Primary Regulator with a Necklace?

[mwpowell]

If the octopus is good enough to donate to an OOA diver in a true emergency, then why isn't it good enough as a backup while the primary is recovered? The idea of putting a necklace on the primary is an acknowledgment that the octopus is not readily available as a backup or for an OOA diver.

Mike

 

[docmartin]

There is not a problem to be solved here and there is a way that has been proven, over and over again, to work.

i would not dream of bungeeing my primary second to my neck for the OOA panic scenarios described at length above. however, it seems a little condescending to tell other people that their problem is not a problem. this is of course nothing but semantics since soggy states himself that there is a proven way that works. works to do what? obviously to solve a problem or maybe even to avoid a problem. of course it is a problem if someone kicks my reg out of my mouth i.e. breathing under water without a reg tends to be life shortening. there are clearly ways to deal with this hardly life threatening situation and some are safer than others. my easy solution is my backup that's bungeed around my neck.

 

[Soggy]

Sometimes the truth hurts...

 

[MikeFerrara]

If the octopus is good enough to donate to an OOA diver in a true emergency, then why isn't it good enough as a backup while the primary is recovered? The idea of putting a necklace on the primary is an acknowledgment that the octopus is not readily available as a backup or for an OOA diver.

Mike

I think that's a logically sound argument.

The real answer though is that divers are not taught to go to a backup while they recover a dropped primary. They are taught to blow bubbles while they look for it.

I don't think it's bad to have student divers practice being without a reg for a bit here and there but on a real dive, if our primary becomes unuseable for any reason we go to a backup. Unfortunately that isn't usually what divers are taught. I honestly think some divers would just about drown before they thought to grab their own alternate.

 

[CompuDude]

It would be a solution, if what you described was a problem.

*I* did not describe it as a problem. The OP did. I don't view it as a problem, nor do I bungee my primary.

Yeah, until that falls out when you don't want it to, and now you can't find your reg again, thus negating the "solution" to the original "problem."

This is a DIR-approved method of bungeeing your reg. What's your beef with it (ignoring the primary v. secondary issue for the moment)?

It's pointless. There is not a problem to be solved here and there is a way that has been proven, over and over again, to work. Why reinvent the wheel as a square?

I'm merely answering the OP's question, which was NOT posted in a DIR forum, and he made it quite clear that he wasn't interested in responses involving the long hose, etc.

I have no agenda, and tried to answer the question as asked.

 

[Soggy]

This is a DIR-approved method of bungeeing your reg. What's your beef with it (ignoring the primary v. secondary issue for the moment)?

I don't believe it is considered DIR, but that's irrelevant to me. The inherent problem with the bungee being removable is that it can come loose and negate the whole point of the bungeed backup. The whole point of bungeeing it is to make it so the reg is always there and is always easy to find.

 

[Rainer]

I don't believe it is considered DIR, but that's irrelevant to me. The inherent problem with the bungee being removable is that it can come loose and negate the whole point of the bungeed backup. The whole point of bungeeing it is to make it so the reg is always there and is always easy to find.

I agree in principle, but you've over-stated the problem and solution. I've tried both methods (fisherman's knot and the zip-tie). Assuming you can tie a good knot (if *knot* practice ), then the knot version is quite difficult to remove. I used that method for 50 dives and never had it come out in the water (and only once when gearing up). The zip-tie method offers not guarantee that "the reg is always there" as you write. Nothing will guarantee that it is always there. I've tried breaking the zip-tie from the bungee and I *can* do it. It might be a bit more difficult than removing the reg from a well-tied knot (couldn't really say), but the question is, do you actually expect to encounter cases where such forces would be at play. Just not sure that the zip-tie method addresses real world concerns (i.e. is it a solution to a problem not solved by the knot method). Could be, just haven't come across such a situation in my diving or in practice.

 

[CompuDude]

I don't believe it is considered DIR, but that's irrelevant to me. The inherent problem with the bungee being removable is that it can come loose and negate the whole point of the bungeed backup. The whole point of bungeeing it is to make it so the reg is always there and is always easy to find.

It needs to be detachable should you really want it to. It's not super easy to get it off, but it will come off if you really need it to. And equally important, it won't take the mouthpiece off with it.

MHK's instructor-in-training tied it on for me, telling me that it is the method GUE is currently promoting. You may also wish to take a look at the necklaces Halcyon sells. So, are you sure it's not DIR?

http://www.halcyon.net/acc/stagerig.shtml:

 

[Nemrod]

Regarding the Halycon strap quoting their website:

"DIR's zen elegance "


Oh give me a break. Do they sell finger chimes also?

N

 

[redacted]

I dive a shallow, rather swift river, solo, with just a 1st, 2nd, and SPG. No need for an octo (or watch or depth gauge). While wading (fins off) a very shallow stretch I slipped and fell. Tumbling along and attempting to find my 2nd, I was thinking a bungee might be helpful with this rig in the future.

But for more normal diving with a primary and an alternate, if anything is going to be bungeed, the alternate seems to make the best sense.

Well, I added the bungee after the last "trip".