Regulator necklace?

Altamira · Jul 31, 2011

Back in the early 60's when I was diving in the caves, springs and quarries in Missouri, most of the divers I knew were using some form of a regulator necklace. Since we were diving in caves and springs without the safety advantages of octos and spare air that are available today, the necklace was a critical piece of equipment from my perspective. Although I still see the regulator necklaces on the online websites, I have never seen anyone use one in OW even though I can still see some benefits of using one. Is there some reason divers are not using them other than they have an octo readily available, or is is just not cool?

irishsquid · Jul 31, 2011

I use one on each of my setups. Not a cave-diver.

Dr Wu · Jul 31, 2011

Altamira:
Back in the early 60's when I was diving in the caves, springs and quarries in Missouri, most of the divers I knew were using some form of a regulator necklace. Since we were diving in caves and springs without the safety advantages of octos and spare air that are available today, the necklace was a critical piece of equipment from my perspective. Although I still see the regulator necklaces on the online websites, I have never seen anyone use one in OW even though I can still see some benefits of using one. Is there some reason divers are not using them other than they have an octo readily available, or is is just not cool?

What is it specifically that you are referring to as a "regulator necklace"?

These days people use that term to indicate a necklace holding the "octo" around the divers mouth.

But that would not have been likely in the early 1960's.

Altamira · Jul 31, 2011

The necklace was a plastic strap that was conneced to one side of the regulator, went around the neck, and snapped onto the opposite side of the regulator. We did not call it a necklace in the 60's. It was just a regulator strap. The regulator strap/necklace still seems like a pretty handy thing to use so you don't have to chase after your regulator in or out of the water, but perhaps there is some concern for having something like that around the neck

stairman · Jul 31, 2011

It seems openwater divers have more gadgets these days for their octo such as retractables and mouthpiece keepers. Until I got into caving thats what I used. Now that Im diving 2 complete regs, the term octo for the 2nd 2nd stage isnt used and it becomes a backup. It is always on a bungee necklace just under the chin and the primary is on a 7 ft hose. I like this setup better, even with an openwater setup. Not sure why it hasent caught on more with rec divers but its sure standard for tekkies.

CuNanoTube · Jul 31, 2011

I use one on my primary so that when it is out at the surface I don't need to find it.

TSandM · Aug 1, 2011

There's a whole diving niche that utilizes the bungied necklace regulator as a backup, and uses some sort of longer hose on the primary. It's a vast minority

Peter Guy · Aug 1, 2011

I vaguely recall that "back in the day" the 2nd stage had a strap that would keep it handy -- sort of like the mouthpiece on my beloved two-hose which was "kept handy" by (you guessed it) both hoses. As one old timer said to me several years ago, "Back to the future" which was how he referred to the "bungied backup" mentioned by TSandM above.

OP -- it appears that very few people keep their PRIMARY 2nd stage on a "necklace" any more -- and there really isn't any reason to do so (if there ever was). Some people I've seen have done this but it appears more-often-than-not a bastardization of the "Hogarthian" rig. This really is one of those things that may have seemed like a good idea 40+ years ago but, in reality, has very little value and just isn't done today.

TMHeimer · Aug 1, 2011

I use sort of a bungee rope around the neck to hold the pony 2nd stage.

Hatul · Aug 1, 2011

I'm one of those who "bastardized" the DIR system and use a necklace for my primary reg, and the octo secured to a D ring with a small bungee. This way I never lose my reg but don't use a long hose.

One of the advantages of having at least one reg on a necklace is you're always close to an air supply. I don't like the idea of doing sweep maneuvers to find your reg and be able to breathe.

Adam

Regulator necklace?

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Altamira

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