octopus hose positioning (not dir)

[simonk999]

Those who read divernet.com, the British magazine website, may have read John Bantin's comments on positioning the octopus hose over one's left shoulder.

He states "if you want to be able to offer your octopus rig to another diver, and for that diver to use it in any manner they wish, you may find it better to have it rigged on your left side, over your left shoulder. This enables the recipient diver to face you, or swim by your side, without the problem of hoses taking awkward routes".

I kinda buy into this, and I have a BC that facilitates this in that it routes its hose underneath the arm, and has no corrugated pipe thingee (it's a Mares dragonfly with the airtrim), so the octopus hose can be routed without encumberance over my right shoulder and affixed on the front of the BC in an obvious place. The advantages to me are that an OOA buddy can grab the octo quickly without potential hose entanglement with my primary, and similarly, if he grabs my primary, it's not potentially tangled with my effort to now grab my own octopus. I have a side exhaust octo, which probably makes things easier too.

Now, I'm not into the extra long hose of DIR, so let's not go there, but other than that, what are peoples' opinions?

-Simon

 

[Lost Yooper]

I won't go into a DIR thing, but at the very least I like donating the primary reg because I know (and more importantly -- they know) it works and is generally the one the panicked diver will go for anyway. Also, having the back up under your chin on a bungy is comforting and managable. Try this config: with the first stage vertical, have both regs come off the right side (breath the longer of the two and have the other's mouth piece bungied around your neck) and have the pressure guage and BC hose come off the left side (I'm not familiar with your BC though). I like this setup if I have to rent gear in the tropics.
Regardless what you decide, just keep in mind that plans and configs worked out on the surface won't necessarily work underwater and always keep things simple.

Good luck.

Mike

 

[simonk999]

oops, rereading my post -- just to clarify, I mean to have the octo rigged over my left shoulder, not right, as written above. So, primary over right, octo over left.

The main benefit seems to me (and this is something that would not matter with a side-exhaust), is that since a bottom exhaust reg breathed by someone opposite you (be it your primary or secondary, if they're coming over your right shoulder), is not in the optimal orientation; that is, there would have to be an 'S' bend to the hose in order to breate the reg in the correct orientation.

With a reg over the left shoulder, the default orientation is correct for the OOA diver in front of you. Needs a bit of mental imagery. Arguably, though, this could be a problem for the donating diver, if the ooa diver grabs his primary, in that his octo is not in the optimum position for him.

Of course, a long enough hose, in dir style, would make this less problematic, and actually, for a panicked ooa buddy, a side exhaust is probably a good idea, regardless of if it's the primary or secondary, since orientation would not be a problem.

Well, anyway, just food for discussion.

-Simon

 

[neil]

I use my octo routed on my left side. As you say it makes air sharing much easier than when coming from the right. Since we're talkin about a right handed reg mounted on the left, make sure you can clear it if your primary is grabbed out of your mouth because you'll most likely put it (the octo) in your mouth upside down. Clearing a reg when it's in your mouth upside down is not difficult, but some regs breath very wet in this position, so practice this so you won't be surprised!

Neil