jplacson once bubbled...
:lol: see what I mean? :lol:
I honestly don't see what's so wrong with the Air2 and other inflator combo units. I'd actually prefer having an Air2 AND an octo... for triple redundancy.
I think DIR is good for professionals... kinda like F1... no stereo, no aircon, no airbags, just a really really great car. For the rest of us... a few deviations here and there wouldn't hurt... otherwise, everyone diving jacket style BCs would be dead.
You've obviously never tried a bp/wing
BTW, there's really no concievable way you'd need three regulators.
If your primary fails, go to your backup.
If your backup fails, go to your buddy's octo.
If your buddy's octo fails, buddy breathe.
If you try to throw "if your backup fails, go to your other backup" in there, you're adding a step that will *probably not work anyway* since if both of your second stages aren't delivering air, the third probably won't either. This would add to the panic situation and add more OOA time for you.
It's an unnecessary complication that serves no purpose.
As for the Air2 itself, if nothing else, it forces a change in your normal ascent habits during a period of stress. With a bungeed backup, you hand off your primary, put your backup in your mouth, then proceed with your everyday ascent procedures. With the Air2, you need to change things since your inflator is *in your mouth* and you're not nearly as practiced at the new method as the normal method.
