AIR2, inflator octo+ thingie questions?

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do it easy:
If you bungee the AIR2/SS1, do you think you might have trouble dumping air from the wing, I.e., gettting the vent higher than the air in the wing? I s'pose you could also use the pull dump on the back of the wing...

I vent my (donut) wings using the the rear dump almost exclusively. Power inflator/deflator venting is discouraged in some circles anyway, but if I need to do it then it should be no problem since the bungee is long enough to comfortably bring the AIR2/SS1 up to my mouth level anyway. (How much higher do you need it to vent?)
 
Occasionally, I switched to my Air 2 to check out the performance in underwater. I have done it at 110ft, but it worked fine.. But, I never tried it at more than 130ft yet.....
 
*Floater*:
Yes, longhose primary and AIR2/SS1 on bungee necklace, assuming the thing works properly. It's a cleaner setup.
ANY good reason why for heavens sake anyone would consider putting an AIR2 inflator on a bungee around his neck??????? You also don't bungee your regular inflator around your neck, do you? So why bungeeing your AIR2??? You're using your inflator all the time, so reaching/grabbing for your inflator is something you do automatically, you can do this completely blind, you're used to do so... so if you ever would need your Air2 as your air supply (because e.g. you've donated your primary to overcome the OOA of your buddy), grabbing your AIR2 goes without thinking, you just do it and put it in your mouth...

BTW, I've been trying to breath from my AIR2 down to -52m, and even there it did the job perfectly!
 
Luc Dupas:
ANY good reason why for heavens sake anyone would consider putting an AIR2 inflator on a bungee around his neck??????? You also don't bungee your regular inflator around your neck, do you?

No, but it's on a 14" corrugated hose just around my left chest d-ring. 14" would be too short for a backup reg.

So why bungeeing your AIR2???

Because I like to have a bungeed backup - that's what I'm used to, and also a 16-18" corrugated hose, which I'd need for the AIR2/SS1, would be too long for me if it was just hanging there and creating drag and being in the way. Last, I want to be able to retrieve my backup without use of my hands.

You're using your inflator all the time, so reaching/grabbing for your inflator is something you do automatically, you can do this completely blind, you're used to do so... so if you ever would need your Air2 as your air supply (because e.g. you've donated your primary to overcome the OOA of your buddy), grabbing your AIR2 goes without thinking, you just do it and put it in your mouth...

Yeah, works the same way with a bungeed backup (regardless of whether it's inflator octo or not).

BTW, I've been trying to breath from my AIR2 down to -52m, and even there it did the job perfectly!

Thanks. Good to know.
 
*Floater*:
No, but it's on a 14" corrugated hose just around my left chest d-ring. 14" would be too short for a backup reg.
I checked the size of my corrugated hose on my Mares BCD, I indeed did purchase a slightly longer one in order to be able to use my AIR2 for breathing and still comfortably be able to turn my head all the way to the right... it's 38cm, which is 15", and that's more than long enough!

*Floater*:
Because I like to have a bungeed backup - that's what I'm used to,
Grin... "used to"... if I get it right you only started using a bungeed secondary this year and maybe have a few tens of dives with it and that's called "used to"??? Anyhow, this is off-topic... never mind... ;)

*Floater*:
Last, I want to be able to retrieve my backup without use of my hands.
WOW! Great trick!!! And you can play this trick if you're floating horizontally, as well as in an almost vertical position, or floating on your left or right side, and even on your back? WOW, GREAT!!! How do you play this trick? So in an emergency situation you can keep hold of your buddy, continuously keep an eye on him, and still blindly, without the use of your hands grab your secondary with your lips/tongue/mouth and start breathing from it? GREAT! :14:
 
Luc Dupas:
Grin... "used to"... if I get it right you only started using a bungeed secondary this year and maybe have a few tens of dives with it and that's called "used to"??? Anyhow, this is off-topic... never mind... ;)

Well, I have close to a 100 dives on a bungeed backup, which may not be that much but it's what I like and it makes sense to me.

WOW! Great trick!!! And you can play this trick if you're floating horizontally, as well as in an almost vertical position, or floating on your left or right side, and even on your back? WOW, GREAT!!! How do you play this trick? So in an emergency situation you can keep hold of your buddy, continuously keep an eye on him, and still blindly, without the use of your hands grab your secondary with your lips/tongue/mouth and start breathing from it? GREAT! :14:

The position doesn't matter. My bungee is pretty tight so the backup is always more or less in the same place. Anyway, it's seems like a good idea to be able to retrieve it without your hands just in case... For example, if your hands are full, say camera in one and longhose in other, then you can still retrieve the backup if you wish, or you could wait until your buddy grabs the longhose and then retrieve, or you could drop the camera,... anyway, it's just another nice option to have available to you.
 
*Floater*:
Yes, longhose primary and AIR2/SS1 on bungee necklace, assuming the thing works properly. It's a cleaner setup. But if it breathes like crap (at depth) or seems prone to failure then it's not worth it of course.
I tried out my SS1 on the Spiegel just to see how it would breathe (down about 100 ft). My primary is an Atomic B2... breathe's *VERY* well... couldn't tell much of a difference between the B2 and SS1 at that depth...

(You could tell... but it was almost as effortless)
 
I don't think the controls on an Air2 is very ergonomic for a bcd inflator. I don't think it breathes as good as an R190.
I think a similar product made by Buddy and fitted to the "Inspiration" rebreather is even worse.
We all want to be good safe divers and good buddies but I reckon most of us are getting conned by marketing rather than reason.
Many pilots regard it as a perfectly acceptable low risk to fly in a single engine plane without a parachute as they reckon there's a greater chance of having an accident travelling a car.
Lots of agencies like to sell you on an octopus but as safety equipment I think it's more likely to free flow than help save a diver.
 
budgy:
I don't think the controls on an Air2 is very ergonomic for a bcd inflator. I don't think it breathes as good as an R190.
Actually... in my opinion it's even far more ergonomic! You're got the round inflate button and the rectangular deflate one just sitting next to each other on the same side of the inflator... so shifting from one to the other is simply a matter of moving your finger 1cm in one direction or the other. Very easy, very convenient!
You bet it breathes as good as an R190 !!! Because internally actually it's a very similar and equally simple and reliable design as an R190... no fuzz, no fancy things, no adjustments, etc.... it simply does was it's designed for, namely giving you all the air you need regardless of the depth you're at...
 
*Floater*:
The position doesn't matter. My bungee is pretty tight so the backup is always more or less in the same place. Anyway, it's seems like a good idea to be able to retrieve it without your hands just in case... For example, if your hands are full, say camera in one and longhose in other, then you can still retrieve the backup if you wish, or you could wait until your buddy grabs the longhose and then retrieve, or you could drop the camera,... anyway, it's just another nice option to have available to you.
It's sounds nice indeed... but I'm simply wondering if you can do this actually faster than simply reaching for your secondary with your hand? Let's assume an emergency situation... your buddy is signalling you in distress that he's got a severe OOA... you look at your buddy and you keep looking at him all the time, you don't want to even get him out of your sight for even a split second... with your right hand you take your primary from your mouth and hand it over to your buddy, still looking at him all the time... would you manage to get your necklaced secondary in your mouth without using your hands and still keeping an eye on your buddy??? Grabbing your secondary (necklaced, or AirII on the corrugated hose, or a regular octo mounted at the left) with your left hand and putting it in your mouth only takes a split second, and you can do this "blind" while keeping an eye on your buddy all the time...
BTW... my UW camera is attached to my BCD via a small rope and snap hook, as well is my lamp, etc.... so I can always drop whatever I have in my hands and have my hands free to help my buddy!
 

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