BC with built in reg on the BC inflator

[SFL_diver]

I have seen some BC's with a built in regulator on the manual "blow-in" inflator portion on the BC. Thus eliminating the octopus. How do those actually work?

Which BC's are good quality that offer this feature?

 

[D_B]

My ScubaPro Knight Hawk BC has one (AIR-2) good regulator and a nice BC from a good company , I do like it
While there are obvious advantages to having this setup, there are some not so obvious disadvantages ... might be harder to dump air from your BC with your inflater hose reg. stuck in your mouth ... when your budy wants to share your air, he takes your reg. and you use the BC one , and the short hose on your reg. causes both of you to be locked in a face to face position with your hands holding onto each others BC as you ascend
If you train with it , it should not be an issue

DB

 

[spectrum]

I have seen some BC's with a built in regulator on the manual "blow-in" inflator portion on the BC. Thus eliminating the octopus. How do those actually work?

Which BC's are good quality that offer this feature?

Try doing a search for "AIR-2" the Scubapro trade name for the inflator/safe second. You will see that there are two very divided camps on the value and safety of these devices.

My opinion...

Advantages:
* 1 less hose coming from your second stage
* Since it's on such a short lead you don't have to worry about dragging your safe second stage through the rocks, sand and coral if you are danglie challenged.

Disadvantages:
* You cannot use it to donate air, in an air share situation you will have to give up your primary and take the combination unit for yourself. Many will argue that the needy diver will take yours anyway and others will say that that's what they offer. In any case there's no choice.
* You are now managing a incident and ascending, you will have your inflator valve confined to the breathing position, With a shoulder dump and technique you can still manage but it is another skillset to keep sharp aside form your normal technique. Remember you may have a somewhat distressed diver involved.
* If you have a runaway inflator and need to release the QD you are SOL
* More often than not divers are trained using discrete safe seconds. If you don't have a constant buddy this is one more point to go over in your mutual orientation. This can result in training under fire.
* If one half of a buddy pair is doing a lot better on air consumption then sharing is not nearly as convenient as with a discrete safe second.
* You will have a bulkier hose and inflator to work with during all of your dives since you have the safe second and a hose sized for a greater demand than a simple BC.
*I don't think you'll end up saving any money.
*For ease of servicing your air delivery system the maker of you combo unit wants to be the same as your first stage and primary second stage. They at least should have a common servicing dealer.

These and other thoughts are what went into my decision, I bet you can guess. Like many many SCUBA topics some swear by them and others swear at them. FWIW my LDS won't keep one in the building. If a student insists and has one he will train them in the correct use of it. While the fact is you may dive for many years and never need to donate air I see the disadvantages as too widespread.

I think almost everyone offers such a unit . Atomic Aquatics also has the SS1 that can be used on most or all BCs.

Pete

 

[SDAnderson]

Search the board for information about integrated octo's - there have been numerous discussions about them over the years. They offer some minor streamlining benefits but can also have some substantial downsides: they can be difficult to use properly (especially in an emergency), can restrict head movement, and require practice with a buddy, especially an unconcious buddy.

All in all, I don't think most "serious" divers don't use them, but they probably won't kill you and remain popular with some folks.

 

[bp_968]

Actually I was considering this as an option with a pony bottle setup. That way you have your primary reg, your inline reg, and a second redundant supply on the pony bottle.(disclaimer: your properly sized pony based on your SAC and depth requirements).

The main issue I can see with this is you now have (3) regulators that need yearly service. For someone who will dive mostly on vacations, with some summer lake/quarry stuff for fun, this could become quite a cost burden.

Ben

 

[D_O_H]

This has been debated ad nauseum on here, so do a search if you feel reading a lot of remarkably passionate debate for and (mostly) against them.

I think spectrum has done a really nice job of summarizing the pros and cons. I've been diving with one for about a year and just switched to a traditional separate octo and inflator.

My biggest complaint with it is, with my ranger at least, the corregated hose is not long enough to allow me to comfortably breathe from the backup. It's certainly doable, but if I want to keep the reg in my mouth, I have to keep my head down and sort of to the left - not exactly the ideal situation if an emergency should arise.

I do like having one less hose and it makes for nice streamlining, but the cons outweigh the pros for me.