Octo vs no octo

[bigtim6656]

A fellow member told me not to get a octo. He said they were designed 40 years ago and the regulators today are just to unlikely to fail to carry one. He also said due to the improvements of the gear today the only real reason to loose air is human failure. SO he said there not worth carrying because of the add drag weight need to sink and that normaly there not taken care of and are usasly the first thing to get dragged through sand if the reg gets sand in it. he said he uses a pony bottle if he is diving deeper then 30 feet. but he sais for a new dive they should wait because a pony is unneed down to 30 feet.
do you use one

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Your friend sounds like he knows a lot about diving in 30 feet or less. If you stay above 30 feet, an octopus is probably not necessary, especially if you dive alone.

 

[Lightning Fish]

Get an octo. Regs fail, o-rings fail... it happens, are you prepared for it? I won't dive with a buddy who didn't have an octo. You may want to do a search on 'long hose' and 'bungied second'. A great alternative to carrying an octo in the magical triangle.

Cheers,
Bill.

 

[TSandM]

In general, people carry two regulators for two reasons: One is for self-rescue, should there be a problem with one or should it be lost, and the other is to share with another diver who, for whatever reason, has no breathing gas. Some people elect to put one regulator on a tank on their back, and a second on a completely separate tank (pony bottle). Others put two second stages on the same first stage, coming off the tank on their back. A very few people carry no additional second stage at all.

Once you have decided to carry an additional second stage (and possibly first), then you have to decide which of the two you will donate to someone else in the event of an emergency. Standard teaching is to donate the "octopus" regulator, which is kept on a slightly longer hose, and fixed somewhere on the diver's torso. People who use a combined octopus-inflator (Air2) donate the regulator in their mouth, and switch to their backup. Those of us who dive a longer hose/bungied backup configuration also donate the primary and switch to our own backup. Someone diving with a pony bottle may donate the pony regulator, and perhaps even hand off the tank, depending on how it's configured.

I would say that, unless you only dive solo, it's rather selfish not to have a second regulator to share with someone in need. But I have to admit that my secondary regulator has mostly come into use to save ME -- a bungied backup is extremely handy, should you fall on entry or exit and be unable to put your hand immediately on your primary regulator.

In my opinion, your friend's advice is bad.

 

[Damselfish]

There's so many things wrong with that advice it sounds like the person who gave it just likes to be contrary.

Aside from all the other good reasons already given, if you dive on any boat you will very likely find the operator requires an octo.

 

[diversteve]

I second TSandM's opinion - get an octo. Beyond the reason's she mentioned, here's one of mine.

I was hanging on a ball off Grand Cayman. Holding onto a scooter and getting ready to join my buddy. A wave smacked me right in the face, dunked me and the scooter, I lost my grip on the rope, lost my second and partially flooded my mask. When I reached behind me to retrieve it, it caught between my tank and BCD bladder. I didn't want to drop the scooter - it was a rental - and I didn't want to try to get out of my BCD while holding onto the scooter either.

So I simply reached down, grabbed my second and used it. As soon as I was able to get into shallow water, I put the scooter down, reached back and detangled my primary 2nd and used it on the rest of the dive. Actually I could've stayed with the 2nd, both are Atomics so they breathe equally well.

If your friend is dragging his through the sand, he's doing it wrong. Most people use an octo holder, it's why they're made, to keep the octo in a convenient location on the front of youir BCD.

Both for your use and also your buddy's who may be coming at you in a hurry in an OOA situation. A panicked diver will grab for the 1st airsource they see so you need to know where your other reg is also if they rip yours out of your mouth unexpectedly. That's why they're bright yellow also.

 

[Dtaine]

Your friend sounds like he knows a lot about diving in 30 feet or less. If you stay above 30 feet, an octopus is probably not necessary, especially if you dive alone.

right, because someone just getting their OW certification will be solo diving right away

Ignore your friend's advice and get an octo; equipment fails & dive buddies make mistakes, not having an octo is just a bad idea and anyone who can't deal with the extra "drag" or keep it from dragging is just diving poorly to begin with

 

[Divedoggie]

I donated my octo to diver in an OOA situation. I was on a night dive at 80 feet and noticed lights swishing around haphazardly, so I swam over. The Young woman saw me and signaled that she was OOA. Her buddy was 20 feet above her and oblivious to the situation when I came across her. Ask her if you should carry an octo.

 

[gcbryan]

A fellow member told me not to get an octo. He said they were designed 40 years ago and the regulators today are just too unlikely to fail to carry one. He also said due to the improvements of the gear today the only real reason to lose air is human failure. SO he said they're not worth carrying because of the added drag weight need to sink and that normally they're not taken care of and are usually the first thing to get dragged through sand and that the reg gets sand in it. He said he uses a pony bottle if he is diving deeper than 30 feet but he says for a new diver they should wait because a pony is not needed down to 30 feet.
Do you use one?

I'm sure everything will make more sense when you become certified but basically you have been given poor advice.

The primary purpose of an octo is to provide assistance to your buddy. It has very little to do with your main regulator failing. Who cares if they were designed 40 years ago?

If you carry them improperly they can drag in the sand so therefore you need to carry them properly. Human error is one of several reasons to run out of air but human error isn't going to go away any time soon.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say regarding the "added drag weight need to sink". An octo adds very little drag (especially if it's properly clipped/stowed) and has nothing to do with weight needed to sink.

The bottom line is that most people aren't going to want to dive with someone who can't easily donate air to them if necessary. As was mentioned there are several different ways to accomplish this.

 

[Steve_Dives]

I had a couple opportunities to be thankful for my octo in training or practice scenarios.

It is possible to share air by exchanging a single regulator, but not everyone is trained to do that. Imagine coming across someone at 80 feet at night who is out of air, do you hand a stranger your only source of air? They were (1) probably not trained to exchange a single reg, and (2) expecting that you will switch to your octo because that's how everyone is trained.