Hpw often do people have to use octo.

[jbd]

i had to use mine today. my regs were in service and i just got my set back. bought a new octo, because i had an air 2 on my old bc. anyhow my primary reg didn't work. so i had to stuff that into my jacket and use my octo which was luckily working. made me a bit angry since it just came out of being serviced.
and i'm glad i bought an octo, coz it would have sucked with an air2.

Don't think this is quite what the original poster was thinking about. :06: I guess this was a situation where buddy breathing might have been a useful skill had your buddy gotten into a OOA situation

 

[underwater daphne]

yeah, but why not use the backup for myself? i don't think the octopus is just for my buddy, especially after experiencing it myself today. otherwise i would have had to go home instead of diving. (btw it wasn't a regular dive, but my rescue diver course. so no worries about an ooa situation).

but still maybe good to realise that another reason your octo should be working is that at any time your primary could freeze or stop working properly (ex. x650 thread were users experienced breathing problems).

 

[SubMariner]

yeah, but why not use the backup for myself? i don't think the octopus is just for my buddy, especially after experiencing it myself today. otherwise i would have had to go home instead of diving. (btw it wasn't a regular dive, but my rescue diver course. so no worries about an ooa situation).

I'm sorry, but if your gear is not in proper working order, you should not be diving.

 

[underwater daphne]

I'm sorry, but if your gear is not in proper working order, you should not be diving.

i agree to a point, but let's differentiate: in which situation, which gear, etc.

there was absolutely no reason for me not to do the "dives" today, no matter what you say.

 

[drbill]

I've done over 1,000 dives in just the last 4 years and the only time I needed to use my octo, it didn't work because the tank valve was clogged so no air got to the secondary, the octo or the SPG from the tank. Had to turn to my pony bottle.... oops, it wasn't there! Fortunately I'm still alive.

Dr. Bill

 

[SubMariner]

i agree to a point, but let's differentiate: in which situation, which gear, etc.

there was absolutely no reason for me not to do the "dives" today, no matter what you say.

Let me put it this way: I am an Instructor, married to an Instructor Trainer. Which means I train people from OW up to/including Instructors. If a person participating in one of my courses is not properly equipped, they do not get to dive. "Which situation, which gear, etc." is irrelevant.

By your own admission, your primary reg did not work.Therefore, unless you had a pony bottle or some other alternate airsource, you were not properly equipped:

From the PADI Instructor Manual: Each diver must use proper equipment for the dive environment. This includes, but is not limited to: fins, mask, snorkel, cylinder, regulator, alternate air source, buoyancy control device (BCD) with low pressure inflator, weight system, appropriate exposure suit for the environment, timing device and depth gauge (or dive computer), compass, knife/dive tool (unless prohibited by local laws or regulations) and an emergency signaling device (whistle, flare, inflatable signal tube).

So, either you needed to:

- get another AA
or
- borrow a reg from someone who was not a direct participant in the course
or
- only do the Rescue Scenarios that did not require you to be underwater
or
- not participate in the course that day at all

Sorry, but those are the facts of the "situation".

 

[jbd]

Submariner makes a valid point, especially when you consider that this was a class that you were taking. NAUI's Standards and Procedures are very similar to what Submariner has posted from the PADI standards and I would be willing to bet that all agencies have similar standards particularly when it comes to participating in a class being conducted under their auspices.

Three things come to mind

1. You should have tested your gear before you got to the dive site. This sometimes difficult to do but still it should be done.

2. You should have known better than to dive without the complete kit.

3. The shop or instructor should have known better than to let you dive without the complete kit. Even as an idependent instructor with a very limited inventory of equipment I try to bring extra regulators and fins and whatever I have.

 

[OE2X]

Have to agree with JBD and Submariner here. One every dive I carry at least one backup reg, spg, lp and hp hoses. When I go away from home for more than a day I bring three b/u regs and an extra computer. I've had to loan out that gear on at least six occassions so far this year.

Now to answer the original question:
I always breath off my backup (octo) at the beginning of every dive. About every 4 -5 dives I do an OOA drill with my buddy. In 29 years of diving I've never had an OOA situation. I generally dive with fairly experienced divers who are well aware of their gas consumption. BTW - this year alone I will have gotten in over a hundred dives.

 

[opiniongirl]

In answer to the original question - how often...

Expect that you'll need to use it on every dive.

Simple, yet effective.

 

[underwater daphne]

Let me put it this way: I am an Instructor, married to an Instructor Trainer. Which means I train people from OW up to/including Instructors. If a person participating in one of my courses is not properly equipped, they do not get to dive. "Which situation, which gear, etc." is irrelevant.

By your own admission, your primary reg did not work.Therefore, unless you had a pony bottle or some other alternate airsource, you were not properly equipped:

From the PADI Instructor Manual: Each diver must use proper equipment for the dive environment. This includes, but is not limited to: fins, mask, snorkel, cylinder, regulator, alternate air source, buoyancy control device (BCD) with low pressure inflator, weight system, appropriate exposure suit for the environment, timing device and depth gauge (or dive computer), compass, knife/dive tool (unless prohibited by local laws or regulations) and an emergency signaling device (whistle, flare, inflatable signal tube).

So, either you needed to:

- get another AA
or
- borrow a reg from someone who was not a direct participant in the course
or
- only do the Rescue Scenarios that did not require you to be underwater
or
- not participate in the course that day at all

Sorry, but those are the facts of the "situation".

yeah, but that's just not being rational!
i had to do around 4 short dives at max 8 meters. i went in with 240 in my tank and came out with around 200. so to me, what you're saying is nonsense and pretty silly for the situation. in other situations i would agree with you. there was absolutely no danger as all the dives were closely supervised by 2 dms and 1 instructor, plus there was another student finishing the rescue course as well on that day (so 2dms + 1 instructor for 2 certified divers).

i think using your head and looking at the situation rationally is the wise thing to do. anyone can follow a book blindly.

i see no reason why i shouldn't have done the course on that day.