Seven foot primary/ necklace secondary vs buddy with octopus: how well can they mesh underwater ?

[Roger Hobden]

If there is one diver with a 7 foot primary and a necklace secondary, and his diving buddy is using an octopus that is intended for gas sharing, what precautions do both divers have to take to make sure they will both be diving together safely ?

I ask this question on the Basic Diving Forum, because OW GUE divers are apparently considered by their own agency to be at a basic level. At least, this is my understanding of the matter.

 

[kmarks]

The only thing they need to know is where their buddy has available air. Having a different set up doesn't change anything about how you dive together because they don't have to mix.

 

[Compressor]

Practice air sharing. Practice, practice and then some practice.

I've been in situations where I had to donate air to a buddy who had lost their air supply. They don't act like a textbook case. They will either shoot to the surface or come at you like an underwater missile. So be prepared to donate your air and calm the situation down.

Fortunately never been on the receiving side of being out of air myself. But I know where to find air in case I need one. And it usually not on the surface.

BTW: Many divers use 7 foot hoses and are not GUE divers.

 

[Marie13]

If there is one diver with a 7 foot primary and a necklace secondary, and his diving buddy is using an octopus that is intended for gas sharing, what precautions do both divers have to take to make sure they will both be diving together safely ?

I ask this question on the Basic Diving Forum, because OW GUE divers are apparently considered by their own agency to be at a basic level. At least, this is my understanding of the matter.

I use a 5ft hose, but it’s the same. I dive a BP/W and long hose set up (although single tank) and my regular buddy is a dyed in the wool recreational diver complete with i3 inflator on his BCD. We know each other’s gear and have done air shares for practice. I also sling a pony on deeper dives and buddy knows he can go for either pony or my primary.

We’re an oddball pair but a good buddy pair.

 

[Tug]

Like others have said, if you're doing a proper buddy check and know what system the other person is using you'll be good to go

 

[Ayisha]

If there is one diver with a 7 foot primary and a necklace secondary, and his diving buddy is using an octopus that is intended for gas sharing, what precautions do both divers have to take to make sure they will both be diving together safely ?

There are no issues whatsoever with that. You would each just get familiar with each other's setup and know how you will be sharing gas if the situation arises, as you should with any buddy. For a new buddy, I usually just tell them that if they need gas, signal to me and I will give them the reg that is in my mouth and I will switch to the reg under my chin. I have many buddies that don't use a long hose, and it's not an uncommon sight to see mixed buddy teams. If anything, they might eventually switch over too.

 

[tbone1004]

I ask this question on the Basic Diving Forum, because OW GUE divers are apparently considered by their own agency to be at a basic level. At least, this is my understanding of the matter.

what does this even mean?

you just dive. During predive you go over how you share air. Ideally you ask the other person what they're going to do if they need to share gas and you have to internalize it.

 

[RyanT]

In an ideal world you and your buddy will having matching configurations. But, many situations result in that not being the case. As others have said, have a solid pre-dive discussion, familiarize each other with your gear and donation procedures. No big deal.

 

[rgdiver1]

Having some experience with buddy teams with mixed gear configurations, I have found it is so much better when each diver is using the same configuration and using the same procedures.

 

[DanielRJones]

I dive bp/w with 7ft long hose. My wife dives a i3 bcd with standard hoses. I know how her kit works she knows how my kit works. Yes if she has to recover me off the bottom i am prob coming up quicker than i would want as she is used to the i3 over a standard inflator and the same the other way around even though we have practised a few times.
In the brief we explain where our octos are and what is expected and where releases are.

Just remember your long hose is not for you it is for your buddy and their reg in the triangle is for you.