integrated octo with inflator - opinions sought

[Starfish]

Last night I went to one of the local shops here in the Minneapolis Metro area in anticipation of renting a regulator for use (yes, I do intend to buy my own soon, but wanted to rent another brand to try for the weekend). I was pulled up short by the dive shop only having as rental gear, and only selling, integrated Octos with bouyancy inflators. Obviously I don't wantt to rent from them as I own my own BC abd I wont have the proper set up and would not have a spare air source for an in-danger buddy.

This pushes up the nessecity of purchasing my own regs if I can't find another local source to get the "old" set up.

What are people's opinions on the dual inflator/octo??
All I kept hearing last night was, "well it is streamlined" but not anything on the ease of use

Having never used one myself, did you naturally remember where your 2nd reg was if you needed it? or do you have to remind yourself the first few times out?

thanks -Starfish

 

[Corsair]

My 2¢ on this one would be to avoid it. breathing off the inflator hose while trying to maintain buoyancy control would be pretty awkward. Secondly, it's just one more place for something to go wrong. I'd say the dive shop has a problem if they only rent regs with inflator backups. Not all divers, particularly new divers, would be comfortable using that setup in an emergency.

 

[tgreaves]

I have a scubapro air2 and I love it.. Never had a problem with it..

 

[JoelW]

I also live in Minneapolis. I know a couple of stores that if they didn't have a rig with a backup on it I am pretty sure would go to the trouble of setting one up. Most of the rental stock I have seen in them is not set up for an integrated inflator.

One problem you will have renting a reg and having an integrated inflator of your own is that not all of the inflator hoses are the same. Zeagle's Octo+ has a different fitting. You would have to have the shop swap the hose if it is different. Or you can do it yourself when noone is looking.

JoelW

 

[large_diver]

My vote is against the AIR2-type integrated octos....if nothing ever goes wrong, it's obviously a big plus since it eliminates an extra hose and a dangling octo.

My main concern would be the same as stated above by Corsair -- what would you do if you had to use it and at the same time were in a situation where buoyancy control was a big issue (e.g., free ascent from deeper depths). Another concern would be how well the thing works at deeper depths. An Air2 is probably not what I would call a high performance reg. If you currently dive (or ever plan to dive) to depths of 80-100, can the AIR2 give you enough air at that depth?

An example I had recently (different gear, but same issue) -- in a rescue class I had to swim about 30 feet underwater to perform an air share drill with my buddy (pool). He had one of those undersized octos....when I tried to breathe out of that thing, it felt like I was breathing through a large straw...and this was in shallow pool water.

Bottom line, it might actually be worth renting one of those AIR2 BCs just to see how they work before you buy.

 

[devjr]

Sounds psychological. There is over 100 psi available at the inflator hose/AirII. You would only use it for a couple minutes to get to the surface or stage bottle.

 

[Starfish]

Thanks you to large_diver and others for comments. My gut reaction is to go with the "old" non-Air2. It has been a tried and true system.
While looking for info on this subject, I was looking at the new technology coming out. Some of the new integrated BC systems have the octo tucked into the BC rather then the Air2. This is more like my current style of tucking the 2nd regulator into my BC pocket to streamline. My dive buddy/husband knows that I keep it there. When I asked him how he felt about the Air2 (as he would be the one most likely person besides myself to use it, he was a bit unsettled about the set up.

The Air2, from what I could glean from web surfing, also seemed to incline a diver to want to carry spare air. This is something I will look into as I get comfortable with my 60 ft limit and progress to deeper depth, but I don't want to *feel* that it is mandatory, because I don't feel comportable with my original set-up.

Aagin, thanks for the feedback. -Starfish

 

[Corsair]

I am guessing that the common sense approach on this one would be to use the air2 yourself and donate your primary reg. I personally have never used the air2 setup, but it would seem awkward in the extreme to have a buddy breathing off the lp inflator hose. In general, if I'm going to donate my primary, I want a good tried and true safe second. Having done a little more research after reading comments on DIR on the boards, I'm inclined to get a long hose setup.

 

[tgreaves]

I guess its good if it works for you.. I have been using an air2 ever since i have been diving.. The idea of another regulator hooked to the first stage is crazy to me.. why not have a power inflator with a regulator on it also.. It sorta like the divers in the old days.. they pretty much duct taped a tank on and dove.. do you thing you could convince them that using a bc is better.. to each is own i guess..

 

[TexasMike]

I purchased an inline TUSA Air2 reg when ordered my Zeagle Ranger BC. And I wish I hadn't.

After diving shallow for 2 months with it, and reading this board, I no longer think these regs are a good idea. Like Corsair, trying to breath and control boyancy with one would not work. Also, I've become suspect that these would perform as required when at a deeper depth and in a stressful situation.

Also, the layout of the buttons on this AIR2 is somewhat confusing and more than once I've hit the inflate button when I meant to push the dump. And to orally inflate your BC, you need to block the exhaust of the regulator

The one time I used the inline regulator was playing with a lift back for the first time on a student platform at 25 feet fresh at Athens Scuba Park. According to the PADI book, you are to use your secondary air source to inflate the lift bag. As you can imagine, it was very difficult to use the AIR2 to inflate the bag since the inflator hose only allows so much reach. So I did a regulator swap and breathed from the AIR2 while using my primary (a Zeagle 50D) to fill the lift bag. And even at 25 feet, I could tell that it took more effort to pull a breath through the AIR2.

So my conclusion was, if it requires this much effort at 25', I don't think I'm going to enjoy it at 60-90 feet.

So, I'm ordering an APEX TX40 octo to replace it, and then offer the AIR2 for sale. And again I will be following the DIR principles of hanging the octo around my neck where I can find it quickly if I need it.

[red]My opinion and suggestion is to not purchase this device.[/red] Currently the hype outweighs the true functionality.

--Mike