Streamlining my equipment

[Akimbo]

The bungeed necklass is the best thing since sliced bread...

I am probably an outlier but I find a bungied necklace on an octo or backup regulator annoying since I often find myself head-down. The second stage swings on the necklace and either interferes with neck movement or actually swings into view.

I do use a bungie necklace my primary, but also use a snorkel on all but the shortest surface swims — I’ve been diving since snorkels were the norm and do a lot of freediving. I will often freedive in Scuba to get under a kelp obstacle rather than waste gas. I keep the secondary/octo bungied to my harness lower on my torso so I can see it and replace it after being pulled out. That allows me to position the diaphragm up to minimize freeflows when jumping overboard. It also makes it easy to reach if it does freeflow.

At best, all the solutions I have seen and tried are less than elegant. There is still room for innovation here.

Rather than bolt snaps, consider a butterfly snap, especially if you wear gloves.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Most people soon realize that consoles aren't that great of an idea once you go the route of having just a simple pressure gauge on your left hip D-ring and a compass and computer on your wrist.
When I started I used a console too because that was standard dive shop gear and that's just how they set people up in the 90's.
But then in the early 2000's things broke out, and when I learned there was another way it showed me the flaws of a console. The biggest thing besides it hanging down and dragging was the constant fishing around for it to look at air, depth, or to use the compass. Holding it out front to use the compass and also manage other stuff becomes a pain.
Now I have everything I need on my wrists and air pressure is on my hip. I have the gauge set up in such a way that I don't need to unclip it to see, I just turn it up and I can look down to see air pressure.
Someday when I get an air integrated remote computer then I could do away completely with the SPG and lose one more hose. All of my info would be in one spot on one screen.

As far as regs and octo, I would just run a short hose over your shoulder with a bungeed second under your chin and put a primary on a 40" hose run under your right arm. A lot of people will tell you you need to have a 5 or 7' hose and wrap it behind your head, but I think for basic recreational diving just a 40" is fine, no neck wrapping. There's nothing wrong with going up with an OOA diver face to face vertically and in control out in open water. This can be done easily with an octo length 40". Some people put a swivel on the end by the second stage when doing this but I find personally that I don't need one.
Your jacket BC is probably one of the least streamlined things you have. Eventually you might want to consider a BP/W if you want to step into the next real phase of minimalism.

Beyond that there are some very advanced minimalistic methods of diving but they border on fanatical and are more specialized. They are considered extreme by todays standards and require quite a learning curve. They used to teach this sort of diving back in the day but things have changed and they don't anymore. The basic methods include diving with no form of BC at all except your lungs and only one primary regulator so buddy breathing has to be employed (successfully) in case of an OOA. Many also make a special point to rid themselves of many other "conveniences" (as they see it) and go absolute bare bones, almost to a religious level. Just another hobby I suppose and a challenge/something to get good at and enjoy.
And there are other things involved like developing a keen awareness of your slipstream (not just streamlining-two different things), different body positioning, different body orientation in relation to the direction of travel, etc. It's old school and uses many of the same methods as freediving/skindiving, except you have a tank on your back and can breathe.
Most people here on SB would never dare do this type of diving but a small handful of us here do.

But for you and your wife, just basic recreational fun diving, the previous mentioned stuff and methods are fine and a good starting point.

 

[eelnoraa]

I can never understand why air2 type of inflators have anything to do with streamline. If anything, they are less streamline. The key for streamline isn't one less hose, it is the proper length and properly stow of all hoses. For air2 to be breathable, the corrugated hose needs to be about 22" to 24". This is why people use 22-24" LP hose for necklace Octo. 22" corrogated hose will dangle way pass the diver if he/she is in horizontal, not to mention that thing is huge. This setup will get in the way or get caught on things.

 

[Zeagle Eagle]

I can never understand why air2 type of inflators have anything to do with streamline. If anything, they are less streamline. The key for streamline isn't one less hose, it is the proper length and properly stow of all hoses. For air2 to be breathable, the corrugated hose needs to be about 22" to 24". This is why people use 22-24" LP hose for necklace Octo. 22" corrogated hose will dangle way pass the diver if he/she is in horizontal, not to mention that thing is huge. This setup will get in the way or get caught on things.

What are you talking about? One less hose must be more streamlined. Besides the hose you are adding an Air II to is already there to inflate and deflate your BC. You don't have to add a "corrugated hose" You just add an Air II to the inflator hose. On my setup the two hoses meld into one. The Air two is the same size as an Octo.

 

[Nemrod]

Again, I double dog dare anyone to prove one less hose for an Air II is actually, demonstrably more "streamlined" in any quantifiable manner but it certainly is less hoses and dangles and less can be very functional. Not a particular advocate of that arrangement but I did purchase one this year to experiment with. So far, I quite fancy it but that could change. Kind of like my change of heart on AI. N

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Again, I double dog dare anyone to prove one less hose for an Air II is actually, demonstrably more "streamlined" in any quantifiable manner but it certainly is less hoses and dangles and less can be very functional. Not a particular advocate of that arrangement but I did purchase one this year to experiment with. So far, I quite fancy it but that could change. Kind of like my change of heart on AI. N

Funny story about an Air2.
When I did my rescue course I was buddied with a guy who had an Air2 (so did I actually).
It was my turn to pretend I was OOA so I did the slash motion across the throat to him and he handed me his primary which happened to be on a short hose (something people don't always think about with an Air2), so I was right up in his face trying to breathe off it. Then instead of him finding his Air2 to breathe off, he grabs his snorkel instead and gets a mouth full of water. That sends him straight to the top coughing and sputtering. in an instant he rips his second stage out of my mouth and shoots for the surface, which luckily was only about 15 feet above. Since it was only a drill I calmly put my second stage back in and thought, "What if this was a real emergency? I'm the one suppose to be OOA and in need of assistance, not him". So that lead to a debriefing on the surface and the prognosis was that we needed to lose the snorkels, and maybe he needed to think about an octo length hose if he ever chose to do air shares with someone comfortably.

Losing the Air2 wasn't far behind for me since a few months later I started tech diving and then everything changed.
The only reason I lost the Air2 was because of tech training. If it wasn't for that who knows. But I always saw a few flaws with that style of backup simply because when in a situation I could see a two in one tool adding to task loading in that you need it to regulate buoyancy, and you need to breathe off it at the same time.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I am probably an outlier but I find a bungied necklace on an octo or backup regulator annoying since I often find myself head-down. The second stage swings on the necklace and either interferes with neck movement or actually swings into view.

It sounds like you had too long of a necklass. Mine is just long enough that my 2nd stays under my chin and I could actually reach it with my mouth if needed.

 

[Zeagle Eagle]

Funny story about an Air2.
When I did my rescue course I was buddied with a guy who had an Air2 (so did I actually).
It was my turn to pretend I was OOA so I did the slash motion across the throat to him and he handed me his primary which happened to be on a short hose (something people don't always think about with an Air2), so I was right up in his face trying to breathe off it. Then instead of him finding his Air2 to breathe off, he grabs his snorkel instead and gets a mouth full of water. That sends him straight to the top coughing and sputtering. in an instant he rips his second stage out of my mouth and shoots for the surface, which luckily was only about 15 feet above. Since it was only a drill I calmly put my second stage back in and thought, "What if this was a real emergency? I'm the one suppose to be OOA and in need of assistance, not him". So that lead to a debriefing on the surface and the prognosis was that we needed to lose the snorkels, and maybe he needed to think about an octo length hose if he ever chose to do air shares with someone comfortably.

Losing the Air2 wasn't far behind for me since a few months later I started tech diving and then everything changed.
The only reason I lost the Air2 was because of tech training. If it wasn't for that who knows. But I always saw a few flaws with that style of backup simply because when in a situation I could see a two in one tool adding to task loading in that you need it to regulate buoyancy, and you need to breathe off it at the same time.

That's a very good point Eric. Most of us that dive with an AirII or OctoZ have a slightly longer hose on their primary reg than they really need just for the purpose of sharing. In the two or three OOA situations I have been involved in they have ripped my primary out of my mouth anyway.

It also takes some practice with your Air II so you can inflate and deflate your BC while using it as your primary and sharing air. It can be done quite easily but an OOA is not a good time to find out if you can do it or not.

 

[Akimbo]

It sounds like you had too long of a necklass. Mine is just long enough that my 2nd stays under my chin and I could actually reach it with my mouth if needed.

That is when it interferes with head movement, like descending head-first or reaching into a lobster hole and looking up. There is always a compromise and point of reference. My reference point is no BC, Octo, SPG, or computer so the good parts of that "sets my standard" for streamlining. I would like it more if I could get down to the freediver level.

 

[KevinNM]

The idea of what you should do in an air share between GUE and the normal rec diver is pretty huge. When I had an Air2 and a primary my concept in an air share was to grab their BC strap and start up. Swimming anywhere else with the OOA diver was not at all part of the plan. With a long hose you have a lot more options since you can actually swim and you practice things like swimming doing an air share and guiding the OOA diver.