I am a little nervous

[Randy43068]

MasterF, I really cannot understand anyone who has reasonable wits about himself would think the Air2 is a worthy piece of equipment. I base my opinion on personal use, and the actual stories of others who have issues with it.

A bungeed octo would pose absolutely no threat to you in any way as far as entanglement. Done properly the octo on a necklace would be on a 3/16 shock cord. You can ALWAYS either cut it off, or slip it over your head in the unlikely event it becomes "entangled" in something.

When the chips are down, the last thing you want to fool with is the gear you really need. It should be in it's place ready to work and work flawlessly without having to train your buddy in it's use. A bungeed octo is the most elegant solutions to the safe second, bar none.

Come dive with me and I will prove to you what I'm saying about the air2. You won't like it, but I can prove it to you in six minutes.

 

[Docc]

And having one less hose gives you room for your scubapro snorkle!










.

 

[MasterFritts]

Hey Randy,

Thanks for the insight. Can you be specific about why an AIR2 would not work well. In my understanding it would be used for emergencies only right? I am just unclear why an OCTO is better in this regards. I mean you use it to get to the surface only. Now if I was sharing air for other purposes I would not think it the best solution at all. But the only time I intend to share air is in an out of air situation.

When sharing in this way I use my right shoulder dump to control my Buoyancy as I ascend keeping the AIR2 in my mouth. Can you please elaborate on my points so I can better understand why?

Sorry I hit my serious mode now. Dang it.

 

[MasterFritts]

And having one less hose gives you room for your scubapro snorkle!

Oh lord no that is the 1st thing I ditched after my training. The pics I have are from my checkout dives.

 

[John Chenault]

A question for the Air2 bashers. Is your objection that The Air2 is a bad regulator, or are you unhappy with the idea of not having a second regulator on a separate hose, either bungeed around your neck, or a long dangley hooked to your BC somewhere.

I have been diving for 20 + years with a very old sherwood shadow. Simple, rugged, mounts on the low pressure hose feeding my BC inflator. I like it because it is one less piece of hose to drag around.

I'm not likely to change my rig, but I am curious what others think.

John

 

[ocean walker]

When any of you are saying Air 2 which is a specific Scuba Pro product are you referring to the concept of using the BC inflator hose as a backup regulator or this specific piece of Scuba Pro gear?

As well, how many of you, this means you, not someone you know or some idea you have in your head, have ever experienced an OOA situation, and I am not talking about training situations? I believe there will be very few responses to this.

Here is where I am coming from. I have a lot of logged and even more unlogged hours underwater. I have only been in two OOA situations before I became a SOLO diver. But that was after many many hours as a buddy. It was not the gear that made everything easy. It was my training that paid out in real situations where my buddy was in distress. In one case they were full blown panicked. It was my training that kept us both alive. Not the gear. I feel that scuba divers can get over focused on gear. You can have the best gear in the world but it is your training that will keep you alive.

This sounds more like a locker room brawl than a real discussion about your safety. My perception is that you believe your gear is at the heart of your survival in a BAD situation. I would like to suggest that the real focus should be on you decision making processes both before your dive and during your dive. No one has addressed why a buddy ran out of air in the first place during this discussion as well.

 

[oreocookie]

so, moral of the story, MasterFritts, is that is somebody wants to pick a fight with you, they should do it online as opposed to in person?

I'm not gonna pick a fight here, but I do welcome that fact that you said in future you may ditch the AIRII. I think part of the reason people were (are?) reacting to your posts the way they are is not so much that you like your AIRII, it's the "end of story" attitude you seem to have about it. If you like it, fine. If you change your mind later in 5 dives or in 500 dives, that's fine too. What's right now may not be right later, but I think that applies to just about everything in life, not just scuba.

my 2 psi about the AIRII, because I have to join this friendly little debate. personally, i don't really get it. in principle, i guess it sounds ok, one less hose, more streamlined i guess, one less piece of equipment to worry about servicing... but then, last time i checked, the dir config is very much about streamlining (it's about other stuff too, but that's not the point here), and they use a long hose which doesn't seem too streamlined to me (yes, i realise that long hoses are necessary in some cases) so 2 "normal" length second stage hoses can't cause that much drag. It seems to me like an octo, of whichever length hose, would be safer cause in an OOA situation, one or both of you might be a bit panicked, is that really the time where you want to have to do something you don't do all the time like controlling your buoyancy while breathing from the same hose? You ascend all the time breathing from a reg and using a separate inflator, seems like it would be easier to ascend OOA while breathing from a reg or octo and using a separate inflator. but again, that's just my 2 psi, and i'll admit that i don't have the experience to make it any more than just 2

 

[FishOutUvH2O]

Not to add fuel to an already out of control fire, but many of the people that are most, to put it mildly, passionately against the octo/inflater concept on the basis of it being "non-standard" use a long hose and bungied octo. When did that configuration become a standard for recreational diving?

 

[sabbath999]

You are missing the fact that the OOA diver will likely be panicking and that could mean he is trying to kill you... LITERALLY...and IT IS YOU WHO IS IN TROUBLE.

Clipped...

I hope I don't sound preachy...not my intention. Just trying to offer a small view of the narrowing of perception that takes place in an OOA situation. I argue it is best to offer the panicked AND the assisting diver the best working safety gear possible in an effort to instill control and confidence when all hell breaks lose.

Thanks... I was asking a serious question and I appreciate the serious answer.

I take no offense at all, I am a newbie with limited experience which is why I am asking...

As far as another s600, well that will have to wait a bit if I go that route... I am kind of out of money at the moment

 

[IceBergSlim]

Not to add fuel to an already out of control fire, but many of the people that are most, to put it mildly, passionately against the octo/inflater concept on the basis of it being "non-standard" use a long hose and bungied octo. When did that configuration become a standard for recreational diving?

When the internet became the place people go to to learn about diving.

And that is not a shot at anyone or anything, it's just the reality.

The long hose was popular in places that rec divers would never go. When message boards became popular the ideas started to spread from Tech to Rec.