reference or a study?

 

[String]

Try a search on here or YD (its been done many times). Real world OOAs people go for what they were trained. They aren't thinking rationally and acting entirely on instinct.

 

[Nemrod]

The statistics for OOA dont back that claim up in the slightest.

That is another of those "scuba-isms" that get repeated until people think it is fact despite their being no evidence to back it up other than my buddy says his father in law says he saw once upon a time way back another person said-------.

To the OP, in the USA and most of the diving world, a standard configuration is air sources go right, inflators and spgs go left. This remians the same even if you go to the long hose concept. The exceptions are combined octo/inflator which obviously go to the left.

Some configurations used for specialty diving may have the second regulator or second stage routed to the left such as independent doubles and there are others as well.

There are two competing basic rigs:

The standard configuration used by 95% of real world divers, the shorter hose (22-24 inches) goes over the shoulder and to the second stage in your mouth. The octopus is routed under the right arm on a longer hose (40 inches) and up to the center chest area (triangle) and is secured by a variety of entertaining solutions. You breath your primary, you donate the octopus to the OOA diver--works good. The octopus is usually on a bright yellow hose and is itself yellow or some bright color.

The other commonly found configuration (Hog rig, GUE, DIR, most modern cavers) is the one often preferred on this board, the long hose rig is the primary and may be anywhere from 40 inches to seven feet (usually 5 or 7). It generally wraps under the rh shoulder, across the chest, up and around the back of the neck on the lh side and then to your mouth from the rh side--it wraps all the way around essentially. The seconday is on a shorter hose routed over the rh shoulder (22-24 inches) and is bungeed with a necklace around your neck. In an OOA situtation the long hose primary in your mouth is donated to the OOA diver and you switch to the secondary that is bungeed on a necklace around your neck by dipping your chin to it and taking it to your mouth --works good. Both the seconday and the primary are usually on black hoses and the second stages are usually identical.

N