There is a lot of anecdotal evidence and rationalizing the behavior of normalization going on here.
Years ago, I worked at a dive shop that was really trying to increase sales by getting customers to switch to Air2 and eliminate a hose. All of the rental BCDs (used for teaching students) were set up with Air2, as well as all the Instructor's BCDs.
At first, I thought that this was really cool. But almost immediately, I began running into problems.
1.) The Primary Regulator hoses were too short. 28"-30". Students who didn't know each other were reluctant to press closely together, so the reg would get pulled out of the OOA Diver's mouth.
2.) The additional task loading for a new skill, of removing the reg and blowing bubbles whilst venting BCD caused numerous blowups. During Open Water dives, I had to donate a second stage to a student who had no regulator in his mouth, quite a few times.
3.) All of the Air2 units would begin to slightly free flow and need service before the traditional second stages needed service. To this day, customers come into my shop complaining that their SS1 or Air2 is "bubbling".
4.) To remedy all of the above, we put kits together with longer inflator hoses, longer primary regulator hoses (these were odd looking beasts) and we shortened the service interval for the rental regs. We spent more pool time working on OOA drills and proper technique for sharing air with an Air2. Then the people would go diving and rent gear at their vacation location, and get a traditional octopus setup. They hadn't practiced with that...
Between teaching, leading trips, leading dives, and just diving thousands of dives, I've had to "share air" with people who were either critically low on air, had a catastrophic malfunction, or were OOA, many times. For example, I came across a fellow on a dive in Cozumel who was at 60' and had 100psi left. He was a weak swimmer and was on the verge of panic. I put my bungeed second stage into my mouth and gave him my primary reg (on 40" hose with 90º swivel), launched a safety sausage and worked the spool, held his BCD strap, my camera, controlled his buoyancy and mine through ascent and during safety stop, and ultimately swam him back to the boat. I think removing an integrated reg from my mouth to vent wing, might have been one too many tasks to load...
I opened my own dive center a dozen years ago, our rental BCDs are exclusively BP&W. They have no shoulder dumps.
Unless diving side mount or CCR, Our Instructors use BP&W and regs with either 7' long hose or 40" underarm hose for primary with alternate second stage on necklace. Inflator hose length is minimized. Brass n Glass SPG secured with SS Boltsnap. Wrist mounted computer. Streamlined, nothing to drag,
Years ago, I worked at a dive shop that was really trying to increase sales by getting customers to switch to Air2 and eliminate a hose. All of the rental BCDs (used for teaching students) were set up with Air2, as well as all the Instructor's BCDs.
At first, I thought that this was really cool. But almost immediately, I began running into problems.
1.) The Primary Regulator hoses were too short. 28"-30". Students who didn't know each other were reluctant to press closely together, so the reg would get pulled out of the OOA Diver's mouth.
2.) The additional task loading for a new skill, of removing the reg and blowing bubbles whilst venting BCD caused numerous blowups. During Open Water dives, I had to donate a second stage to a student who had no regulator in his mouth, quite a few times.
3.) All of the Air2 units would begin to slightly free flow and need service before the traditional second stages needed service. To this day, customers come into my shop complaining that their SS1 or Air2 is "bubbling".
4.) To remedy all of the above, we put kits together with longer inflator hoses, longer primary regulator hoses (these were odd looking beasts) and we shortened the service interval for the rental regs. We spent more pool time working on OOA drills and proper technique for sharing air with an Air2. Then the people would go diving and rent gear at their vacation location, and get a traditional octopus setup. They hadn't practiced with that...
Between teaching, leading trips, leading dives, and just diving thousands of dives, I've had to "share air" with people who were either critically low on air, had a catastrophic malfunction, or were OOA, many times. For example, I came across a fellow on a dive in Cozumel who was at 60' and had 100psi left. He was a weak swimmer and was on the verge of panic. I put my bungeed second stage into my mouth and gave him my primary reg (on 40" hose with 90º swivel), launched a safety sausage and worked the spool, held his BCD strap, my camera, controlled his buoyancy and mine through ascent and during safety stop, and ultimately swam him back to the boat. I think removing an integrated reg from my mouth to vent wing, might have been one too many tasks to load...
I opened my own dive center a dozen years ago, our rental BCDs are exclusively BP&W. They have no shoulder dumps.
Unless diving side mount or CCR, Our Instructors use BP&W and regs with either 7' long hose or 40" underarm hose for primary with alternate second stage on necklace. Inflator hose length is minimized. Brass n Glass SPG secured with SS Boltsnap. Wrist mounted computer. Streamlined, nothing to drag,
