Can I route the octo to the left side instead of the right?

[The Chairman]

Have you considered simply using a larger tank or a pony bottle? If this is a habitual thing, then do yourself a favor and plan to have more air on your dive. In addition there are a number of air saving techniques you can employ such as proper weighting, using a frog kick, holding your hands together and even doing laps in the pool to improve your cardio.

 

[Tortuga68]

Many of the Apeks second stages have options to port the hose from either the right or left side

To clarify: all of the XTX series do; any others (ATX, TX etc) don't

 

[oly5050user]

yes , regulator 2nd stage can be placed on left side,BUT, current teaching methods place it on right for a reason. When alt air source is on the right side when a diver does a arm sweep for primary the alt should be attached somewhere in the "triangle area" of chin to waist. Considered standard to place on right side,not just for your buddies use to know where it is but for other divers in the group who may need to use it. also if primary cannot be found easily by the diver, using say an arm sweep method of recovery, then diver should simply grab alt air source where it is attached and easy to locate as it is in same location at all times and use it till primary can be recovered. Using your wife as an alt air source in a non emergency setting is a poor habit as it now depletes air air reserve as it is for herself and you to use in an emergency. As others have said work on cardio on yourself,improve buoyancy control,use less lead weight, go slower,streamline yourself,get a bigger tank.

 

[spectrum]

Alternate on the left works just fine for tandem sharing as well as ascending face to face. IMO it's amuch more practical solution than long hoses on recreational divers. I was trained and continued to five with it on the left.

Done with alittle comon sense there is no harm in acouple sharing air to balance consumption. This is especially true at destinations where larger cylinders are not available for the power breathers.

There is no need to reverse 2md stage porting. It's the right hand routing that presents poorly. From the left it's all good as is.
Pete

 

[OldNSalty]

I would say you do not need to get a pony, a longer hose, route the octo to her left or buy a larger tank. What you need to do is learn how to dive safely and YOU end your dive with enough air to get you and your wife to the surface. Simply stated, you are putting her life and your life in danger if this is happening on a regular basis. You need to stop the practice now because all the discussion on hose routing or pony tanks is just empowering you to be a poor diver.

 

[peterbucknell]

Life Guard Systems' Andrea Zaferes (and Butch Hendrick) had us switch our recreational regs over so the Octo is routed from the left, so that when you deploy for another diver you can donate it while purging with your left thumb, the octo is then the right side up.
Most of us switched back to the right side again or went back to our long hoses... but their logic is that a panicking diver will see the bubbles and go for it as it's clearly working, and if you bring it to them at eye level, it discourages them from grabbing at your primary.

So if you route the Octo from the left side, you'll be popular at Life Guard Systems, who train many of the police and rescue people in the North East.

We really should ask Octo Mom

 

[vladimir]

Simply stated, you are putting her life and your life in danger if this is happening on a regular basis. You need to stop the practice now because all the discussion on hose routing or pony tanks is just empowering you to be a poor diver.

The original post certainly made it sound like he wasn't reserving enough gas, in which case I agree with you. I would have no problem, however, if he began sharing gas when he reached rock bottom and thus extended the dive until his buddy reached her rock bottom pressure, and then they both ascended.

 

[flots am]

I sometimes use my wife's octo when I am low on air and want to only use the remainder of my air when ascending and safety stop.

Your wife is not a fill station. If you use more air on a regular basis than she does, you need a bigger tank, or an extra tank. If you rent tanks, you could always switch to side-mount and bring two 80's. With your current plan, if you use up your air, then use her air, you're both in trouble in case of an emergency.

You're looking for a more efficient way to do something that you shouldn't be doing in the first place. It's like oiling the cylinder on a revolver so you can play Russian Roulette easier.

Thus I am usually swimming parallel to her with the octo. The problem is when the octo is routed to the right of her and I have to be to the right of her, thus the octo comes to my mouth upside down. What I usually have to do is do a twist to the octo, thus making the effective length of the hose shorter and I have to swim pretty close to her.

If I route the octo to the left side of her, then I can be on the left of her and use the octo much more effectively. I presume it should not be an issue, but would it freeflow when it is clipped upside down? Or maybe this is a non-conforming setup?

So you want to give your wife a weird configuration just so you can use her like a mobile fill station?

There's no reason it wouldn't be functional, but you would now have a hose running across your wife, which could easily trap things in front of her (BC, weightbelt, access to pockets or equipment, etc) and using your air then hers leaves you without enough air for emergencies.

An octo on a recreational dive is used to get both divers to the surface in an emergency, not as a way to get free air and continue the dive.

flots.

 

[Wayne at DiveSeekers]

First off, I would look into a quality buoyancy class that focuses on Buoyancy, trim, propulsion techniques, air shares, etc., so that you can work on better air consumption. Secondly, I am a fan of the Long Hose/Short Hose config. In an O/A or low O/A situation your best option isn't always straight up. Air permitting if there is an anchor line near by, it may give you more control to ascend on that then mid water so regardless if you need to swim first or just ascend, the Long Hose/Short Hose config. makes it a lot more comfortable and less stressful because it gives you more room/space to work. Some divers view this config as a hassle but the air shares are more intuitive and easier, in fact my own daughter (10 yr old) just go certified and has no issues deploying or stowing with this config. We have a pool at our shop so when divers test out regs before they buy, we show them this config and about 85% switch over to it. Due to the fact that it is so intuitive and easy, I find that divers in this config are actually practicing air shares more frequently.

 

[Tortuga68]

You guys...

If he "sometimes" hits 50 bar and his wife has say 80 bar there's no problem with him air sharing with her until she also has 50 bar (for example) then they both start their ascent with 50 bar each.

Practicing air sharing is a GOOD thing, most people should do it more often

If I route the octo to the left side of her, then I can be on the left of her

you would now have a hose running across your wife...

Not if it's coming off the LHS of her first stage