attaching octo via snap bolt

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When I trained for cave the instructor recommended using the small zip ties to attach snap bolts to hoses. One quick twist and they break easily. May work for some others.
During an OOA drill I patiently waited while turning blue for my bud to get his long hose unclipped to hand to me, I finally went for the one in his mouth and then he broke the the zip tie on the one he couldn't get unclipped for a breath, what are buddies for :)
This was in sidemount and he was on his short hose (balancing tanks) when the OOA was drilled, so differs from BM and probably more mimics a recreational setup when the primary isn't donated.

I'm a big fan of donating the primary with the octo on the neck.
 
The zip tie trick usually works, but you need to know to twist, which the OOA diver may not know (no guarantee that it is YOUR buddy that is OOA). And sometimes, the zip ties become near indestructible at the wrong moment.

In my experience, there are divers that, when they run out of air, still have enough wits about them to grab your octo like they learned in their OW class. If you have a bolt snap tied to your octo, then that's false advertising. I watched a lady in Mexico run out of air (I just happened to be looking in the right direction at the right time), turn to the nearest diver (not her buddy, as it turned out), grab his octo and tug it twice (forcefully enough that she was shaking him), it didn't come loose, so she went for the surface. Being concerned I went up after her and I hit the surface at about the same time as the divemaster who had been bringing up the rear of the group (and had witnessed the incident from behind the two). My buddy, who had seen me head up, arrived at the surface a couple seconds later. The lady, after manually inflating her BCD (which she was in the process of doing when I hit the surface), made a comment about the SOB that had super-glued his AAS to his chest, but that she was OK. There is a lot more to the story, but the point is that you never know who may want your octo and it needs to be ready to deploy.

I do find it somewhat ironic that, in some instances, we have people who dive with long hoses, and yet justify some of their other decisions with "it will never happen to me". If it isn't going to happen, why the long hose? Either you are prepared or you aren't. Simply having a long hose and assuming an OOA diver will grab it instead of the octo doesn't make you prepared.
 
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The zip tie trick usually works, but you need to know to twist, which the OOA diver may not know (no guarantee that it is YOUR buddy that is OOA). And sometimes, the zip ties become near indestructible at the wrong moment.

Agreed. The team would need to be aware of that option. Surprised nobody commented on littering the spent ties, however, my instructor cleaned up after us.

In my experience, there are divers that, when they run out of air, still have enough wits about them to grab your octo like they learned in their OW class. If you have a bolt snap tied to your octo, then that's false advertising. I watched a lady in Mexico run out of air (I just happened to be looking in the right direction at the right time), turn to the nearest diver (not her buddy, as it turned out), grab his octo and tug it twice (forcefully enough that she was shaking him), it didn't come loose, so she went for the surface. Being concerned I went up after her and I hit the surface at about the same time as the divemaster who had been bringing up the rear of the group (and had witnessed the incident from behind the two). My buddy, who had seen me head up, arrived at the surface a couple seconds later. The lady, after manually inflating her BCD (which she was in the process of doing when I hit the surface), made a comment about the SOB that had super-glued his AAS to his chest, but that she was OK. There is a lot more to the story, but the point is that you never know who may want your octo and it needs to be ready to deploy.

She is a much better apnea diver than me, I get really freaky when I got no air, that reg would have either been ripped off its mount or the primary ripped out of his mouth. Hey, at least I'm honest :) All covered in the pre-dive briefing of course...

I do find it somewhat ironic that, in some instances, we have people who dive with long hoses, and yet justify some of their other decisions with "it will never happen to me". If it isn't going to happen, why the long hose? Either you are prepared or you aren't. Simply having a long hose and assuming an OOA diver will grab it instead of the octo doesn't make you prepared.

Good statement IMHO, if I read it right. Sort of Tec vs Rec I guess, imo, how can you be more prepared than in the standard hogarthian single tank rec setup. I'm not a strict dir or hog diver, but I use and see value and common sense in most all of it. Personally, I think from day one a hog long/necklaced rig makes more sense for alot of reasons for rec divers in basic ow training. In the scenario above, the only readily useable reg for the hypo freak is the primary in the donors mouth with the hog setup, if trained like that from day one in basic OW it would have been a non issue. Why does it work for more advance technical divers but can't for new divers?? I just don't get it. I see alot of different octo stowage setups with new divers, doesn't seem to be much of a standard in place. Just my observations.

That said, it would be no surprise to see me in one of my old jacket BCs with an integrated octo when traveling with gear I don't feel like worrying about getting stolen, etc. If your my insta-buddy, be advised, steer clear, lol.
 
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I just recently moved from a silly snorkel holder to the boltsnap method. After reading this, I see that I may have to add a break away system. I like the setup of having my octo on a bolt snap and the way it is sitting, I can reach it without having to unclip it. Not very comfortable to breathe that way but can be remedied quickly.

I made a point of reminding my buddy that I will donate my primary in OOA situations and switching to my octo. We are both good on checking and monitoring our gas supplies and have almost identical gas consumption to within 5 bar so knowing what I have is like assuming what he has, but we check often anyway. I always let whoever I am diving with know how my gear is configured at every dive brief.

I have practiced some OOA drills and I feel comfortable with this system. I also think it is just temporary as I would like to switch to a 5ft primary and bungee octo when 1 of my current hoses needs replacing. Hope I never have to encounter an OOA situation but should be ready if i do.
 

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