Using octo upside down

[David R Johnson]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

This excellent discussion has been moved from Regulators to the Beginner's|New Equipment forum where it might benefit a wider audience.

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I'm new to SCUBA and planning to purchase some gear for my wife and I. I apologise if is this has been covered in a previous post. It would seem to make very good sense to have an octo that can be used upside down or right side up. I could see this being a major (if not fatal) issue when someone is in despirate need of air. As best i can tell, this seems to be a feature different than most octos have. All that being said ,are there any puck style octos out there that can be used in either orientation? Would you recommend them? We will always be diving in warm waters.

 

[rhwestfall]

I use an Apex Egress as my octo on my warm water recreational kit (double hose). It is designed to meet your criteria.

Others make similar. I also have an Oceanic Swivel 180 that i replaced with the Apex as I had trouble getting parts.

YMMV

 

[Jeremy Williams]

There are, such as this one. It doesn’t breathe as well as a normal regulator in my opinion but it might be a reasonable choice for a tropical travel setup.

ABS Octopus

But you can breathe a reg upside down it’ll just be wet.

 

[tbone1004]

@David R Johnson regulators can be used upside-down but they will leak. Unfortunate fact of that design. No pucks that I'm aware of that like being upside-down either.

Now, there are several regs out there that either have lefty-righty feed, or can be used in any orientation. Poseidon in particular being the best of the lot. Mares has one too that @Lake Hickory Scuba has a video on. Is fed from the bottom so it's a bit different.

Much better option than using an equipment solution to a skills problem *I own about 2 dozen Poseidon regulators and use them lefty and righty, so it's not a knock against them*, is going to a primary donate setup where you are always in control of the regulator going into the other divers mouth. No risk of it going in upside-down that way

 

[Bowers]

you can breathe a reg upside down, its just akward to have bubbles in your face each time. but after a breath or two you could turn it upright. also practice donating your reg properly to maintain correct orientation to the receiver.
as mentioned above, if this is still a concern, there are many regulators that vent out the side instead of bottom, that would do excactly what you are wanting.

 

[tbone1004]

@Bowers aspirating water is the bigger issue and can send a stressed diver into a state of panic. Most all regulators will breathe very wet when upside down and you can't purge a second stage when it's upside down which is truly dangerous.

 

[David R Johnson]

The specific situation I was hoping to negate is someone, out of air, panicked, despirately grabs my octo, rips it loose and shoves it in their mouth for a life saving breath only to suck in a lung full of water because in their panic they didn't take the time to look. Seems to me a octo that just flat works either way is a great idea in that case. Maybe, I am just overlooking something.

 

[Bowers]

@Bowers aspirating water is the bigger issue and can send a stressed diver into a state of panic. Most all regulators will breathe very wet when upside down and you can't purge a second stage when it's upside down which is truly dangerous.

i have purged regulators upside down many times. it is not done as gently as it would be when correctly oriented, but it is not hard. i have also seen regs donated wrong, breathed on a couple times, then flipped over once things calmed down. I do agree that the better option is properly donating or if budget allows, getting a specific regulator. but i reiterate that what i said is correct even if not the best option.

 

[David R Johnson]

There are, such as this one. It doesn’t breathe as well as a normal regulator in my opinion but it might be a reasonable choice for a tropical travel setup.

ABS Octopus

But you can breathe a reg upside down it’ll just be wet.

That looks like a good choice. Thanks.

 

[JackD342]

The specific situation I was hoping to negate is someone, out of air, panicked, despirately grabs my octo, rips it loose and shoves it in their mouth for a life saving breath only to suck in a lung full of water because in their panic they didn't take the time to look. Seems to me a octo that just flat works either way is a great idea in that case. Maybe, I am just overlooking something.

I agree with your concern, but it a balance of needs. Usually the "ambidextrous" octos do not perform as well as standard style, and are usually unbalanced and so should not be used with an overbalanced 1st stage. But they work. I would be more concerned about performance if you like to go deep. Models I sell are Aqualung ABS, Apeks Egress, Mares MV, and Sherwood Remora. Egress is coldwater tested, Remora has unique hose routing.
Addendum: Apeks Egress is balanced, making it a pretty nice quality compromise.