I have a Dumb Question re: Octos

[StaceyL]

Hello - I have a dumb question that hopefully someone can help me with...

If I have a BC with Air 2, should I also have an Octo, or is the Air 2 considered my emergency regulator? (just got my gear and haven't dove with it yet; have a trip to Key Largo planned for this weekend)

Thanks

Stacey

 

[djanni]

Hello - I have a dumb question that hopefully someone can help me with...

If I have a BC with Air 2, should I also have an Octo, or is the Air 2 considered my emergency regulator? (just got my gear and haven't dove with it yet; have a trip to Key Largo planned for this weekend)

Thanks

Stacey

The Air2 replaces the typical octo. You would share your primary with an OOA diver and use the Air2 yourself. No need for an octo as a backup.

 

[RonzoTheGreat]

do you own the bc with air2 or are you borrowing it?

many of us use an octo on a necklace and a long hose for our primary. in a case where we need to donate air, we donate our primary and breath off of our necklace. this is a similar practice to what you will be doing. so, i would answer no, you do not need another octo, but you may want to reflect on the benefits of having a longer hose to share air and not have to be "on top" of each other in a situation where you may have to dive a distance to asend and end your dive.

 

[RonzoTheGreat]

if i may add, you may also want to think about how easy or difficult you may find it to work your BC off a hose that you are breathing on in an emergency situation as well (may be tough to deflate your bc if you have to manipulate the same hose you aer breathing off of)

but i understand this was not the intended question.

 

[Doc]

In this day of restrictive baggage weight for air travel, they are an attractive option. For this very reason I went this way several years ago. It only saves .65 lb or so, but if you're headed to exotic destinations, this can be part of the equation.

There is a training and familiarity issue, as inferred above. It is always held in the right "triangular zone", but as you begin that emergency ascent, can you keep it together to dump your BC, using the attached BC dump hose between breaths? Remember- you may not have access to the desired manual dump cord on your BC.

This is absolutely critical any time that two divers come together and for whatever reason, touch and hang onto each other. They are likely to begin a rapid ascent that they are completely unaware is occurring. Most teams that have an actual OOA situation usually hit the surface by the time they get the breathing and fussing all sorted out. It takes practice and coordination- not something you learn the first time and under stress.

I dive a lot, I dive often. My wife does not, nor is she as inherently mechanically adept as I am. She wears a normal safe second octo hung off a bungee 6" under her chin.

A diver in need will always take your primary, or if you have the awareness, that should be the one you give him after taking a good breath and feeling for your back-up. If you can't find your octo/back-up, be ready to ask for your reg back for buddy breathing!

The other guy simply can not utilize your Air-II because of it's positioning and tight radius, but again- your primary will likely be jerked out of your mouth in a startling swoop.

 

[Standingbear56]

Hello - I have a dumb question that hopefully someone can help me with...

If I have a BC with Air 2, should I also have an Octo, or is the Air 2 considered my emergency regulator? (just got my gear and haven't dove with it yet; have a trip to Key Largo planned for this weekend)

Thanks

Stacey

Hi Stacy,
1st, there is no such thing as a dumb question.
2nd, as the others above have mentioned, with the Air 2, your primary regulator (the one you are breathing from) becomes the octopus, and the Air 2 is your secondary. This means 2 things - first is that your primary should now have an octopus length hose on it, as this is the one you will be donating and second, you need to practice with this configuration till it becomes second nature - donating the primary, aquireing the secondary and ascending with your partner while releasing air from your BCD while ascending. The Air 2 is a preferctly acceptable form of air sharing, just be well versed on how to use it.
Safe Diving,
George

 

[StaceyL]

Thank you all I called my dive shop and asked the instructor this morning as well, and she told me to come in this evening and she'd go over it all with me. I'm not too worried as I'll be with an instructor down in Key Largo this weekend working on my advanced dive certification, but I didn't want to get down there and him tell me that I need an octo or I can't dive. The primary regulator does seem to have a longer than normal hose on it - my dive shop set it up for me, and I picked the gear up Saturday, but the instructor was not there to give me all the details. Of course, now I realize I didn't get a compass, and I'll need one for the advanced cert, so it's a good thing I'll be going back to the dive shop tonight

 

[Randy43068]

Hello - I have a dumb question that hopefully someone can help me with...

If I have a BC with Air 2, should I also have an Octo, or is the Air 2 considered my emergency regulator? (just got my gear and haven't dove with it yet; have a trip to Key Largo planned for this weekend)

Thanks

Stacey

Were I you, I'd get rid of the POS air2 thing, and put your safe second on a necklace so it's ALWAYS under your chin ready to go. If for some reason your bud needs air, they'll grab the one YOU are breathing from. Or you can just hand it to them, then you go to your second......... which is where? Always there, right under your chin. Can't be more simple or safe.

In the grand scheme of things, a second regulator takes not so much room that it would ever be a travel issue.

 

[dewayne405]

I trained with an AIR2 and have ZERO issue with its use... Now I am no expert, nor an instructor... A lowly ole Rescue Diver, who is currently doing his Dive Master...

OP... The question is not dumb... Yes it does replace your octo... If you are trained to use one and are comfortable with it, then by all means dive it... Enjoy the AIR2, its easy to use, simple to maintain, and less clutter to most of us who use them...

That being said, I dive oddball... I have an AIR2 on my Knighthawk, but I also have my primary(SP G250V) on a long hose, and a short hosed octo (SP 600) bungied under my chin... In an OOA situation, I am breathing off of my OCTO, I have breathed off of the AIR2 at 75ft, definitely not comfortable or "nice", but useable nonetheless... Its The only reason I still have the AIR 2, I am not buying another inflator, it works perfectly fine...

 

[Garrobo]

Does an Air2 have enough capacity to get you to the surface from a dive from around 110 feet like on the Speigle Grove including stops at 50, 30 and 15 feet? If not it's useless except on shallow reef dives.