Necklace Octo holder

[reefduffer]

Just another vote for this. I'm completely recreational, no plans at all to go tech in any sense. The surface will remain a problem-solving option for me. Almost all my diving is on vacation in warm water with a rented single al80, and I don't own tanks.

I dive a 5' long hose with a bungied backup on a yoke 1st-stage and a hose-connected AI console computer, and have been since I first got my own gear. Never found an octopus holder that really works, I like the OOA scenario better than the other two mainstream reg configurations, and a few other advantages that have been mentioned above. I had a little concern about the long hose wrapping when I first tried it, but it seems completely comfortable to me now.

One little trick for rec(yoke)/long hose configuration: I put a 1" ss split ring on the yoke. Takes a couple of seconds extra to push it out of the way mounting on the tank. But then the boltsnap tied on the long hose that's there to clip to your right shoulder D-ring can clip to the yoke for carrying the regs over your shoulder, or storage, keeping the long hose 2nd stage off the deck.

 

[FuzzyNutz]

One little trick for rec(yoke)/long hose configuration: I put a 1" ss split ring on the yoke. Takes a couple of seconds extra to push it out of the way mounting on the tank. But then the boltsnap tied on the long hose that's there to clip to your right shoulder D-ring can clip to the yoke for carrying the regs over your shoulder, or storage, keeping the long hose 2nd stage off the deck.

Sounds good, I'll have to try that out! Thanks! I'm currently using my guitar cable trick - coil up the hoses and wrap a "Hair Bobble" around them (I swear I actually never knew what they were called until just now!). It's a good trick to tidy up cables around the house too - cheaper and easier than the standard velcro solution!

 

[hollywood_mermaid]

I actually had a DM (who was a PADI instructor) tell me that it was unsafe because everyone knows that if you need air you take the extra regulator from your buddy's "triangle". He was afraid that he would not be able to find the regulator that was not in the "triangle" but rather in my mouth.[/QUOTE]

I dive with backup on a necklace. I am a PADI instructor and switch it for teaching but take the opportunity to show students that if I were diving with them recreationally how my set up would be and how important it is to always check out your buddy's configuration and understand it! Great teaching opportunity.

 

[Peter_C]

Many would say adding anything that could be an entanglement onto the tank area is a bad thing. Although it may seem like a simple small split ring, what if you cross fishing line and it slips into the ring? Now you have an entrapment that the only way to clear is to doff your kit and clear it. Hope your weights are on your body, not on your BC.

Here is a common reaction for someone OOA. Notice they go for the reg blowing bubbles which happens to be in the other divers mouth. Donating the primary is a natural thing to do and makes more sense since in proper trim it can be easily seen and accessed. Not so much with an octo in the triangle which is below the diver out of sight. Plus it is a known working reg. The long hose is very nice to have and gives options. If needed you can still grab someone by the shoulder straps and slowly ascend in a verticle position.
[video=youtube;H6yMHXCCAUE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6yMHXCCAUE[/video]

 

[Colliam7]

Who uses one for normal, non tech diving.

Long hose and bungeed necjklace for all rec, and all tec. Teaching OW is the exception (see below).[/QUOTE]

I dive with backup on a necklace. I am a PADI instructor and switch it for teaching but take the opportunity to show students that if I were diving with them recreationally how my set up would be and how important it is to always check out your buddy's configuration and understand it! Great teaching opportunity.

Ditto.

 

[Hatul]

I use a traditional rec setup with short hoses but keep my primary reg on a bungied necklace. That way I'm always close to my air supply. The octo is also on a short bungee but tied off to a D ring. One day I may try the octo on a second bungee necklace but tied more loosely. I think it's a good idea to have at least one reg on a necklace so your never lose you air supply.

For recreational open water diving you can argue both ways. If I need to grab a buddy's regulator without asking I'm more comfortable going for a traditional octo attached to a D ring so he does not feel threatened by my pulling a reg out of his mouth or getting close to his source of air. For cave and such diving you have no choice but the long hose to get through narrow channels.

Regardless, it's part of the predive check to discuss air sharing with your buddy.

 

[Peter_C]

I use a traditional rec setup with short hoses but keep my primary reg on a bungied necklace. That way I'm always close to my air supply.

Go watch the video I posted above and you will see this could be a very unsafe way of doing it. There are many times a panicked OOA person will grab the reg blowing bubbles in another divers mouth. In your case they are not going to be able to get air, or at least they are going to rip your head off trying. Everyone one of us is capable of panic, just for some it is far out.

Nothing wrong with a traditional octo setup, but please make it a traditional setup. That way we all know what to expect. Most today are familiar with donating the primary since AIR II and long hoses are very similar, and taught in pretty much every open water class.

 

[buckaltc]

I have kind of split the difference with my rig. I use a standard short primary and a octo on a 5' hose tucked away. I really see the advantages of the 7' primary and nacklace octo route though. My set up is based on the fact that as a DM I share air more than most. Once or twice a year for real--a little icing causing a free flow on a "deep" dive or student burning through his last 1/3 faster than his first and getting too low for comfort (although now that I think about it, I've never experienced a real OOA--it's always been a malfunction or low air). And of course a hundred times for demos or the kid who didn't find his reg in the recovery drill.

My only problem with donating the long hose for OW students is that we would be teaching the OOA to render a perfectly fine diver OOA by snatching his reg. I'd just be afraid that with novice divers you risk making the donor a second victim by surprising him with a sudden lack of air.

 

[Peter_C]

My only problem with donating the long hose for OW students is that we would be teaching the OOA to render a perfectly fine diver OOA by snatching his reg. I'd just be afraid that with novice divers you risk making the donor a second victim by surprising him with a sudden lack of air.

We are not trained to snatch the reg, but to be handed the donated reg when the proper OOA signals are received. The donator in one fluid motion puts their backup into their mouths. The backup is easy to find since it is bungeed around the neck.

Snatching the reg is done by a panicked diver, and they most likely will go for the one blowing bubbles, which is the one in another divers mouth. At that point I want my bungee backup close so I can get air again quickly. The last thing I would want to have to find is my octo dragging along in the sand, or somehow not right where it is supposed to be which I see all too often.

 

[FinnMom]

My only problem with donating the long hose for OW students is that we would be teaching the OOA to render a perfectly fine diver OOA by snatching his reg. I'd just be afraid that with novice divers you risk making the donor a second victim by surprising him with a sudden lack of air.

The OOA snatch is yet another reason using the primary reg on the longer hose & having the backup bungeed on the shorter hose is a great setup:
If someone is scared enough to snatch the reg from my mouth, they probably wouldn't be eager to try trading regs before heading for the surface. How convient that they will have snatched the reg on the longer hose.

*************************************
Our club has started training all new divers to have the backup bungeed on the shorter hose. For starters it teaches them not to have things hanging loose and possibly dragging below/behind getting dirty/tangled or causing damage to the environment. It's also a comfort for the student to know where the backup is and know he can find it quickly. This reassurance also makes it easier to the student to calm down an extra notch or two and better concentrate on everything else.
Bungeed rigs may not be available in rental gear, but that's no problem because it's easy to make your own.

This should be the new standard. We already made it ours.