Is octopus useless?

[H2Andy]

People have not always used octopus. To my mind it became "the must" only within past 20 years or so. And it's being marketed as "important safety feature".
But what it really does?

the "octopus" was developed by Sheck Exley for his cave diving. the standard procedure back then when a diver had an out of air emergency was to buddy breathe (like you say).

however, in a cave, buddy breathing really slows your exit down, and what you want to do is get out as fast as possible with what air you have left, now being shared by two divers.

so... enter the octopus and the long hose. now, if one diver ran out of air, both divers would breathe from different second stages without having to stop to switch back and forth

the octopus was then adopted by the open water community, because it's easier to simply hand over a spare second stage that to buddy breathe. why task-load divers in the middle of an emergency? sure, buddy breathing can be done, but why add the extra stick that may break the camel's back?

if you are going to use a backup second stage (i.e. octo), i would recommend maximizing its potential and using a 7 foot hose on your primary, handing that out in an emergency, and going to your secondary. that gives you nice distance between divers.

as to what it really does, there are a few things that it does for yourself as well. here are just some i can think of:

1. if your primary fails for some reason, you can use the backup (octo);

2. if your primary falls out of your mouth and you can't locate it, you can simply use the octo and take your time finding the primary;

3. if the primary hose gets entangled in something, you can switch to your octo, and then work on disentangling the primary hose with the reg out of your mouth.

basically what it does is it gives you flexibility and redundancy ... which, to me,
ARE VERY GOOD THINGS

 

[Jarrett]

...has adopted the 5' hose/bungied secondary configuration because it quite simply makes sense.

How does he route the primary hose? Does the routing impact head mobility or cause jaw fatigue? Does the length impact performance of the reg? Thanks.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

It's nice to have an alternate when the primary gets blocked with vomit, bubble gum or your wad. .

I'll have to take your word for that; especially the last one.

 

[Penopolypants]

a. on a regular open water dives any two (and more) trained divers should be comfortable breathing from one regulator taking turns..

You expect someone - in a state of panic, who can't breathe - to take your regulator and then give it back to you? Being without air likely caused the panic, and most people who are very frightened usually won't voluntarily put themselves back in the place that already scared the pants off of them.

It's easy to say that you would trust your buddy and his/her training, but have you been with them when they're in a state of total panic? What if it were another diver that you didn't know? Wouldn't it be better to keep you both breathing without losing your equipment, so that at least one of you had things somewhat under control?

I'm not attacking you personally, I just always thought that buddy breathing was a bit....complex...for a rescue maneuver. When I first started diving, I was pleased to find the octo had become a part of diving equipment. It just made sense.

 

[occrider]

So I'm relatively new to diving but is DIR all about eliminating any and all "redundancies" to the advanced diver or is it about maximizing safety? I mean really, how much imposition does the extra hose/regulator impose upon a DIR diver? I would like to adopt best practices, and I don't think eliminating the octopus is anything that closely resembles best practices ... but if someone can tell why the cons would outweigh the pros (even if you are the most advanced of divers diving with seasoned professionals) I am all ears. And call me close minded but despite what anyone says I'm diving with an octy

 

[stevetim]

Scuba is reviewed, refined, and modified with age.

If you were certified, your agency taught you what it thought you should know. If you trust your own life without an octo, by all means, ignore your training and dive on.

Oh, and find a buddy who feels the same way too so you don't unnecessarily put his/her life at a higher risk.

 

[rongoodman]

So I'm relatively new to diving but is DIR all about eliminating any and all "redundancies" to the advanced diver or is it about maximizing safety? I mean really, how much imposition does the extra hose/regulator impose upon a DIR diver? I would like to adopt best practices, and I don't think eliminating the octopus is anything that closely resembles best practices ... but if someone can tell why the cons would outweigh the pros (even if you are the most advanced of divers diving with seasoned professionals) I am all ears. And call me close minded but despite what anyone says I'm diving with an octy

If I understand you correctly, you're assuming that DIR/Hog divers eliminate the octopus. That isn't correct. What they do is donate the primary to the OOA diver and breath off the secondary(octopus), which lives on a bungee under the chin. The reason for donating the primary is so that the OOA diver is guaranteed to get a working regulator with the proper gas.

 

[Diveral]

Octopuses were few and far between when I learned to scuba dive. I don't think I actually saw one until about 2 years after I was certified. I bought and started using one about 7 years after I got certified. I've only had to use them twice but they are nice to have when you need one.

 

[jpcpat]

I like my Octo, though I bring a pony along if I am out of CESA range.

On a casual Florida Reef dive, a diver went OOA and grabbed my Primary out of my mouth, with NO intention of giving it back. Glad I had my octopus.

In a perfect world, buddy breathing should be the answer. In the real world, it's a pretty complex motor skill for a near panicked diver. If you have a well trained buddy you are comfortable with, great. It's not always an option.

When I did rescue, my instructor pulled my reg out of my mouth. It freeflowed violently and was a bit tricky to find. Not an emergency, but my Octo came in handy.

 

[TSandM]

Length of hose does not impact reg performance.

My husband routes his 5' hose under the arm, around the back of his neck and into his mouth. He added a swivel on his 2nd stage because he felt the position of the reg was uncomfortable otherwise. I have two other friends using the same setup who do not have swivels.