Octo on left or right?

[shoturtle]

I just purchased a MK25/S600 with a S395 octo. When I went to pick it up the 2nd was on the right and the octo was on the left. I asked the LDS owner if he would swap it for me and he looks at me and says "why" I explain the my old setup was that way and again he says "why" I told him thats the way it was when I bought it from you. He went on to say that he wouls never set up a reg that way. After telling him again that I did indeed buy it from him set up that way and that it was one off his old rentals, he said ohh it"s prolly so old it has to be set up that way. It's a US Diver SE3 w/ a old yellow Aqua lung octo.

Any hoo, he goes on the explain that with the octo on the left the person needing the air can swim next to you on your left with out kinking the hose.

I get the the dive ramp and ask his employee, a DM to help me finish putting me depth gauge, psi compass on. he looks at it and asked me why why octo was on the left and not the right. I explain thats how the LDS owner said i should route it. He goes on to explain that it should be on the right with the 2nd because in an OOA situation you should have your buddy right in front of you and be grabbing their BCD and making a accent, not swimming.

Then speaking to the LDS again, he says well what if your 150 yds from the boat and you need to swim back. he said you don't want to surface that far from the boat and you can't swim facing each other. He also said trying to make a controled accent hanging on to each other is a hard thing to do.He said the other DM master was PADI trained and refused to change his thought process.

I did a search on this but didn't find what I was looking for. I'm not trying to start a bash PADI thread either .. I was just repeating what the LDS said.. so lets not go there.

I just want other opinions. I have to DM telling me 2 different things. I would like more info before I make the decision that I think is best for me. Thanks

Tom

Actually, when I went through PADI, it just said to either side of the triangle with your mouth being the apex of the triangle and your hips as either side of the triangle. As a left, it does make more useful sense to have the primary on the left and the octo on the right.

 

[Riger]

Don't see the problem here.

If I am buying equipment that has a configuration option available, I declare the configuration, the LDS makes it so. He is welcome to offer advice and I am at Liberty to accept/decline the advice. My money my configuration. If the LDS will not do it the way I require (if it is physically possible) then he does not get my $$.

Best Regards

Richard (Riger)

 

[The Chairman]

The best side is the one you are most comfortable with it being on.

As with all diving, making sure your buddy knows where to go for air is best done BEFORE you splash.

Personally, I would love to have my bungeed second coming around the left, but my regs won't accommodate that. I always donate the reg on my long hose and make sure that my buddy knows to just grab it out of my mouth if they need it!

 

[Standingbear56]

No its a sensible question and my answer is unfortunately simple. BSAC do not allow primary donation to be taught at an entry level (for "non experienced divers" in their wording) and its against their safe dive practices to do so. That means i HAVE to teach a more standard setup (although i mention the alternatives and when the students dive with me outside a course they see my normal setup).
In an ideal world i'd be allowed to teach my preferred method.

Thank You - Just learned something about BSAC I did not know. What about PADI though? They do allow it? Personally I think that the sooner a student gets comfortable with the regulator out of his/her mouth the better.
Safe Diving,
George

 

[String]

What about PADI though? They do allow it?

They don't specifically NOT allow it - like most things in their standards the exact "how" is left up to the instructor provided the end goal is reached. In this case the end goal is allowing safe sharing of gas. So in short, yes its ok with them.

 

[Standingbear56]

I questioned PADI on that awhile back, especially in light of Octo Inflators and the Sherwood Maximus regulator (long hose under the arm) They stated (and I'm paraphrasing as this was a while back) If the equipment configuration dictates donating the primary regulator, than that's what you can teach. The primary regulator however must be on an octopus length hose to make the donating safely possible. I also asked about what they consider an octopus length hose and the answer was (again paraphrased) Any hose longer than a standard length hose that is long enough to donate a 2nd stage to an OOA diver. They would not however endorse the Hogarthian/DIR concept of the 7' hose around the neck as it could get caught in the snorkel. Long hose routed under the arm and bungee or octo inflator however is acceptable. Also, (this has been questioned before) BP/W is also totally acceptable.
Safe Diving,
George