Quick question for J valves

[dumpsterDiver]

If you have a j valve and no rod to pull it down, the reserve could be knocked into the up postion and this would shut off the air early in the dive and without a pull rod, this would not be good..

A j valve w/o a pull rod is dangerous and stupid. And pull rods tend to get snagged on things.

 

[knowone]

A nasty piece of equipment. ALWAYS use your spg and NEVER rely on the reserve. Anyone who showed up on our dive boat with one of these, we would throw the actuating rod in 500' of water.

Through the hull?

 

[duckbill]

If some bozo threw my property in 500' of water, I'd be throwing him in to go get it back for me. Lack of training does not make a J-valve "nasty".

 

[herman]

A nasty piece of equipment. ALWAYS use your spg and NEVER rely on the reserve. Anyone who showed up on our dive boat with one of these, we would throw the actuating rod in 500' of water.

Maybe it just came across wrong but I have a problem with this type of attitude. My gear choice is my choice not any one elses.

Got your rant before you edited.
Part of the Scubaboard Forum is to be inform readers other than the poster and not have to ask duplicate questions.
Our dive club banned them from the boat due to the MULTIPLE out of air situations that occured with the J valve. When you needed it the the most it, the reserve air wasn't there. They always seemed to have been bumped into the downward position and actuated somewhere along the dive.

You should rethink that because you have not eliminated the real problem, poorly trained or worse reckless divers. The J valve is a tested and proven design that rarely fails. The OOAs were not the failure of the equipment but rather a failure on the part of the divers using it. The "it got bumped" excuse is more myth than anything else. I call BS on that, it was in the reserve position when the dive started. How does something within inches of your neck get bumped unless you are doing close quarters penetration diving (not something I would do with a J valve either). Besides, a good diver would check the position of the valve from time to time, just as a diver with an SPG checks his gauges. I don't know about all J valves but mine make an audible noise when working in the "dive" mode, again something a good diver would observe and investigate, the same way a good diver with an SPG would investigate why his gauge does not seem to be dropping as it should.
Don't blame the equipment to cover for the actions of a poor diver.