What do you do when your inexperienced insta buddy is set up for Air2.

[happy-diver]

Dude I am talking about them permitting me to dive by myself not others nor with anyone else just yuck


Anyway I'm diving Cementco and Flinders Reef tomorrow, I'm up to the eyeballs with Flinders Reef dived
it far too many times, going to try and change it to two Cementcos instead, speaking of eyeballs, getting
the first one of them hacked open, and pull out my lens and put in an acrylic one so I can read my perdix


So I'm out noolo soolooo or nolo solo for a few weeks

ok cool i will have to double check if they are happy to do solo then that's 100% my preferred option. Anyway if you do want to dive at some point feel free to send me a PM with your details and we can connect.

Cheers Paul

 

[mockney]

Dude I am talking about them permitting me to dive by myself not others nor with anyone else just yuck


Anyway I'm diving Cementco and Flinders Reef tomorrow, I'm up to the eyeballs with Flinders Reef dived
it far too many times, going to try and change it to two Cementcos instead, speaking of eyeballs, getting
the first one of them hacked open, and pull out my lens and put in an acrylic one so I can read my perdix


So I'm out noolo soolooo or nolo solo for a few weeks

No worries, plenty of opportunity. I am booked to dive Flinders Reef myself next month, difference being I have never dived it before so I'm looking forward to it. Catch up soon hopefully. Cheers Paul

 

[bradlw]

All dives are solo dives, sometimes with other people.

that

I would keep track of my spg and not run out of air.

and that too

I haven't read through this whole thread
but I fully agree with the OP about the air2 or similar devices. My first SCUBA set bought during or right after my OW cert class was an Air2. Didn't take me long to understand these weaknesses.

That said, while I don't think they are great, they work and odds are really good that your diver knows at least some of this and how it works.

A very long time ago I started treating all dives as solo dives. I mean solo in the sense that you have other friends around that can and will help, but you need to take care of yourself....as opposed to a solo dive where there's nobody around for "miles".
The buddy concept is really an "on paper" thing in my experience

Also, if this Instabuddy is a new diver, then odds are this is a rather shallow and easy dive. Probably one that could be done on snorkel, or nearly so. It's really not such a big concern.

 

[Subcooled]

What's your thoughts?

I'm assuming a diving depth of only 60 feet.

Hence,
Say this to yourself: "It's a short way to the surface"
Repeat.

(Do you want to perform a controlled emergency ascent or an air sharing ascent with a panicked buddy? Maybe he would be cool but you cannot know in advance)

 

[CT-Rich]

Hey All,

Just a quick topic for you. I had a dive recently and needed a buddy. On the boat they allocated me to a chap nice guy don't get me wrong but a couple of questions later I discover he's under 20 dives and I notice his set up is Air2. Now I personally consider Air2 to be a very dangerous set up attempts to fix a problem that doesn't need fixing whereby if I need his help in an out of air situation I take his primary reg and he goes onto this short hose badly breathing Air2 and then he's also supposed to control his buoyancy on ascent etc etc. Its a horrible solution.

Anyway, I am concerned when I see his set up I know its not likely to happen but should I need his support I can see someone with little experience could easily panic where I am needing him to provide me with air. I said nothing other than agreeing that if this situation does arise he's expected to hand me his primary and go to his Air2 to which he agrees. The dive went ahead without issue, was good fun actually he was a good insta buddy in the end but I did consider later whether I should have said I was not comfortable diving with someone in that configuration and requested an alternate insta buddy with a proper occy.

What's your thoughts?

I dove an AIR2 for years. They are fine. As long as everyone understands who donates what, where is the issue? If I had a good dive with an insta-buddy and liked him and we got along, I would consider that far more important than a quirk of his rig you didn't like.

Let's say you get a new insta-buddy, and he is an airhog and kind of an asshat, would you be happier with him because he had a traditional octo (that he may not understand how to use)? An inexperienced diver is going to rely more on you than you are on him. Generally, I consider an insta-buddy a polite form of solo diving while helping a newbie get acclimated to the sport. He is unlikely to save you and you shouldn't be expecting him to, either.