Air2 Pros? Cons?

[serambin]

If your giving a reg to an OOA buddy, it's nice to know it will work and your primary fills that bill, I.E., sand free and sure to function as needed. It also allows me to better control the situation by giving the longer hose (mine is a five feet under the arm hose) to the buddy, but assuring an air supply for me. All to often an octo is considered another piece of gear and seldom tested to work, but an air 2 is used as an inflator on the BCD and therefore more likely not to fail in an emergency.

Stan

 

[Bolney]

I agree with you Stan. Just knowing that it is being used often (Bouyancy Control) gives me a good peace of mind. Although mine has a slight tendancy (maybe 1 in 5 dives) of a minor free flow, IMHO it's worth it.

 

[Wayward Son]

I use an octo bungeed to my neck. My primary is to be taken/handed off, and it's on a longer 44 inch hose routed under my right arm. The hose is yellow to draw attention to it for any OOA diver who comes to me. With my rig, a little longer would be better, at least 2 more inches would be desirable as I feel a little resistance when I turn my head to the left.

My wife has a Ladyhawk/Air2. I need to change the hose on her primary, for the same reason I changed mine: To provide a bit more room to work with in an OOA situation.

 

[redacted]

I agree with you Stan. Just knowing that it is being used often (Bouyancy Control) gives me a good peace of mind. Although mine has a slight tendancy (maybe 1 in 5 dives) of a minor free flow, IMHO it's worth it.

Make sure that "peace of mind" is not a false sense of security. Using it for bouyany control does verify that you can find it and that there is gas getting to it. But, while you have it in your hand, also exercise the breathing circuit as that is different from inflate/deflate mechanism. As long as it is breathing well, the correction of the minor freeflow is a simple adjustment (minutes) of the orifice with an allen wrench. It's unlikely to get better on its own.

 

[Bolney]

Make sure that "peace of mind" is not a false sense of security. Using it for bouyany control does verify that you can find it and that there is gas getting to it. But, while you have it in your hand, also exercise the breathing circuit as that is different from inflate/deflate mechanism. As long as it is breathing well, the correction of the minor freeflow is a simple adjustment (minutes) of the orifice with an allen wrench. It's unlikely to get better on its own.

Good call on the "peace of mind" awap. I guess that I am sometimes guilty of the false confidence. I will try adjusting the minutes. But in a real pinch you can even breath off of a free flowing air2, which would be from the bouyancy control mechanism. Trust me, I am not saying that I ever want to try it otu in real life situation but I have practiced it in a dive pool (I know...15 feet down and a hundred are VERY different things!). JMHO.

 

[terrasmak]

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??

Same thoughts here , I just got rid of mine after thing learning , and experiancing some of this stuff on my own . Now im very happy with my long hose and bungy backup.

 

[caymaniac]

I'm in the "Pro" camp, I have used my air2(seaquest) on a number of occasions. My wife has on occasion run lower on her air than what I have and I often share with her for a few minutes. Sharing with her keeps me on my toes for air2 usage. That being said, 3 years ago I added a 4 foot octo to my set up which has been very useful for sharing air and staying at depth with her. I hate to have a 50 min. dive when I've paid for at least an hours worth of air.
About 5 years ago while diving off from Little Cayman, my mouth piece on the regulator separated from the rest of the second stage......I couldn't fiqure out why I started breathing in water. I grabbed the air2 and spit out my regulator and laughed as I saw only the mouthpiece descending, I swam down a couple of feet and grabbed the mouthpiece, put it in my BC pocket and finished the dive. The air2 was easy to grab, the octo that I have added with a four foot hose, I keep in a pocket and it is not easy to grab in a quick moment.