Air3 on BP/W setup

[skimphish]

hi all,

I have a halcyon pioneer 27#wing and do pretty much all open water diving (for now). so i dont see the point in having my 32" octo hose where i could have an Air3. i know when cave diving it is highly advised to have a longer octo hose. so my question is can i put an Air 3 on my wing for open water diving, and when i do the cave diving (after i take the class) put on a long octo? i will end up getting a longer octo hose when i do cave diving. i wasnt sure that the Air3 would fit on the wing or not.

edit- or an Air2, either one, i know air2 is cheaper and easier to put on.

 

[TSandM]

I don't know if the Air2 or 3 will fit on a Halcyon wing -- it depends on the way the screw fitting is configured. The best thing to do is to take your wing to a store that sells them and try it.

But I wanted to correct something -- in cave diving, you don't use a long octo. You use a long primary hose and donate the primary. The backup is short and bungied under your neck. The old setup of a long octo hose which was bungied to the tanks is really not taught by any agency I'm aware of any more.

 

[NWaquaman]

I see you are a new diver. I am pretty new to this board (havent spent much time here) I would suggest that you may want to do a search for threads on this board for more info on the Octo vs AirII issues. I am not a DIR diver or even too much of a hard ass when it comes to gear configurations, but after seeing real Out Of Air situations I am convinced that the Octo/Inflator combo is a bad idea and potentialy very dangerous.
Most real OOA situations involve an out of air diver ripping the reg from an unaware donor's mouth. The best OOA situation in real life might involve an OOA diver simply swimming up and grabbing your octo. A donor with an Octo/Inflator would have just unwittingly givin up his BC inflator to a very anxious and likely panicked diver.
Even in the dream world of OOA situations where the OOA diver comes to you and signals OOA and you donate your primary reg and go to your AirII, you will still be locked arm in arm or holding BC straps, trying to fill or vent air from your BC with your BC controls in your mouth. ?? Just asking you to think about it.
Many divers never need to deal with an OOA situation, but if it does ever come up I would want it to go smooth and easy for you.

 

[rongoodman]

If you anticipate ending up with a long hose/bungeed octo(and you do, if you're looking forward to cavern/cave training), why not just start off that way and skip the Air3? Since you have a BP/W to start, you'll have no problem stowing the extra hose. Until you get a can light, you can just stuff it down your waist belt in front.

 

[halocline]

I would second the idea of going for a longer primary and a bungied octo right from the start. I think you'll find that it's actually more comfortable and streamlined to dive with than the air 2. One reason is that your inflator hose can be nice and short, like 12" (try breathing off that sometime!) and you will not have a larger-than-normal inflator mechanism with more buttons.

I think DA Aquamaster has a halcyon wing set up with an air 2, or at least used to, so I'm pretty sure it can be done.

 

[skimphish]

so how long should the primary hose be? and then how long should the octo hose be? NWaquaman did bring up a valid point.

and another quesiton, why do you give up your primary instead of your octo? sorry if that quesiton is off topic.

 

[Scared Silly]

Typically most use a 7' hose for their primary but for open water a 5-6' is acceptable and 30" or so for the octo. You can buy hose kits that come with all the hoses you will need and at the right lengths.

I would second the recommendation to skip the Air2/3 as you will probably end up selling it later on. Just go for a std octo. Further, recommendation on the octo - get one that is the same as your primary. This way when you finally to move into more technical diving you can buy just the first stage and have two exact regs which IMHO is preferable for technical diving.

 

[skimphish]

ya right now i dont have a true "octo" i have some US divers reg that was given to me and i got it rebuilt. i cant find out what kind of reg it is. it doesnt breathe very well though, so i plan on getting another reg and using my conshelf XIV (my primary) for my octo.

 

[scubafanatic]

..at the risk of starting a controversy, an AIR 2 ...or 3 ...or 17 ...or whatever, is the type of thing you buy if you want to LOOK like you're ready for an OOA situation, but never have any real intention or plan of actually having to deal with a real OOA situation.

 

[halocline]

Typically most use a 7' hose for their primary but for open water a 5-6' is acceptable and 30" or so for the octo. You can buy hose kits that come with all the hoses you will need and at the right lengths.

I would second the recommendation to skip the Air2/3 as you will probably end up selling it later on. Just go for a std octo. Further, recommendation on the octo - get one that is the same as your primary. This way when you finally to move into more technical diving you can buy just the first stage and have two exact regs which IMHO is preferable for technical diving.

Slight correction, the alternate goes on a short hose, 22-24", not 30". It should be just long enough to comfortably rout from the valve over your right shoulder and let the reg sit under your chin.