Octo vs no octo

[DA Aquamaster]

When octos came into use in the 70's regs were already very reliable. In fact, with the increased use of plastic in the last 20 years, I'd argue regs today are no more reliable and perhaps even less reliable.

Reliability had nothing to do with it. Sharing air with an octo is much easier than buddy breathing, and yes, the most common reason for sharing air is that someone ran out of air. No matter how good you are at managing your gas supply the odds are that sooner or later an OOA diver will come knocking to sare your gas, and having an octo will make that evolution much easier.

 

[Steve_Dives]

Sharing air with an octo is much easier than buddy breathing, and yes, the most common reason for sharing air is that someone ran out of air. No matter how good you are at managing your gas supply the odds are that sooner or later an OOA diver will come knocking to sare your gas, and having an octo will make that evolution much easier.

Changes the OOA scenario a bit. Use the octo and everyone is cool. Donate a single reg and perhaps have to fight for your life to get it back.

 

[Captain Larry]

A fellow member told me not to get a octo. He said they were designed 40 years ago and the regulators today are just to unlikely to fail to carry one. He also said due to the improvements of the gear today the only real reason to loose air is human failure. SO he said there not worth carrying because of the add drag weight need to sink and that normaly there not taken care of and are usasly the first thing to get dragged through sand if the reg gets sand in it. he said he uses a pony bottle if he is diving deeper then 30 feet. but he sais for a new dive they should wait because a pony is unneed down to 30 feet.
do you use one

If you plan to dive from a dive boat or with any commercial operator you find yourself sitting out the dive without an alternate air source.
You will never notice the drag of an octo or safe second if properly stowed.
"Dragged through the sand"?? I would be really careful about what dive advice you take from this guy. You might seek out a more experienced reference.
Read the different postings on Scubaboard and you will learn a lot and pick up some great tips from responsible and experienced divers.
Best of luck. Be safe
Larry

 

[Diver0001]

A fellow member told me not to get a octo. He said they were designed 40 years ago and the regulators today are just to unlikely to fail to carry one. He also said due to the improvements of the gear today the only real reason to loose air is human failure. SO he said there not worth carrying because of the add drag weight need to sink and that normaly there not taken care of and are usasly the first thing to get dragged through sand if the reg gets sand in it. he said he uses a pony bottle if he is diving deeper then 30 feet. but he sais for a new dive they should wait because a pony is unneed down to 30 feet.
do you use one

I think your friend is a real boob for telling you that. Get an octo. It's an important bit of safety gear.

R..

 

[Tortuga68]

/sigh

It's quite disturbing that anyone would give such awful advice, especially to a new diver

I would never dive with a buddy who didn't have a secondary; ergo, I would never dive without one myself unless I was soloing, and not even then

The benefits outweighs the possible drawbacks by about a million to one

I'd rather feed a hundred trolls than have one person thinking that advice was accurate

 

[bigtim6656]

thanks guys. What about carrying a pony inplace of an octo. I ask because i want to be able to solo dive and i know a piny bottle is need for that. But still your only talking a 100 bucks for safty

 

[RJP]

thanks guys. What about carrying a pony inplace of an octo. I ask because i want to be able to solo dive and i know a piny bottle is need for that. But still your only talking a 100 bucks for safty

Why don't you see if you can dive first before you start planning on solo diving...



PS - you'll need a hell of a lot more than a pony bottle for solo diving. (And they cost a lot more than $100 as well.)

 

[Arizona]

Get certified first from a well known agency! Log some dives and then revisit your questions.

Arizona

 

[TSandM]

Bigtim, you should be a hundred dives or more away from solo diving, should you decide at THAT point that solo diving is something you still want to do. Ask us then about how to configure your gear for going solo.

 

[rstofer]

One school of thought is that your octo is held by a necklace: Manta Regulator/Octo Necklace Reg Necklace/RED with reviews at scuba.com

If you lose your primary or you donate your primary to a buddy, you just use the octo that is conveniently located just below your chin. It doesn't get any simpler than this!

In any event, YOU are the one that uses the octo according to this philosophy.

Continuing the idea is to use a 5' or longer hose on your primary so you can get your out-of-air buddy away from you while they use your primary Halcyon: The Doing It Right Dive Gear Company

You can also search for the raging debate over AIR 2 octos that are mounted as part of the BC inflator system. Like http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/258675-i-am-little-nervous.html

Peraonally, I used a ScubaPro AIR 2 for a very long time (like since 1988) and I like it a lot. However, when I decided to move from my jacket BC (which I also like a lot) to a BP/W, I decided to leave it behind. The reasons for not using this type of octo probably outweigh the benefits of a reduction in the number of hoses.

Are you sure the person that gave you the advice is actually a diver?

Richard