storker:
I grab for my octo. It's not there. I grab again, and it persists in not being there. However, I know my octo is still around somewhere, so I think "OK, screw it!", take a good breath of air, donate my primary and make sure that he's breathing from it. This gives me time to fumble around to find the d*mned octo. With my buddy's air supply secured I fumble around my right shoulder, locate my secondary fairly easily, put it in my mouth, clear it and give the "ok" sign.
Good for you! In an actual OOA situation your quick thinking might have made the difference between a successful and unsuccessful outcome. The actual OOA diver would be ready to panic after a few seconds of trying to find the alternate.
storker:
I had gone from a (standard jacket-type) BCD with the octo hose bent double and stuffed into my right shoulder D-ring, to a (back-inflate) BCD with the octo hanging in a
holder from the right shoulder D-ring since the D-rings on the "new" BCD were too small to stuff a bent hose through. That small, seemingly insignificant change in my gear configuration made quickly grabbing the octo rather difficult
You have made a very valuable point based on personal experience. Instructors regularly remind students and certified dvers to be sure and familiarize themselves with their gear any time they make a change, but that advice often goes un heeded – the importance is simply not immediately apparent. You have had a terrific learning experience. Thanks for sharing it.
There is another thread currently active, in which the pros and cons of an integrated octo / inflator are being ‘discussed’. One of the pros being offered is that you will always know where your octo is. Having seen how many times divers end up with their snorkel in their hand instead of their inflator, I am skeptical that this any more of a ‘benefit’ than the mythical ‘streamlining’ offering greater swimming efficiency underwater because of the absence of one hose. But, what it does emphasize is the importance of the octo being placed in a secure and accessible location. So I will echo two comments in theis thread:
searcaigh:
When I use an octopus I always have it on a necklace and there is never any doubt as to where it is.
YES!
doctormike:
Necklace is the way to go, long primary hose or short. Either way, it's much more streamlined and reliable.
Again, YES! And, you don’t have to use a ‘long hose’ to employ a bungeed necklace for an alternate. If you take the ‘standard’ hose lengths seen on recreational regulators – which I think are probably ‘common’, rather than ‘standard’ – where the alternate second stage is on a ~40” hose, and the primary is on a ~34” hose, you can put a bungee necklace on the mouthpiece of the primary, and secure it below your chin (where you will always know it is there) and then breath off the alternate second stage. This has the advantage of a) not requiring any change in the hose lengths, b) putting the readily apparent (yellow purge valve, or yellow hose, or both) alternate second stage in a place where it is easily visible to the OOA diver, and c) allowing you to actively donate (I fully agree with Bob's point) a second stage that you know is working. (I think a side benefit is that it also encourages the diver to actually have two good second stages, both of which are appropriately tuned, rather than some cheap, under-performing, needlessly ‘de-tuned’ alternate second stage.) In an OOA, you actively hand off the second stage in your mouth (the hose length isn’t any more of a problem than it would have been in the more traditional configuration), and replace it with the second stage conveniently located right below your chin (and that hose length isn’t a problem either).
The only investments required: a) a few $$$ for a bungee necklace, and b) a few dives involving training to hand off the second stage in your mouth, and seek out the alternate beneath your chin. Try it some time.
