Octo or inline inflator reg?

[BKP]

My wife and I currently use the Atomic SS1's, and have never had any issues (including deep >90fsw dives). It breathes as well as my B2 at depth, and both the purge and inflator buttons are easy to manipulate while breathing off it.

That having been said, I'll shortly be moving to a BP/W rig, and will be switching to an octo (I'll be doing more technical diving... Consistent dives >130 should be with a long hose separate octo IMHO).

One final point... I keep reading arguments here about divers ripping primaries out of their buddy's mouths. I'd be curious to know whom here it's happened to. I have friends/divers/instructors with thousands of logged dives, that have been involved in OOA scenarios, and none of them has ever had a primary intentionally ripped out of their mouth. But, perhaps that's just them...

 

[markfm]

I went with a Sherwood Shadow+, an in-line that detaches from the BC inflator just like a standard LP hose, was entirely happy with it. It made sense, still does, for recreational diving, and in the St. Lawrence we're used to cruddy conditions (cold, gunk), never had trouble with it.

That it detaches is nice because it allows for a clean ascent, as you can have the BC hose up and releasing air like normal.

Practice is definitely important, but then again you should do that with whatever gear you choose.

For DM I switched to a Sherwood Octo on a 5' hose, reverse connection (the hose attaches to the left side of the reg rather than the right). This makes for a cleaner hand-off, makes it easier to swim out if you can't safely ascend directly (coming up in the channel is a no-no). A 4' would have worked as well, but the shop had a 5' and it's not an issue, stays bungied in a loop on the side of my BCD.