fnfalman
Contributor
You're absolutely right, I misremembered that tiny detail in my haste to post. But the criticism of the device is the same. OK, it's sticking out of your mouth but it is still harder to operate in that position than a dedicated inflator. If you are keeping a nice horizontal profile on your ascent, you might have to take the thing out of your mouth and raise it to vent your BCD.
Neither is a super big deal, but if you are in a situation that's gone to hell, any extra task loading is a bit of a risk. You'd certainly have to practice with the thing to make sure you could still operate it well when you were using it as a reg.
So, let me see...you're against the inline octo because it doesn't allow you and your buddy to ascend in a nice horizontal manners. Yet in the same breath you're talking about things going to hell in a hand basket. When things go to hell in a hand basket, ascending in a "nice horizontal position" is probably an oxymoron. As far as "practicing with that thing", don't you practice with your equipment and gear configuration anyway? Isn't that what a safe diver suppose to do?
In the end, I wouldn't want one because I'd much rather have the operation of my inflator stay completely unchanged. Having another hose on the rig is a small price to pay for that, in my opinion. I'd also prefer to have my backup around my neck, which I think is a much superior configuration though that is certainly a new topic.
If you don't want an inline octo, then that's fine and dandy, but others like it and dive with it just fine. Diving with a long hose and short hose isn't a necessity with rec diver. If anything that extra long hose gets in the way of things, and that's why we have different configurations for rec diving and tech diving.
Maybe all y'all with the strong desire for fewer hoses are diving naked or something, but in my drysuit, what's another hose? If it's routed properly, I don't even notice it and it just does its job.
I don't drive dry suit. One less hose is still one less hose. I don't have an "octopus" for a regulator setup. I have two hoses. One for the main secondary and one for the power inflator/inline octo. I'm done and gone in the water, half way done with my diving while others still struggle to don their dry suits and strapping down their hoses.