Which regulator should you donate?

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Originally posted by devilfish
It’s really beyond me where all this stuff comes from. An OOA diver ( a leach) who used up all their own air and now wants mine ruches up to me for a reg. Two eye balls like two hard boiled eggs inside a mask, the last thing I want at this moment is to give up a reg which is in my mouth and I am 100% sure it is working.
Then if your Doing It Right the hose will be wrapped around your neck and the OOA diver will rush to the surface choking the life out of you as you struggle to get your bungied octo out of your neck as it's caught in the hose thats choking the life out of you.....

It could happen....
 
Originally posted by devilfish
It’s really beyond me where all this stuff comes from. An OOA diver ( a leach) who used up all their own air and now wants mine ruches up to me for a reg. Two eye balls like two hard boiled eggs inside a mask, the last thing I want at this moment is to give up a reg which is in my mouth and I am 100% sure it is working. The last thing I want as a rescuer is to be out of air even for a moment.
That's not the real wold. In real life the leach is gona hit you like a ton of bricks.

Devilfish, do you dive with a regular buddy that you trust and practice OOA scenario's? Do you regularly team up with buddies who are strangers or concerned about an OOA non-buddy hitting you like a "ton of bricks"?

After reading this thread I have decided that my diving family is going to the necklace system. It truly makes the most sense safety wise and ALL divers should be able to cope with being out of air for "longer than a moment". You can lose your reg unexpectedly from another divers errant fin kick, a playful seal, a stingray at stingray city looking for food or even stranger scenario's. Being ready for a lost or snatched regulator should be practiced just as a lost or flooded mask etc, etc... An OOA diver taking you by surprise with a snatched regulator should set your practiced responses in motion.

Currently my octo is snapped on my bc with an elastic bungee...knowing that a flailing OOA diver may be requiring the use of both hands I like the idea of it being readily accesible around my neck and not at my waist.

I also agree that the tech and cave divers do lead the way with innovative diving techniques and safety procedures. Althoug an open water diver I am going to adopt this one...

Great thread and very thought provoking...
 
I have actually had the OOA situation happen to me once on a West Palm Beach dive several years ago. A diver, not one from our boat, came up to me with big round eyes, grabbed the regulator out of my mouth and then grabbed me. I took my Air II and was fine. I then checked his guage and he was at about zero pressure on his tank. I found my buddy, signed for him to stay with the group and I ascended with this guy to the flag. (We were on a float dive.) Our boat picked him up and I went back down to join the group. The boats swapped the OOA diver while I was down finishing the dive.

My Air II did what it was supposed to do. It gave me air long enough for me to surface. Does it breath as nicely as my primary? No, it doesn't, it isn't supposed to. Do I care? No, I don't. It is only supposed to get you to the surface. I check my Air II every time I dive by breathing off of it for a while. I have my Air II serviced every year, just like my primary and my first stage. Does it take practice? All OOA and other emergency situations should be practiced but like most people I probably don't practice enough.

I like my set up very well and it has been good for my type of diving. The biggest problem I have with the Air II is when I do beach dives, it gets sand in it and then it will free flow. So, when I do a beach dive, I have learned to open up my Air II and clean it out very well before the next dive.
 
I have three comments.

First, if you are Doing It Right, you and your buddy have practiced OOA drills, you know your air consumption and have planned accordingly on the surface, you are observing the rule of thirds and you are, in general, prepared for an OOA situation. Your backup is sitting three inches from you mouth and you can reach it easily, even if your primary is ripped out of your mouth.

Second, the fact that your primary hose is routed around your neck does not alter the fact that you donate your primary. Our so-called "S" drills do involve the panicked diver situation in which the primary is grabbed without warning. I simply duck my head to clear the hose (it still routes under my right arm), which puts my backup right at my lips. Even if the diver were to head for the surface, I would not become entangled in my primary. (If he/she did head for the surface, I would go for his wing and dry suit inflator controls).

Third, when I pass my primary, my pinky finger is already on the purge button. Thus, the OOA diver does not get a flooded reg. If it is yanked out, then I reach over and purge it with my right hand while grabbing my backup with my left.

I am not uncomfortable with passing the primary regulator because (1) my backup is as good a regulator as my primary in terms of performance at depth; (2) I know that my backup works because I regularly clip off my primary and do the dive (or at least some of it) on the backup; and (3) I know exactly where it is located.

I'm not knocking other systems. However, IMHO, to suggest that DIR configuration somehow places you at greater risk when dealing with an OOA is not correct. In fact, the system makes sure that you pass a working regulator to the person who needs it the most while providing an immediately available backup. The same cannot be said for octo's that live happily in their rubber balls or tucked into a BC and that get used once in a great while.
 
Originally posted by scubagatorgal


Devilfish, do you dive with a regular
buddy that you trust

Yes I do dive with a buddy I can trust. For the last 25 years I have been diving with my pony bottle.
 
detroit diver once bubbled...

You go for your AIRII to breath and now you've got to remember which buttons to push to breath and which to push to control buoyancy. Take the AIRII out of your mouth to descend. Put it back in to breath and ascend. Yikes!

Last time I checked, you don't have to press a button to breathe...Air 2/AirSource/etc have an inflate button, vent/deflate button and a purge button for the 2nd stage.

I understand why many people do not like the Air 2. I have one and am very comfortable with it. I was trained on it from the beginning in my OW dives. Here's the main reason to use an Air 2-type device:

many recreational regs have 4 ports, 1 HP, 3 LP...or at least my MK2 does...yes...I use a Mk2. It works great

LP 1 = second stage
LP 2 = BC
LP 3 = DRYSUIT!
HP 1 = SPG

Where do I put my octo now?
 
AaronBBrown once bubbled...


Last time I checked, you don't have to press a button to breath...Air 2/AirSource/etc have an inflate button, vent/deflate button and a purge button for the 2nd stage.

I understand why many people do not like the Air 2. I have one and am very comfortable with it. I was trained on it from the beginning in my OW dives. Here's the main reason to use an Air 2-type device:

many recreational regs have 4 ports, 1 HP, 3 LP...or at least my MK2 does...yes...I use a Mk2. It works great

LP 1 = second stage
LP 2 = BC
LP 3 = DRYSUIT!
HP 1 = SPG

Where do I put my octo now?

Get a T adapter or buy a newer regulator. Scubapro's current MK2 has four LP ports.

An Air2 is not an answer for a regulator that doesn't meet your needs.
 
divedude once bubbled...

Then if your Doing It Right the hose will be wrapped around your neck and the OOA diver will rush to the surface choking the life out of you as you struggle to get your bungied octo out of your neck as it's caught in the hose thats choking the life out of you.....

It could happen....


No, it can't. Not even the slightest possibility.
 
jonnythan once bubbled...


Get a T adapter or buy a newer regulator. Scubapro's current MK2 has four LP ports.

An Air2 is not an answer for a regulator that doesn't meet your needs.

My regulator does meet my needs...I have a SeaQuest AirSource that works quite well. At some point I will buy a newer regulator as my requirements change. At that point I may consider getting a separate octo, but for the type of diving I do, the AirSource is perfectly useable. Ascents are not that difficult with the thing in your mouth...that's what the purge valve is for. Every dive, I do a search for my purge valve so I know where it is in the event of an emergency.
 
AaronBBrown once bubbled...

many recreational regs have 4 ports, 1 HP, 3 LP...or at least my MK2 does...yes...I use a Mk2. It works great

LP 1 = second stage
LP 2 = BC
LP 3 = DRYSUIT!
HP 1 = SPG

Where do I put my octo now?

you could buy another regulator.
 

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