drrich2
Contributor
My wife has a FFM, no comm. unit. Few observations:
1.) Doesn't fog. Can breathe through her nose.
2.) Seems to go through air faster.
3.) She doesn't have one with a detachable 2nd stage, and the way that thing is multi-strapped to her head, if she DID have an out-of-air emergency, whipping it off to accept a dive buddy's octopus could be a challenge.
4.) These things aren't particularly cheap.
5.) They vary significantly. Like the issue of whether a given model has a detachable 2nd stage so you can access a buddy's octopus without taking it off if you are out-of-air for some reason, or have a regulator malfunction.
6.) Most other divers are not familiar with them.
I would suggest you put FFM's off until after you train & get some dives in. Then, if you really want one, buy or rent one. Let everybody try it on a few dives; see what you think. Especially if you plan to outfit 2 adults & a child (will it fit her?) with good brand name models with comm. units, you are going to be dropping some money on that!
Often in real world practice, ideas that sounded really good in theory turn out to be not a big deal, or even undesirable in practice. I don't think anybody is telling you a FFM is 'wrong,' just to give you guys time to grow into it and find out if it's really 'right,' and worthwhile.
Richard.
P.S.: My wife doesn't want everybody jabbering underwater. It's a popular view, I suspect.
1.) Doesn't fog. Can breathe through her nose.
2.) Seems to go through air faster.
3.) She doesn't have one with a detachable 2nd stage, and the way that thing is multi-strapped to her head, if she DID have an out-of-air emergency, whipping it off to accept a dive buddy's octopus could be a challenge.
4.) These things aren't particularly cheap.
5.) They vary significantly. Like the issue of whether a given model has a detachable 2nd stage so you can access a buddy's octopus without taking it off if you are out-of-air for some reason, or have a regulator malfunction.
6.) Most other divers are not familiar with them.
I would suggest you put FFM's off until after you train & get some dives in. Then, if you really want one, buy or rent one. Let everybody try it on a few dives; see what you think. Especially if you plan to outfit 2 adults & a child (will it fit her?) with good brand name models with comm. units, you are going to be dropping some money on that!
Often in real world practice, ideas that sounded really good in theory turn out to be not a big deal, or even undesirable in practice. I don't think anybody is telling you a FFM is 'wrong,' just to give you guys time to grow into it and find out if it's really 'right,' and worthwhile.
Richard.
P.S.: My wife doesn't want everybody jabbering underwater. It's a popular view, I suspect.
