Seaquest / Aqualung Airsource 3

[whitenoise]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone use Sequest/Aqualungs new integrated octo, the Airsource 3? I've tried a number of ways to stow my Oceanic Alpha 8 octo, but none of them seem ideal. It just seems that octos are meant to get in the way! Been reading the various threads here and on other forums regarding the pros and cons of intergrated octos, and haven't quite made up my mind. I do know that I need something though!

Looking at the specs of the Airsource it looks good, ticks all the boxes, and seemingly has come clever stuff to fix the common intergrated negatives. It's not actually available in the UK until after March (but is available in the US) so just wanted to get the impressions of anyone who has used one?

I should add that I have the Seaquest Pro QD BC, as I think some intergrated octos won't fit on this jacket, eg the Atomic SS1. Do you need to have the same brand octo as the jacket? Although saying that the Airsource does seem pretty cool anyway.

Cheers

 

[aaron9876]

I have an Air Source 3 on a Balance; I've only used it on one dive so far (just got it) but I'm pleased with it so far. I found it more ergonomic than a regular inflator and the buttons are bigger too. It was also less finicky about how high I hold the hose up for the deflate button to work than other BCs/inflators I've used. Never needed to actually breathe off it, though (fortunately

 

[Hallmac]

I am not a fan of that product. If I had to chose one it would be the Atomic. Just to let you know the SS1 will fit on your BC, I have installed several of them.

 

[dive sd]

I too have been thinking about the Airsource 3. I'm buying a new BC, the black diamond, and had been planning on getting the airsource 3 at the same time. I took a look at one at my local dive store, and the salesman recommended that I stay away from the new one, and buy last years model. He said they've had them for about two weeks now and the response hasen't been very good. Apparently, the button configuration is not very well designed, with both buttons right next to each other as opposed to the older model with inflate one side, and purge on the other. The other thing he didn't like was the on/off slider, saying the positioning may cause you to inadvertantly turn the air supply off half way through a dive. Does anyone have one of these? Would you recommend it? I read the earlier post about the atomic ss1 and that looks like a pretty good integrated octo. Are there any other good ones out there I should look at? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[whitenoise]

Interesting. Everyone appears to have different ideas which makes it difficult to know what to buy! What would you say to dive_sd's comments aaron9876, since you have one? I know that the atomic has been recommended by a number of people (thanks for the tip about the SS1 fitting on my BC Hallmac), but I have seen some posts that mentioned the Airsource was better? Can you dump air from the SS1 whilst still breathing from it?

Unfortunately my LDS does stock either of these products (they order, you buy), and I don't know anyone with them. This makes it difficult to decide since I can only go on the advice from the various forums (and magazines), which is not always wise since different people could have various agendas.

So it looks like it’s the Airsource 2 vs Airsource 3 vs Atomic SS1. I have an Atomic mask so know that they do good stuff. Just to throw another spanner in the works I have Oceanic Delta IV FDX10 primary regs, so should I look to get the Oceanic integrated octo (which you hear nothing about), rather than having Oceanic/Atomic (or Aqualung) regs?

Decisions! Decisions!

 

[aaron9876]

I like having both buttons next to each other; then I can just hold the end of the hose and use a different finger to work either one, and I can have my thumb on the button w/out worrying about pressing another button there. Also, the buttons are next to each other on the same side on the SS1 too. I don't think there's much risk of accidentally turning the unit off during a dive either; it takes a little bit of force to move the switch.
I don't know what would happen if I pressed the deflate button while breathing off it, but I'd assume the air would come out the same place as it does when you breathe out. I don't own a reg so I've used the Airsource 3 on both Aqualung Titan and Atomic B2 rentals with no problems on either.
As for fitting, I've been told by some that the SS1 doesn't fit well on Seaquest, but I think its just a matter of replacing the inflator hose as well.

 

[whitenoise]

Thanks for the reply aaron. I'm off to the Red Sea next month and so wanted to sort something out before then. Looks like the Airsource 3 won't clear the necessary UK red tape before then, so I was looking at the Atomic SS1. However that looks like a right PITA to connect to my Seaquest, so might just have to wait until the Airsource is available. I guess I'll just have to put up with my octo on my trip.

 

[just-a-diver]

Atomic has made a new fitting just for Sea Quest BCD's , I got on for my Balance BCD.

Its made a little diffrent to fit on the Sea Quest hose