Need info on DIR octopus setup

[dlwalke]

I've read very general remarks on the DIR style of setting up your backup regulator (bungee it around your neck) and am interested in setting it up this way. Having not seen it and not having anything more specific to go on, I would probably strangle myself. Is their a website, or can someone provide me with some more detailed instructions, describing how to do this. FWIW, I am very new to diving. I assume that DIR enthusiasts advocate this setup for everyone - i.e., its not a setup for more advanced SCUBA divers.

Also, if attached in a more traditional manner, is there any reason to clip it on in one way versus another. I have kind of gotten the impression that some retaining devices may prevent freeflow (which I had assumed might not be an issue insofar as regulators intended to be backup regulators are tuned differently) or have other advantages. Do people have preferences for this sort of thing. Just because I see them alot, I would probably have gotten one of those scumball clips, or perhaps the mouthpiece shaped version, but I believe I read something unflattering about this setup somewhere on some forum.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[GP]

All you need is some 1/8" bungee cord and you tie it in a fisherman's knot around the mouthpiece. Wendy posted a neat link awhile back that showed how to tie the knot. Another option is to use surgical tubing instead of bungee and put it underneath the zip tie that holds on the mouthpiece of the regulator. I like bungee better though and that's what I used.

 

[GP]

I found the post. Here it is.bungee

 

[Rick Murchison]

I use surgical tubing with a rubber band (bicycle innertube) breakaway.
Here's the necklace by itself
Rick
PS WARNING! Not DIR approved.

 

[Rick Murchison]

And here's my necklace attached to a Micra.
Rick
PS WARNING! Not DIR approved!

 

[Genesis]

do you want a breakaway on the backup?

 

[large_diver]

Click on the thumbnails on this page to see some more pictures of the knot shown in Wendy's post

http://www.northeastdir.com/gearpage1.htm

This gear belongs to a guy who has taken GUE Tech 1 and Cave 1. I use the same general knot for my back-up necklace. The instructors in the DIR Fundamentals course I took last month did not like this knot and wanted me to switch to a configuration where you tie small knots at the end of the bungee and secure it with the zip tie that holds the back-up mouthpiece on. Their reasoning -- more secure. I argued that it could possibly end up pulling the mouthpiece off the reg....they were skeptical.

Regardless, I left my necklace the same......

Here's a "how to" I wrote about setting this up along with a long primary hose....

http://www.scubadiving.com/members/divetips.php?s=253

 

[Rick Murchison]

Genesis once bubbled...
do you want a breakaway on the backup?

'cause in the unlikely event that things get somehow tangled up, I want to be able to rip that sucker free.
Rick

 

[large_diver]

Note that the fisherman's knot set-up will let you pull the reg off of the necklace if pull hard on it. Also, after diving it for about about 40 dives, it has never "popped out" accidentally underwater.

 

[Genesis]

think about where the risk(s) are.....

If the hose gets fouled, the weak link won't help you.
If the reg gets fouled under your neck, you probably have bigger problems

In any event, you should be able to cut the bungee in an emergency, no?