Primary or alternate donate poll

Primary or alternate donate

  • Primary

    Votes: 216 74.7%
  • Alternate

    Votes: 73 25.3%

  • Total voters
    289

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Considering what I dive when I'm diving rec.....there is no primary donate option. My primary is built into my ffm so unless they rip it off my face....they're getting an octo.

When I'm diving without the ffm, though, I'm very strongly considering switching to a primary donate configuration. I dive a 40" primary hose regardless so I can route under my right arm (see my avatar) and it doesn't seem like it's much longer than my octo hose so it wouldn't really matter either way. pretty much just whichever one said OOA buddy decides to take. But I think for the means of helping calm down my OOA buddy, just handing off the reg in my mouth would work better since he'she knows for a fact it's working.
 
My personal choice for OW rec, is 2 x 40" hoses. The Alt is on the left side (aka British way) both 2nds are on swivel.

For my conditions and the divign and guiding I do, this has proved to be the optimum. Because both my 2nds are the same you could reach for either, however I'm more likely to be giving you one havign seen the issue.

With my Instructor Head on....

I get very frustrated with divers coming on the AoW, Recsue, even DM that haven't a clue about the airshare. They've been taught it and forgotten it. They don't need to physically practice it to remain current, they can "dry run" through the actions in their head

On too many occasions I give an OOA signal (as briefed) and float there with my reg out quietly "drowning" while they flap around - most common issue is them not knowing where their Alt is (or was when they rigged their kit but is now hanging down)

It is the skill I most have to refresh with students time and time again

I have no problem with whatever their config is. I personally don't feel that a 7' long hose is required in non overhead, 40" maybe a little longer is quite adequate to share and control, but I'll work with anyone

A lot (majority) of those Rec divers I see with long hose, have it because it's "the cool thing" to have, with little though nor analysis as to whether they need it or can use it

Whether people want to use long hose or Air 2 (ugh) its their call, but at least learn to use it, understand the pro's and cons of you rig and dive environment, and make conditions accordingly

The fact is havign to share air is a rare occurrence.

I'd personally rather share air with someone who has a sub optimal rig but knows how to use it, than someone with all teh gear but no clue...
 
My primary is necklaced to my neck on a very short hose - for my comfort, since I almost always dive solo. My pony is on a long bright yellow hose, is bright yellow, the entire rig is bright yellow, and is discussed & demonstrated before splashing if I am diving with others. If they forget and go for my primary they are in for a big surprise.
 
A lot (majority) of those Rec divers I see with long hose, have it because it's "the cool thing" to have, with little though nor analysis as to whether they need it or can use it

I got accused of this since I switched to long hose as a purely rec diver early on. It lasted until I gave a detailed explanation of why I prefer long hose with necklace secondary.

For me it's about knowing and being comfortable with your gear configuration and making sure your buddy knows what to do.
 
My personal choice for OW rec, is 2 x 40" hoses. The Alt is on the left side (aka British way) both 2nds are on swivel.
For my conditions and the divign and guiding I do, this has proved to be the optimum. Because both my 2nds are the same you could reach for either, however I'm more likely to be giving you one havign seen the issue.
With my Instructor Head on....
I get very frustrated with divers coming on the AoW, Recsue, even DM that haven't a clue about the airshare. They've been taught it and forgotten it. They don't need to physically practice it to remain current, they can "dry run" through the actions in their head
On too many occasions I give an OOA signal (as briefed) and float there with my reg out quietly "drowning" while they flap around - most common issue is them not knowing where their Alt is (or was when they rigged their kit but is now hanging down)
It is the skill I most have to refresh with students time and time again
I have no problem with whatever their config is. I personally don't feel that a 7' long hose is required in non overhead, 40" maybe a little longer is quite adequate to share and control, but I'll work with anyone
A lot (majority) of those Rec divers I see with long hose, have it because it's "the cool thing" to have, with little though nor analysis as to whether they need it or can use it
Whether people want to use long hose or Air 2 (ugh) its their call, but at least learn to use it, understand the pro's and cons of you rig and dive environment, and make conditions accordingly
The fact is havign to share air is a rare occurrence.
I'd personally rather share air with someone who has a sub optimal rig but knows how to use it, than someone with all teh gear but no clue...
Agree with you - I think the main problem is not the configuration but the lack of practise with whichever system they have chosen. It is often a forgotten or skipped step in a buddy check. I make the point of showing how mine looks and deploys (particularly with a new buddy) - it takes 10-15 secs to explain, deploy and re-stow.

I could easily reach for my octo and switch to it blindfolded/ eyes closed. Why? Because I often run through the mental steps (and do a few physical run-throughs on safety stops) and I have a configuration where the my gear is in exactly the same location EVERY time.

While on a safety stop, there is nothing to stop anyone mentally or physically running through the steps for every bit of your gear (I do occasionally for each bit of my gear - can I close my eyes and go to my octo, torches, knife, shears etc?). They don't need to deploy the items but knowing instinctively where it is helps a lot when the brown substance starts moving towards the air moving equipment.

I am a believer in the adage - Perfect Practise Prevents P*** Poor Performance.
 
This is obviously a Scubaboard poll. Probably less than 5% of divers donate their primary in places I have been. It is probably closer to 1%.

According to Scubaboard, 3/4 of divers have backplate / wings, Jetfins and 7’ primary hose on doubles and have some sort of tech diving as their ultimate goal after completing their OW cert also.

93% of divers that use an inflator/octo or split fins are walking dead.
 
I tried for teaching a short hose on a necklace and the donated primary on the yellow 40" hose. If I wanted to avoid a halo, I had to have a swivel in there. But then that makes it harder to donate as you can't grab the hose right next to the reg. I was working on demo vids in this configuration, and I hated how the big yellow halo looked. So when I went independent, I switched over to a long hose, bp/w for my ow classes. Simple, streamlined, and appropriate for the cold waters of the Puget Sound.

It seems a lot of times alternate donate could also be:

Alternate donate:
Step1: Grab alternate to donate, whoops it's not there, go find it flapping in the wind or dragging in the sand, Grab alternate to donate
Step 2. Donate Alternate

With primary, step 1 would never happen. It's not supposed to happen with alternate either, but I see octos flapping around on near every dive!

You beat me to it. I always cringed when I first started teaching with students hunting for their alternates with various octo holders. They never really worked well.
 
BSAC takes a hard line on alternate donate and it works because it is trained relentlessly. Same goes for tech divers and primary donate. The lesson is to know what you and your buddy are going to use, and train.

To be clear, BSAC teaches TAKING the alternate, not donating it. In the lessons it is the OOA diver being taught what to do, the “donating” diver pretends to be a photographer or lobster botherer.

Primary donate is now ok for the twinset and OC trimix courses I am told, but I don’t think I have seen anything official.
 
To be clear, BSAC teaches TAKING the alternate, not donating it. In the lessons it is the OOA diver being taught what to do, the “donating” diver pretends to be a photographer or lobster botherer.

Oops. My point, although I had what is trained wrong, is that training is the key to success in sharing air, regardless of the method.

Primary donate is now ok for the twinset and OC trimix courses I am told, but I don’t think I have seen anything official.

Is that because bungeed backups are more


Bob
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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