Switching from Octo Inflator to regular Octo?

[Jarrett]

For all you naysayers of the octo inflator... this is where you get to say, "I told you so!!"

After diving with a regular octo for the first year, I finally deicded to buy and try an Atomic SS1 for my rig. *I* love using it. It's nice to loose the hose and the buttons work great and it breathes almost as well as my primary regulator. Plus it just looks cool to have a big yellow Atomic reg on your stuff

The one thing that it really did was make me appreciate the quality and reliability of my octo. With my old one, I just had the cheapest one I could find. I never breathed on it, just hit the purge now and then to make sure it was still working. But with the SS1, I put it in my mouth everytime I got in the water. Since I might be using it one day, I want it to be nice and reliable to use.

But today, I went with my GF through OW class and when we got to the OOA practices... things didn't go so well. It's confusing how and when to give and switch regulators. And the hoses are so short, we couldn't see each other without taking the regs out of our mouths. Not to mention I have a SeaCure mouthpiece on my primary that is uncomorftable in her mouth. Even in the pool it added stress to the exercise, I can't imagine the panic it would induce in a real emergency.

Due to this, I am going back to the traditional octo and probably going to put it on my left side so it naturally faces my buddy and puts us face to face with each other. The divemaster had that setup today and it was really comfortable to use. But now I don't want to go back to my old crappy octo, I want something that I would want to use in an emergency.

So...

Is there a good, compact, easy breathing octo out there that you would recommend? My primary is an Oceanic Delta3 Titanium if that makes a diff. Thanks in advance.

 

[Stormbringer]

I know the feeling...I was told the Air 2 was great and I loved the way it looked without the extra hose and all even if I didn't really expect to use it out of OW class. Then in my OW class OOA exercises I too realized the Air 2 (I imagine all other octo inflators as well) just plain sucked. It was an excercise in frustration and while possible to make an air sharing ascent it was a bear. After that I got rid of the sucker and went back to a standard Octo and never looked back. It may look cool and high tech but I found it wasn't for me either.

 

[1_T_Submariner]

Do you think a longer hose on your primary would work better?

 

[GottaDive]

Is there a good, compact, easy breathing octo out there that you would recommend? My primary is an Oceanic Delta3 Titanium if that makes a diff. Thanks in advance.

Apeks Egress -- pneumatically balanced octo. It will breathe as good as your primary. You can't go wrong!

~Steve~

 

[texdiveguy]

For the most part,,,octo's are nothing more than detuned second stages,,so if you have a primary 2nd. stage that you like,,,,look at it octo counter-part.

 

[uglyredshoes]

hmmm, the length of the hoses shouldnt be a problem for air sharing.

the normal configuration for having an octo-inflator is after all having a long hose for your primary since you pass that away in the event of air sharing.

 

[victor]

Jarrett
No need to get rid of your current rig, just put a longer hose and a swivel on your primary.

In a real OOA situation the safest reg to give to the OOA diver is the one in your mouth.

While I have never had to deal with a real OOA situation many who have will tell you that the one in your mouth is the one the OOA divers wants and will take. That is the one they know is working, that has the correct mix for the depth you are currently at.

But today, I went with my GF through OW class and when we got to the OOA practices... things didn't go so well. It's confusing how and when to give and switch regulators. And the hoses are so short, we couldn't see each other without taking the regs out of our mouths. Not to mention I have a SeaCure mouthpiece on my primary that is uncomorftable in her mouth. Even in the pool it added stress to the exercise, I can't imagine the panic it would induce in a real emergency.

Why not just rent gear for the classes. Remember an OOA situation is a rare occurence, the mouthpiece would not be a major issue in a real OOA situation.

A longer hose and some more practise should resolve the problem.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The potential panic situation will not be resolved by switching to a conventional octo - you still have that objectionably long, very rigid and very custom SeaCure mouthpiece on your primary.

Donating the octo works great in the confined environment of a pool or the orderly and planned environment of a checkout dive, but in the real world at least 2/3rds of the OOA divers who share air with you are going to feel the need for gas RIGHT NOW and are going to mug you for your primary as it is RIGHT THERE and is producing bubbles at a time when they badly want to start producing their own bubbles.

But... when they mug you for the primary, they are going to have problems getting your mouthpiece in and getting it sealed. Even then it is not going to feel secure given that it does not fit their teeth or mouth and the stress applied by the short hose it is attached to is going to aggravate that feeling of insecurity and promote panic.

My advice, if you are really concerned about effective air sharing and panic reduction is to go with a long hosed (5') primary and dump the SeaCure mouthpiece. The long hose philosophy accomodates the reality of primary second stage donation and allows you and the OOA diver to share comfortably, swim comfortably and ascend comfortably with no one feeling cramped, feeling like they are about to lose their reg, or feeling they have to keep their hand on the reg to prevent it from being pulled from their mouth.

The long hose is a far better approach than your DM's "backwards" left side octo. You need to remember the other use for your octo is for your own use if you have a problem with your primary. I see it used far more frequently for that use than for air sharing as it's far more common for a diver to encounter problems with folded exhaust valves, leaking mouthpieces, cracked cases and holes or cracks in mouthpieces than it is to encounter an air sharing situation.

Plus with a long hose used in conjunction with a 60 or 360 degree swivel, the side to side pull produced by a too short or too long "short hose" is eliminated as is the need for a SeaCure mouth piece. I know SeaCure mouthpieces have ardent fans, but they are the wrong solution to the problem. A good quality conventional mouthpiece (Aqualung Comfobite, Scubapro, etc) and a properly dimensioned LP hose or alternatively a long hose are equally effective at addressing TMJ concerns without creating safety/airshare issues.

With regard to an AIR1/SS1, a slightly longer corrogated inflator hose will resolve your perceived problems with it.