Scubapro Air2 question

[jetracer]

By "using it" I don't mean "drill on that a bit" in a planned, controlled way. In order to really know "how it works for you" you'd need to experience using it "by surprise" perhaps near the deepest part of your dive. Bonus "reality points" if a good swim to the upline or exit point is required before beginning and managing a controlled ascent to the surface. Do you dive a drysuit? Even more "reality" points. But for mega-reality points you need a near-panicked OOA diver to hit you up for air by surprise, where you need to get the two of you together - both probably over-breathing - air-share-wise, and begin and manage an ascent all the way to the surface.

The lovely idea of this...


Is very different than the reality of this...

Ok, got it.....Donuts no good! Trans-fat kills! I'll stick with all butter corissant! Thanks for the pictorial illustration

Kidding aside, I understand what you're saying, next time I go on a dive boat I will ask a fellow diver to do a couple of drills with me and I'll see what works for me.

---------- Post added November 9th, 2013 at 08:12 PM ----------

I spearfish often, use a back mounted pony on a bracket similar to a X bracket, and also use an air 2 now for probably 12-15 years. I have been very happy with them. They work well, and they are especially good for a pony bottle diver because they avoid the diver having 3 second stages that can be confused, realtively easily. If you mix up the pony and primary second stages in an emergency, you can die, It is impossible (I think) to confuse the air 2 with a standard second stage...

Don't take advice about an Air2 from people who don't understand that it is an entirely different kind of fitting than a standard inflator and it is much, much easier to disconnect in the event of an emergency inflator malfunction, which is a rather common failure (relatively) for standard BC inflators.

They are not hard to use and extremely easy to locate because you are handling the air 2 several times EVERY dive, when you inflate and deflate the BC. You are forced to learn to deploy it instantly, by normal diving. In contrast to an octopus, that many people NEVER practice deploying or using.

I practice using the Air 2, it works fine, but it is not particularly comfortable- which should be the least of your worries in a life or death situation. This video is of me using it while my son uses the primary (to conserve air) as we make our way horizontally at 80 feet over to the anchor line. The pony reg is around my neck and available for use if needed. Does this look hard or challenging? I don't get the donute spare tire analogy at all.



[video=youtube_share;vDrF1AOnabc]http://youtu.be/vDrF1AOnabc[/video]
share air video - YouTube

Thanks so much for sharing your experience on the Air2!

I watched your video and your setup is exactly what I have in mind for my own rig. In a couple of months I should have all my gears together ready for 2014!

Not sure if I'm correct but I think I saw the reg connected to your pony is routed with a downward facing hose (yellow) then loop up to the pony tank, am I correct?

Questions:

1) I noticed that your pony tank is pointed up, have you ever tried installing it upside down? I read some people mentioned that they have their pony tank mounted upside down so they can reach the 1st stage control by reaching back. I'm not sure which way to try first on mine.

2) What kind of LP hose are you using on the pony tank? It looks almost the yellow part is just a wrapping with black rope/line around it.

You guys are so lucky over there in FL. I wish we had the warm water, and the variety of underwater wildlife over here.

Thanks again for the video and you reply!!

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Ok, got it.....Donuts no good! Trans-fat kills! I'll stick with all butter corissant! Thanks for the pictorial illustration

Kidding aside, I understand what you're saying, next time I go on a dive boat I will ask a fellow diver to do a couple of drills with me and I'll see what works for me.

---------- Post added November 9th, 2013 at 08:12 PM ----------



Thanks so much for sharing your experience on the Air2!

I watched your video and your setup is exactly what I have in mind for my own rig. In a couple of months I should have all my gears together ready for 2014!

Not sure if I'm correct but I think I saw the reg connected to your pony is routed with a downward facing hose (yellow) then loop up to the pony tank, am I correct?

Questions:

1) I noticed that your pony tank is pointed up, have you ever tried installing it upside down? I read some people mentioned that they have their pony tank mounted upside down so they can reach the 1st stage control by reaching back. I'm not sure which way to try first on mine.

2) What kind of LP hose are you using on the pony tank? It looks almost the yellow part is just a wrapping with black rope/line around it.

You guys are so lucky over there in FL. I wish we had the warm water, and the variety of underwater wildlife over here.

Thanks again for the video and you reply!!

You are very observant. The pony bottle hose IS routed directly downward from the reg. This keeps it super streamlined and out of the way and having it trapped under my arm also keeps it secure and not a snag hazard. So many people run the hose out horizontally and they have a big loop sticking out very wide and they run it over their shoulder, that is a definite snag hazard. I got some pink or yellow plastic stuff over the pony hose. I guess it protects it, I just like the way it looks. The hose length is longer than normal... whatever an octopus length hose is.. that is what I use.... Don't know the length. You can have some flexibility with the height of the pony mount.

As for upside down mounting... that is viable.. you would presumably have the reg pressurized and then off during the dive.. If it bleeds air and you don't check or pressurize, then the first stage can get water intruded into it.

If you mount it upside down and leave it on... well what advantage does that provide? .... the ability to feather the valve on and off during an uncontrolled free-flow... maybe that is important to you, but it comes with the drawback of task loading in an emergency.. since you have to remember to turn the tank on in an emergency....What is the probability that the main tank fails and then when you go to the pony, it also fails giving you an uncontrolled freeflow? 2 simultaneous, independent failures.... not likely and not something most recreational divers will plan for... but you can.... If you really want to be safe.. then mount the pony as a slung bottle on your side.. you can see a leak, control a leak and manage feathering the valve, much easier.... but the negative of that is that it gets in the way of diving.. for me anyway..

If you are spearfishing, you may not want to be screwing with periodically checking the pressurization of a back mounted pony or a slung pony... just more task loading with a marginal potential increase in safety...

For me.. I like having it on and ready to go at all times. If you wear the octopus around your neck, a freeflow will be detectable,.. but you can not feather the valve unless you took the entire scuba unit off. I go for the simpler configuration which means you grab the reg and breath, identical to what you do with an octopus... there is really zero learning curve, other than making absolutely sure you don't mix up the pony with the primary reg..

 

[jetracer]

You are very observant. The pony bottle hose IS routed directly downward from the reg. This keeps it super streamlined and out of the way and having it trapped under my arm also keeps it secure and not a snag hazard. So many people run the hose out horizontally and they have a big loop sticking out very wide and they run it over their shoulder, that is a definite snag hazard. I got some pink or yellow plastic stuff over the pony hose. I guess it protects it, I just like the way it looks. The hose length is longer than normal... whatever an octopus length hose is.. that is what I use.... Don't know the length. You can have some flexibility with the height of the pony mount. .

Your set up looks very compact/neat which is for me a very important consideration because here in So.Cal, the majority of the dive spots are chalk full of kelp.

As for upside down mounting... that is viable.. you would presumably have the reg pressurized and then off during the dive.. If it bleeds air and you don't check or pressurize, then the first stage can get water intruded into it.

If you mount it upside down and leave it on... well what advantage does that provide? .... the ability to feather the valve on and off during an uncontrolled free-flow... maybe that is important to you, but it comes with the drawback of task loading in an emergency.. since you have to remember to turn the tank on in an emergency....What is the probability that the main tank fails and then when you go to the pony, it also fails giving you an uncontrolled freeflow? 2 simultaneous, independent failures.... not likely and not something most recreational divers will plan for... but you can.... If you really want to be safe.. then mount the pony as a slung bottle on your side.. you can see a leak, control a leak and manage feathering the valve, much easier.... but the negative of that is that it gets in the way of diving.. for me anyway..

If you are spearfishing, you may not want to be screwing with periodically checking the pressurization of a back mounted pony or a slung pony... just more task loading with a marginal potential increase in safety...

For me.. I like having it on and ready to go at all times. If you wear the octopus around your neck, a freeflow will be detectable,.. but you can not feather the valve unless you took the entire scuba unit off. I go for the simpler configuration which means you grab the reg and breath, identical to what you do with an octopus... there is really zero learning curve, other than making absolutely sure you don't mix up the pony with the primary reg..

Very true, after reading the scenarios you laid out and giving it some thought, I think I most likely will dive with the pony's valve open so it's there ready for me whenever I need to use it. As for feathering the pony tank valve, I wonder if it's physically possible to install the pony tank so that I can reach back and release it (why I think using a tank strap instead of hose clamps might make more sense) from the mounting bracket. One more consideration when I plan out my pony setup.

Thanks.