Octo Selection

[LeadTurn_SD]

My recommendation would be to get a "real" regulator, rated for cold water, to use as your backup or "octo". Same-brand as your primary is usually a good idea to make servicing simpler, but is not a 100% requirement. Simple and rugged is "ok", it need not be adjustable, but needs to be able to perform in cold water with high air flow (think a stressed diver breathing at an elevated rate), and needs to deliver high air flow without freezing-up.

To turn this discussion in a different direction: Consider donating the regulator you are breathing from (your primary) to the OOA diver. Now, what quality secondary (octo) would you purchase, if you had to breath from it in an emergency in cold, deep water?

Just something to think about. You don't have to break the bank to get a decent octo, but don't get something too cheap either.

Safe Diving!

 

[Armymutt25A]

High there,
I'm wondering some of the same things as I buy my first rig. Why am I being offered 'Octos"that are so inexpensive when they are the emergency/safety device, that I or a panicked person will grap? My experience is that a Safety device is even of higher quality because it does not get used as much and 'needs to work' even better than your main 2nd stage??????????????????

TT

Do you mean, "why is the Octo lower priced than the primary?" If so, take into account that the primary reg price generally includes both the first and second stage while the octo is just a second stage.

 

[VA Nick]

I'm with those who are recommending a "normal" second stage as a backup. I've seen some of the Tinker Toys out there that are smaller second stages that honestly I wouldn't really put a whole lot of faith in. I've also seen some that are basically exactly the same as a "normal" version of the second stage only with yellow plastic. Both are junk if you ask me.

Keep in mind that, as Armymutt says there, the price difference when buying a backup is you're not buying the first and second stages, just the second. So yeah, its going to be cheaper.

If you like the second stage you're using now, just get another one. I do agree with keeping the same brand, not because a different brand won't work, just because I like to keep life simple. And having the same brand makes maintenance easier.

As for both of them failing at the same time, for the same reason, I wouldn't worry about it too much. First of all, its pretty rare for a properly maintained second stage to break on you. And they're designed in a way that if they fail, they fail open, resulting in a free flow. Generally speaking if your second stages are both failing at the same time, you have some other issues going on.

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

Thanks everyone.

I think I've got my mind set on the Zeagle ZX octo. It's not exactly "the same" as my second stage, but it is the octo in the "ZX" line, so a very similar second stage.

 

[CNicoll]

I think a consideration is what kind of diving are you doing (very deep, cold, etc?) and then equipment accordingly. If deep/cold/tech is what you are after, then another of your primary second stage make sense. If you are recreational in your dives (open water, caribbean, etc) then something like the APEX octo might make sense. My son and I both have the Apex octos (his primary is an Atomic and mine is an Aqualung) and we usually dive in a local quarry, to about 70' (the limit of our cold endurance) and the Caribbean on reef dives. We had an OOA problem on our last dive Jan 1, 2009 when my son's air went from 700psi to 0 in one breath at 20' (and miraculously went back to 500 psi on the boat). The Apex worked fine, even with a bit more inhalation effort than his primary reg.

When we progress to more advanced diving (dry suit cold water and deeper OW/wreck dives) in a couple of years we will look at ALL our gear at that time.