Air2 Pros? Cons?

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KingViper

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Miamisburg,Ohio
How does everyone feel about the AIR2 system? Me? Not sure I like it. Just something about my buddy ripping my primary out of my mouth in an emergency scares me. I'll just stick to an octo with a 6 foot hose.

Bryan
 
How do you store and control a 6 foot hose on an octo? What makes you think that will keep you buddy (or some other OOA diver) from "ripping" your primary out of your mouth?
 
The out-of-air buddy usually rips your reg right from your mouth. I don't use Air 2 after giving it a thorough test in the pool with one of my buddies. It was difficult for each of us to turn our heads to the side while he had my primary and I had the Air 2 in our mouths. Also, if a diver is panicing, I really would like to have him an arm's length away from me. We found that we were right up on top of each other.

My friend says her Dive Alert leaks when attached to her Air 2. I don't have that problem. You also have to ask yourself, "if I need repairs at some far away place, would they be able to service an Air 2?"

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
 
I've used one for a long time, well, actually the Tusa version of the same thing (made in the same factory... just has blue buttons) and with my setup, it is not hard to use and still look at the OOA diver. Really, I kinda' like it, since if someone is to rip a reg out of your mouth, and I've heard numerous reports of that, even when a conventional octo was present, it would be faster and easier for me to find the Air 2 than an octo on my side.

But in another sense, I think it's just a personal preference, and doesn't much matter to me. I have thousands of dives, and never once had an out of air emergency. But I always make sure I know how much air everyone around me has... maybe that's why.
 
My buddy has one and I don't like it much. We were practicing OOA and if I have his primary I sort of have to be attached to his right shoulder, similar to an extremely large parrot. I'll keep my octopus thanks.
 
Air2s are a bit different but not imho dangerous. You simply use and utilise them differently than a standard octo.

If the Air2 is your spare second stage you need to change your kit so that YOU are breathing off that and the primary is donated. This needs to be briefed to the buddy who might not be aware. You really dont want a buddy on/near your inflator in a stress moment.

Pros are i suppose less storage, its always easy to find and so on. Cons:- I prefer longer reg hoses to give more flexibility and i have seen a lot of Air2 style systems freeflow or malfunction (ive seen one explode). Like most things though i suspect its lack of servicing responsible for most of that.
 
I'm not a huge fan of the Air2 but it doesn't really bother me if my buddy uses it provided they have a longer hose on their primary regulator. One buddy I dive with uses an Air2 but has a five foot hose on his primary reg. In an OOA situation he donates his primary and I can be a reasonable distance away from him. I wouldn't be comfortable diving with a buddy who had an Air2 and a short hose for his primary.

Personally I use a five foot hose for my primary and an octo on a bungee necklace. The short hose on my octo and the fact that it's right below my chin keep everything streamlined and the five foot hose gives my buddy room to get away from me while using my primary.

Jason
 
Put me down the Air2 Con camp.

I have seen people have problems taking their regs to a tropical location and not thinking about the different connection they require from the standard inflator.

The seem a bit awkward to inflate or deflate under a air sharing situation

With a regulator mouth piece, they just seem hard to orally inflate as well.

That said, I have never dove with one, so the above comments are just observations and not from my experience. However, I will stay with my bungeed alternate reg and long hose primary. What's an extra hose among friends??:D
 
I have the seaquest version of it and think it's great. It's more compact and breathes fine. As far as donating the primary reg or having it ripped from your mouth it doesn't matter to me. However, if a were diving caves or confined spaces, I would use a long primary hose wrapped around my neck and arm and have an octo on a necklace around my neck.
 
scubatoys:
I've used one for a long time, well, actually the Tusa version of the same thing (made in the same factory... just has blue buttons) and with my setup, it is not hard to use and still look at the OOA diver. Really, I kinda' like it, since if someone is to rip a reg out of your mouth, and I've heard numerous reports of that, even when a conventional octo was present, it would be faster and easier for me to find the Air 2 than an octo on my side.

But in another sense, I think it's just a personal preference, and doesn't much matter to me. I have thousands of dives, and never once had an out of air emergency. But I always make sure I know how much air everyone around me has... maybe that's why.

Larry,

I'm guessing your equipment is also in excellent condition.

While not a fan, just having either is the real issue, and your advice about staying out of needing it is far more important.

I've never had an OOA condition either, but have had to deal with others that did. Distance from the only source of air tends not to be so important, but I like having separate pieces of equipment, but it is a trade-off from a location point of view (which is much better with an air2)
 

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