How important to have same regulator setup for tec

[avetjx]

Hello,

Just starting my tec dive training. going to be moving from a knighthawk BC w/ an Air2 to a BP/W. How important or not is it to have the same second stage setup for my secondary reg as opposed to something good but not the same brand/style? Excuse me if this question has been asked before.

 

[jadairiii]

Doesn't really matter per se. But as you start adding additional regulators for stage and deco bottles you may find you like the performance of one brand over another along with ease of service and parts.

Also, I always wanted my back up (necklace reg) to be of equal performance to my primary for tech for the main reason if I have to donate and work getting someone off the bottom or out of a cave, I dont want to be breathing from some poor performer and adding to an already stressful situation.

 

[tbone1004]

@avetjx don't worry, this question gets asked at least once a month. Lots of big thread discussions on here and the forum is pretty easily searchable.

The general consensus is having a matching set of first and second stages is ideal but not required

 

[boulderjohn]

It's not really important.

When I got into tech diving, I had a Nighthawk and conventional regulator set that I continued to use for recreational diving for a while. I switched off when I read about a woman drowning in the North Sea when she went OOA, and her buddy's octo had come out of its holder and was stuck behind him. I then realized that the potential to lose the alternate air source was the most dangerous part of the conventional setup, and I simply switched the hoses. You will not have that problem with your Air2, so if you are comfortable using that as your alternate, you shuold be OK.

 

[tbone1004]

@boulderjohn AirII for tech training? since when?

 

[boulderjohn]

@boulderjohn AirII for tech training? since when?

Ah! I misread the post. I thought he was asking about staying with that setup for his recreational diving while doing something else in tech. Now that I look again, I see it was a pretty bad misreading. I must be hallucinating this morning.

 

[ChuckP]

It's the altitude!

 

[Diver0001]

Hello,

Just starting my tec dive training. going to be moving from a knighthawk BC w/ an Air2 to a BP/W. How important or not is it to have the same second stage setup for my secondary reg as opposed to something good but not the same brand/style? Excuse me if this question has been asked before.

Entirely unimportant. What is important is (a) the reliability of the regs you have and (b) if they don't get in the way of you reaching your valves.

R..

 

[Diver0001]

oh wait. I think I got my foot in the same trap as John.

I was thinking 1st stages and the OP was talking about 2nd stages.

An Air-II is not a suitable backup regulator for a technical set.

 

[fullytek]

Some schools of thought actually support the use of a different design as a back up.

The concept is known as common mode failure. The way I understand it. 2 identical devices exposed to identical conditions may fail in an identical manner.

Of course there are so many other factors that may contribute to a failure however its reasonable to expect if a g25 is free flowing In extremely cold water the backup g250 serviced by the same tech to the same standards may fail within seconds of the first breath. A s600 may not free flow or may freeflow sooner.
Not trying to pick on scubaflow

The last time I bumped into bill main he was diving a mares first stage on one post and a aqualung? On the other.