Octo

[FM1520]

What year did the octo become standard? Thanks.

 

[captain]

It became standard? Not at my house.

 

[james croft]

We don't need no stinkin' octopus...

 

[simonbeans]

Topic covered over at Vintage Scuba - Vintage Scuba Gear at Vintage Double Hose

Vintage Double Hose • View topic - What year did the octo debut?

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Probably in the mid 70's sometime.
I doubt it was all of a sudden, it probably happened over a span of several years.
PADI was still teaching buddy breathing in 1998 that I know of, for whatever reason.

 

[regulator bj]

Hi. Have thumbed through my files and found '"VIKING" reg had a "Safety Tube" that could be fitted ,"Skin Diver" Mag ran an artical dated Feb 1959 reviewing the formention reg. In a later issue dated July 1971 it was mentioned the Octo was in use in the" Med" in 1965 but does not state for what purpose . Regards bj

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I began using an octopus in 1973 (I think--I'm away from my old dive logs) at the Warm Mineral Springs Underwater Archeological Project, at the urging of Larry Murphy and Sonny Cockrell. At that time, it was mostly pushed by cave divers. Wreck divers, and under-the-ice divers were using pony bottles with a complete regulator at about that time and before.

SeaRat

 

[oldmossback]

It's a good thing to have for the other guy who needs help..........beyond that, it is just another extra piece of equipment that is usually not needed and gets in the way..........

Dilligence with your spg or watch is the best way to prevent OoA situations.......

Failures while diving? I've never heard of a doublehose failing, this might have happened, but I have no knowledge of one doing this.....just single hoses............

 

[Walter]

What year did the octo become standard?

It was accepted gradually over several years. When I started working on a charter boat in 1985, it was becoming standard, but still had a way to go. Depth gauges weren't even standard yet and they were not included with most rental gear. By the early 90s, it was rare to see a rig without an octo and a depth gauge.

 

[elmer fudd]

It's a good thing to have for the other guy who needs help..........beyond that, it is just another extra piece of equipment that is usually not needed and gets in the way..........

Dilligence with your spg or watch is the best way to prevent OoA situations.......

Failures while diving? I've never heard of a doublehose failing, this might have happened, but I have no knowledge of one doing this.....just single hoses............

I've had it happen. All three times it was pretty much my own dumb fault, but whether it was due to stupidity, negligence or both it was still nice to have a backup ready to go.

Here's what happened each time.
1) When I'd only been diving DH's for a few dives, I put my diaphragm back in wrong without the prongs contacting the wishbone. Reg breathed poorly until part of the diaphragm got sucked in and I started to get water in the mouthpiece. Switched to octopus and finished the dive. I didn't see this one coming.

2) Dove a recently purchased DAAM that seemed to breathe great on a tank. The duckbill was bad so I replaced that, but otherwise it seemed great. On the dive I noticed a slight free flow and could hear air leaking. Turns out the intake hose had developed a small hole near the can. I think it actually happened during the dive as I had carefully inspected the hoses earlier. Never bothered switching to the octopus as I was still able to breathe easily. I half expected something like this, given that this was my first dive with an old e-bay regulator.

3) Had the mouthpiece fail on a Northill Air Lung I was restoring. Ended up inhaling water along with air. Had a bit of a free flow as well. Switched to the SpareAir I had bungeed around my neck and surfaced. I would have been surprised if this dive hadn't had some complications given that I was testing fabricated parts of my own design. I didn't expect the mouthpiece to leak though.