What APEKS Octo to go with???

[DarkCoffee]

I was involved in one OOA situation where the receiver was under stress and put my octo in upside down. That first breath of 'water' was a stressful thing for him

The Egress may breath a bit harder at depth but as a donated octo it eliminates one additional risk when in an OOA situation.

 

[USMC_Recon]

Just got the XTX 50 octo with a XTX Tungsten 2nd and love it to death. Breathes perfectly effortless to draw from at the 10 feet as it is at 120 feet.

 

[buddhasummer]

Kern,
All current second stages have the venturi control. The XTX 20 is identical to the XTX 40 second. The difference is in the first stage--the XTX 20 does not have the extra seal. The XTX 50, 100, and 200 seconds are identical as well.

I have only taked a few breaths at depth from an Egress octo, but it seemed pretty good as pancake octos go, and I am sure it would be fine at recreational depths. It did not breath as easily as the standard configuration Apeks octos, which do a great job at well beyond recreational depths.

the XTX20 and XTX40 are not identical second stages, the XTX20 is recommended for warm water only as it doesnt have the heat exchanger that the XTX40 has. Thr price diff is not so much so if looking at either of these Id go with the 40 being both cold water capable also is a little more versatile. Good luck.

 

[keyshunter]

That's true. I forgot about the little slide on heat exchanger which goes between the hose fitting and the second stage. The XTX 20 uses a spacer in place of it. Must be an enormous cost saving for Apeks. Other than that, they ARE identical.

 

[WD8CDH]

My general rule of thumb is to go with an identical second stage as the backup, as long as you can get a different color faceplate. That is especially important if you are using an alternate air source such as a pony. If it is just an octo on the same first stage, not so important, it can be the same color. If different color faceplates are not available, I go with a markedly different shape second, like a Poseidon second paired with a Conshelf second.

My point is don't skimp on the quality of your backup. It needs to work just as well as your primary. And if the two seconds come from two different air sources, they need to be able to be easily identified as different, preferably by either sight or touch.