Safe second or octo?

[crpntr133]

A buddy of mine has the Oceanic version and I used it one time in the pool, 4' max. It breathed really hard. Everyone that I have talked to said the same thing. Personally, go with the octo.

 

[ianr33]

. After the stress test, my instructor highly recomends it. I asked him about the buyancy control while using. "Its easy, if your using it then there is an emergency and the only bouyancy your concerned with is going up at a safe speed"

FWIW

And how exactly do you " keep going up at a safe speed " and not
turn into a ballistic missile when scared stupid?? I think any buddy team using an SS1 or similar should practice practice practice with it to make sure they can ascend safely under controlled conditions and not trust to luck when it hits the fan.

Disclaimer......I have never used an SS1. The only place my Octo goes is on a bungee around my neck

 

[Quarrior]

Octo gets my vote.

 

[letterboy]

And how exactly do you "keep you keep going up at a safe speed " and not
turn into a ballistic missile when scared stupid??

My point exactly!!

John

 

[MikeC]

What do most people use? At my local shop the push the safe second (reg + bc-inflater combo) over the octo.

Back when NASDS was around they called the backup reg a "safe second". The PADI term was "octopus". It is the same thing.

What you are describing is as someone else called an "integrated 'backups'.

My "safe second" is a Zeagle reg, not one of those integrated things.

 

[pasley]

...My instructor has a SS1 and he said he wasn’t sure he liked it until he had to use it when an experienced diver ended up OOA. After the stress test, my instructor highly recommends it.

Uh Huh, Does he get a commission on purchases by students from the store?

I asked him about the buoyancy control while using. "Its easy, if your using it then there is an emergency and the only buoyancy your concerned with is going up at a safe speed"
FWIW

Which is exactly the point. Your BC air inflate/deflate buttons are now on a device firmly clamped in your mouth, while one hand is firmly clamped on your buddy and you are both in a "stressed" situation with you trying to manipulate buttons and dump air, but wait, there is more. You cannot raise your inflator hose up as high as possible to help ensure you get a good dump because it is in your mouth. In addition, the hose is "short" and so moving your head around is limited.

I have never used one, but these are my concerns.

Bottom line, rent one from the store, dive it, try an emergency drill with it yourself and then make up your own mind.

Note, Dive Instructors are often given incentives (which may be in the form of discounts on their purchases or commission on sales) and sometimes plain orders to use what the store sells and to recommend it during classes. That means that what a Dive Instructor wears for equipment during instruction may or may not be what he/she would personally choose to wear if he/she were free to make their own choices.

Not an Dive instructor or even an informed individual, just one with an opinion.

 

[SteveD]

I'd think outside the normal PADI school of thought and look at a bungeed backup around the neck. Your buddy gets a working regulator from your mouth guaranteed to be working, and you get a normal regulator that's easily accessible, always in the same place, and not clogged with sand or gunk from dangling (and not bashing into the bottom/coral/reef/whatever).

Given the way that most new divers struggle with buoyancy control and the way that most backup regs are stowed, the octopus is going to be dragging through the sand, whereas the Air2 is sitting on the shoulder ready to go. Plus, the coral needs every break it can get!

I regularly test my Air2 at depth and have never had a problem. If you've donated your primary reg (I also use a long hose), then the dive is over and its time to head for the surface. I'd be using the backup dump valve on the right shoulder of my SP Knighthawk to control buoyancy on ascent (which I also practice). And if I need to inflate my BC, then it's simple to find the inflate button on the reg already in my mouth.

If I'm diving with twin tanks, then yes, the backup reg comes from the left post, and is bungeed around my neck.

 

[ThatsMe]

Well looks like ill get the octo. Im a new diver and i feel i would be more comfortable with the octo. The local shop sales the octo and the bc intergrated safe second so i dont think theywould be biased to one or the other. But they realy push the safe second, every instructor and employee has the safe second. I would also say that 85% or more of their sales would be the safe second. I guess there are good and bad points of each.

 

[Boogie711]

Here's another one - I never understood the "if you're on it the dive's over, go straight up" argument.

Typical and common example - a shipwreck in mild current, at 90 feet of max depth. Easy recreational dive. Mooring line goes down to a point just off the bow. The ship is 180 feet long.

Buddy goes OOA at stern, or even midships. Wouldn't it make far more sense to swim to the mooring line before ascending? Otherwise, the dive boat isn't going to even see you before you finally pop to the surface - several hundred metres downstream. You also have the benefit of a visual ascent reference if you go to the line.

My vote definitely goes for a 'octo' on a bungee around your neck.

 

[ThatsMe]

everyone is talking about a bungee. Is this a home made device or can someone send me a link to a picture? Everypne ive seen has the octo on their BC.