Do I Really Need An Octopus?

[Thalassamania]

No you don't need an octopus. Many of us dove for many years without one and did just fine using a combination of free ascent skills and buddy breathing (I posted least two old-time stories here on the board describing real incidents were we use buddy breathing to solve the problem). That said ... there are very few divers out there today who are prepared for either of the old time solutions, and almost none ready to perform both, and I'll even include most of us old timers in that list because it is rare that we drill either skill. In the old days a goodly number of dives were ended with a free ascent, because there were no SPGs. Buddy breathing was the buddy-support skill and we practiced it at the start of every dive. With that level of drilling we were ready and confident. If you are prepared to go back to those procedures and every buddy that you dive with is similarly committed ... go for it, if not ... get yourself an "octopus" and a long hose, and a similarly equipped buddy, its a much easier solution.

 

[hamsiss]

A buddy without an octopus is no problem unless you need it..
But once you need it and your buddy dosn't have it, the best solution is;
beating your buddy at the end of the dive and believe me you'll never be buddies again..
)

 

[JBRES1]

Eric,
To answer your second question, yes a Scubapro R190 is just fine as an octupus.
Many divers use the R190 as their primary and octupus .
I dive a Scubapro G250 primary and an R190 as the octupus, and have never had a problem.
I would donate my G250 and use my R190 for an air share event.
Jim Breslin

 

[redacted]

Evaluate your planned dive and decide whether you need to be able to donate gas conviently or have an alternate for youir own use. Most of my rigs have a primary and an alt. However, I do have one rig with just a primary that I use to dive a shalllow (5 to 10 ft) river, usually solo.

 

[fishb0y]

When I dive my vintage gear, I choose my buddies carefully. Without an octopus on most of my double hose regulators, I usually dive in threesome buddy teams. Funny thing is, I do this not because of the perceived "unreliability" of my 40 year old regulators... I overhaul them to factory + specs... but the very real fact that people do not take care of their equipment.

With that being said, you are backing up your buddy. Make sure your buddy understands why you don't feel the need to back them up.

 

[merxlin]

well, seems a pretty unanimous response so far. And by the way, I'm not a troll, thanks, just a guy looking for opinions. Typo should have read "solo". Is a spare Scubapro R190 ok to use as an octopus ?

Sorry about the troll comment Eric. My bad. I saw it was only your second post and based on today’s training seems like a very "interesting" question to ask.

That said, when I was originally trained back in the stone age there were no octo's and tanks had reserves. You learned to buddy breath or emergency ascend. We even had an elevator on our horsecollars (a CO2 cartridge to fill the vest). There is a reason all that is gone. As so many have stated, one important use is for your buddy, not necessarily your need. If you are diving solo that is not a problem. But what if your primary malfunctions?

If you are looking to streamline, have you considered an Air 2 or other BC integrated back up? Do a search and you can spend days reading the opinions on those!

 

[bleeb]

We were taught to buddy breathe during my OW (NAUI). That was 'only' a few years ago.

Another thing about octos that my instructor pointed out at the time is that you may be the one that ends up breathing off it, regardless of your intentions. If someone around you, not necessarily your buddy, has an OOA emergency, they may go for the most obvious reg before you have a chance to chooser which one to offer. That reg may be the one in your mouth, and they may not want to let go of it afterwards, or at least for long enough that you may find it inconvenient.

 

[adurso]

Diving mainly open water non-technical, no deco in a group or semi-soli. Do I really need an octopus?

Everyone should have an octopus; they make wonderful pets, they are very intelligent and provide hours of companionship.....

Oh, you are asking about a spare second stage; my bad

As others have pointed out an OOA diver is going to get air, more than likely by ripping your primary out of your mouth, having a spare second stage bungeed around your neck, or attached in the triangle may be what keeps you from inhaling water. Once an OOA gets your primary, they REALLY do not want to give it back

 

[Kingpatzer]

If you don't have one, you will need to be very proficient at buddy breathing. Practice it regularly. Your buddy will also need to be very proficient, they won't be. That will present a problem for you.

The other possible serious issue is that while regulators are designed to fail-safe, there have been cases of regulators failing closed. It'd really suck to be the guy drawing that lucky card when you decided not to spend $100 on even a cheap octo.

Buddy breathing is "optional" in PADI OW, and I didn't get trained how to do it until the rescue class. It is now something my family practices every dive -- all 4 off us off of one reg. (we'll see how good we are when the youngest two get certified, and see if we can get 6 of us doing it). But it's hardly a common skill.

And as has been mentioned, there's a reason for that. Someone who has gone out of air isn't likely to willingly hand back the reg . . . even if they are trained.

 

[Slaveeye]

I took open water back in 1988 from the YMCA. I seem to remember that we all had to learn how to buddy breathe. I'd assume that this is still part of the program. Having an octo is more convenient, but nobody should be diving without knowing this basic skill.

I still teach my new Open water divers this skill in the pool only, and some instructors do not teach it at all anymore. So some divers never see or practice this skill until they reach the DM level. To assume some one is proficient with this skill could mean the difference from a few drinks after the dive or checking into Davie Jones's locker permanently. Plus it is a 2 person skill. Kinda like dancing. You gotta have good communication and timing.
I personally wouldn't dive with anyone that even had a beat up old octo (which I always check during predive buddy checks), and if I ran across a diver that doesn't have one at all then he and I would have a nice long talk about safety.