Apeks freeflow control device

Has anyone had any experience with these? They seem like such a good idea that I can't imaging they're not selling like hotcakes, especially to the tech community. The ability to easily turn off/on a reg with out having to reach for a valve seems very enticing and much safer.

They're not all they're cracked up to be. Many times the freeflow is a result of first stage failure. Simply shutting down the line to your primary will then just cause the Octo to freeflow. The pressure has to go somewhere. Now if the problem is truly with the second stage, then shutting the valve will stop it, but so will jamming your finger in the mouthpiece or detuning the reg. Remember, your first stage is designed to freeflow in the event of failure, giving you an air supply to abort the dive if you can't get to your buddy or backup supply.

cloudboy55:

Has anyone had any experience with these? They seem like such a good idea that I can't imaging they're not selling like hotcakes, especially to the tech community. The ability to easily turn off/on a reg with out having to reach for a valve seems very enticing and much safer.

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They have their uses..

the biggest users are rebreather dives who use this type of device to diable their ADV's and on some rigs an integrated second stage..


The other big use is for either surface supplied bailout, oxygen and for emergency hang tanks.. You dont want the regs in the current slowly burping gas that you are expecting will be there..

I don't see much use for them. It's really just a way for the diver to adjust the second stage on the fly.

These can be really annoying in that sometimes divers will forget that a valve is open because the 2nd stage is turned off. We have a bunch of these where I work, and I've often walked in to find that a reg has been left pressurized for several days straight. This is very bad for the 1st stage seat and we've had several regs fail prematurely for this reason.

Also keep in mind that if you're using it on a reg with no octo (ie on a stage bottle or doubles), there's no way to vent excess pressure. If the reg develops an IP creep, you might burst a hose.

They have their uses, but most divers don't need them. IMO they're more trouble than they're worth except in very specialized applications.