No Octo while diving with redundant air supply

[rfwoodvt]

Been Running an Octo on my primary regulator while diving with a completely redundant system on my back

I'm thinking about ditching the Octo while diving solo as is just one more piece of kit to get in the way

What, if any, compelling reasons are there to keep the octo in play?

 

[tursiops]

Been Running an Octo on my primary regulator while diving with a completely redundant system on my back

I'm thinking about ditching the Octo while diving solo as is just one more piece of kit to get in the way

What, if any, compelling reasons are there to keep the octo in play?

So you are now with three 2nd stages? Are in of them in a long hose in case you should happen upon a diver who needs gas?

 

[johndiver999]

I generally use an air 2, so that serves as an octopus and eliminates 3 second stages. I decided a long time ago, that 3 second stages was more trouble than it is worth.. and remember in a really bad situation, you can get air from a standard inflator by just pressing the deflate and inflate buttons at the same time- but you should practice it.

 

[Manatee Diver]

What, if any, compelling reasons are there to keep the octo in play?

You don't have to reconfigure your kit when you are doing standard diving.

 

[johndiver999]

You don't have to reconfigure your kit when you are doing standard diving.

IFF you don't use an air 2..

 

[Manatee Diver]

IFF you don't use an air 2..

But I'm trained for primary donate with a long hose, as 90% of my diving is in caves.

 

[johndiver999]

But I'm trained for primary donate with a long hose, as 90% of my diving is in caves.

I didn't know that cave training involves a lot of back mounted pony bottles for solo diving - which is what the OP was talking about.

BTW, is there something about a long hose that precludes the use of Air 2?

 

[Manatee Diver]

I didn't know that cave training involves a lot of back mounted pony bottles for solo diving - which is what the OP was talking about.

BTW, is there something about a long hose that precludes the use of Air 2?

I was talking about reconfiguring my rec setup between a non-solo rec setup to a solo rec setup. I wouldn't even remove my drysuit inflator, I just bungee that to my standard inflator hose.

I also don't use a backmounted pony setup, I sling an AL40 as my pony bottle.

 

[KenE]

Here is why I keep the third regulator. I consider my redundant gas as emergency gas only, so if that regulator goes in my mouth we are heading to the surface via SS. I have enough gas for that only. If I use that gas for anything else I am not sure I have enough for the emergency. At the start of the dive I was at the bottom of the mooring line ~110' and my primary freeflowed. I switched to secondary and went up five feet and cleared the freeflow. I am guessing a bit of iceing, Lake Erie can be cold at depth. However, if I had switched to my redundant I would have ended the dive before it really got started. That second allowed us to finish the dive on one of my most memorable dives ever, wooden sailing ship, mostly intact. I am not a fan of Air2 only because I would neglect the servicing when my regs get serviced. I tend to replace inflators instead of servicing. Just my experience and preference to keep the second reg.

 

[Altamira]

There is a truism in aviation that states, "One of the three most useless things in an airborne emergency is the gas you left in the fuel truck...The other two being the air above you, and the runway behind you." If you just have your primary, and that craps out on you, you may have a lot of air in a tank that you can't use. Same principle as gas left in the fuel truck.