Not configured for commercial air

[AJ Tudor]

Reading through my apex manual I came a accross the following warning;

"This regulator is not configured for commercial use with surface supplied air"

What's classed as commercial usage? And what does this mean? That I can't dive with air from the surface? I'm a bit of a newbie so forgive me if it seems like a strange question.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

I am pretty sure they are talking about commercial divers who have surface supplied air. Meaning, industrial situations like oil rig workers, or welders. Modern hard hat divers use second stage regulators mounted on their helmets to provide them with air. As a recreational diver this warning does not apply to any situation you would normally find yourself in, so just ignore it. About the only situation I could think of where this might apply to you is if you bought your own surface supply rig. These things are like little compressors that sit in an innertube and have 25 foot or longer hoses for the divers. If you were using one of these things you would not have a cylinder on your back. SNUBA is one example of this kind of thing. Frankly if you bought one of these things you would probably just use the second stage that comes with it and not your apeks.

Mark Vlahos

 

[Cave Diver]

I am pretty sure they are talking about commercial divers who have surface supplied air. Meaning, industrial situations like oil rig workers, or welders. Modern hard hat divers use second stage regulators mounted on their helmets to provide them with air. As a recreational diver this warning does not apply to any situation you would normally find yourself in, so just ignore it.

What Mark said.

 

[AJ Tudor]

Cheers guys, I never realised people still use that method.

 

[Cave Diver]

Cheers guys, I never realised people still use that method.

Actually it's pretty common, at least around this area for people doing underwater work on boats, oil rigs, docks, etc.

Here is one of the more popular helmets used: http://www.kirbymorgan.com/products/KM37.html

 

[pipedope]

It is largely CYA for them as they don't want the liability and lawsuit exposure.

The main thing is lack of a non-return valve to prevent injury if pressure is lost at the surface.

Not a problem for scuba as your air supply and first stage are right there with you so the pressure difference is very small if any.

If you ever get training for commercial, surface supplied diving then you will learn all about this and more.