Octo vs AirII

[openmindOW]

At the Shop where I teach, AirIIs are not part of our rental kits or our pool teaching kits, so we teach Octo use.

This is my opinion. Octo use should be taught. If you want to teach AirII use also, that's fine. But you really shoudl teach Octo. Why? First, Octos are for more common than AirIIs. Second, AirIIs are an innovation based on the Octo concept. So get the basic concept down first. Third, I suspect that and Octo is just a tab bit easier for a new diver to use than an AirII.

This is just my opinion.

I know some people like AirIIs - and that's fine. Personally, I don't like them.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I have an AirII and am actually thinking of adding an octo as well. I don't particularly like it after having it for a while and breathing off it for practice.

I was trained on an occy AirII's weren't "invented" way back then lol.

I was also trained for buddy breathing and CESA. CESA was performed in the ocean with reg in but examiner beside listening to the "aaahhh" all the way up. It was made VERY CLEAR that you did NOT want to try to cheat and the sound had better be loud and clear with ABSOLUTELY no interruption! No one in my class was game to mess that one up! Now I appreciate how much potential there was for things to go wrong with the "examiner" having to "bounce" like that! Not surprised they seem to have stopped risking instructors like that!

Caver ..... "Adapt or Die" Quote credited to Darwin (sorry rstofer I just coulldn't resist)

 

[scuba&golf]

I was trained on both. During confined water I used rental gear with an oct. Before my certs I bought my own gear and have an Air2. On an open pool night, I got with the instructor and my dive buddy and went over using the Air2, using the right shoulder dump to control bouyancy, and also reviewed using my buddy's octo. I think that the more information you have, the better off you are, but reviewing equipment before the dive is the best practice.

 

[jmitch3938]

I was an avid air 2 believer and always had them on my bc's, but when teaching and assisting students, it becomes a hassle and have thought of going back to the octo set up for students. The dive shops like for you to use and push the air 2's for the extra sales..but the bottom lines comes down to your comfort and ease of use and what you would find more beneficial in an emergency..that's my 2 cents worth : )

 

[TBURKE]

D. None of the above.
When I learned how to dive in "83" (NAUI, Jersey shore) we were taught to buddy breathe. We were also taught that the safest diver is fully redundant and trained in self rescue. You couldn't get on the dive boat without a pony bottle or split doubles and 2 regs. If you have an air problem you just spit out your primary reg, stick your pony in your mouth, signal your buddy, make a safe controled ascent, do your safety stop, and arrive at the surface.

As far as not teaching buddy breathing is concerned, they don't really teach mouth to mouth in CPR anymore. Probably for the same reason.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Oops...my mistake. I guess a "D: None of the Above" would have been a smart thing to have as part of the poll. Considering BB was all that was taught at one point, that was my error.

D. None of the above.
When I learned how to dive in "83" (NAUI, Jersey shore) we were taught to buddy breathe. We were also taught that the safest diver is fully redundant and trained in self rescue. You couldn't get on the dive boat without a pony bottle or split doubles and 2 regs. If you have an air problem you just spit out your primary reg, stick your pony in your mouth, signal your buddy, make a safe controled ascent, do your safety stop, and arrive at the surface.

As far as not teaching buddy breathing is concerned, they don't really teach mouth to mouth in CPR anymore. Probably for the same reason.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

D. None of the above.


As far as not teaching buddy breathing is concerned, they don't really teach mouth to mouth in CPR anymore. Probably for the same reason.

Interesting comparison. ILCOR (International Liasson Committee on Resuscitation) recommened changes based on studies that showed
Many lay people have trouble locating a pulse and delay resus attempts for fear of making things worse.
The delay makes survival less likely
Anyone not breathing with a pulse won't have one long
Performing compressions on a beating heart while not good for it is less likely to result in brain death or death than failing to do so
It is better to start Resus as soon as it is confirmed the person is unconscious and not breathing
Any attempt at Resus is better than none at all.

Some agencies teach it is better to do compression only CPR than no CPR if access to the mouth is not possible or too risky. Not as good as full CPR but goes back to any attempt is better than none.

Sorry this is off topic but I don't necessarily see the link with buddy breathing here and there are so many misconceptions about the changes to CPR I just couldn't let it go without comment..... putting my soap box away now:blinking:

 

[sibermike7]

Ditto.
D. None of the above. And we DID learn CPR and MtoM. We even had to practice MtoM for the instructor in the pool! Unfortunately, I (young Marine corporal) was paired up with a bearded Navy petty officer! Yeck! :shocked2:
The only ones with Octos were the instructors. (I was dual-certified NAUI-PADI so don't know which one required what at that time.)

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

whoops, wrong thread!

 

[Standingbear56]

While the main method of alternate air sharing I teach is to donate a long hose primary, I also make sure they are not only familiar with an alternate air inflator (air II, oct Z etc), but with RH and LH octopus also. I do this because they will quite probably run into these systems after they are certified. If they choose a system other than donating the long hose primary for their kit, I have no problem taking them back to the pool and making sure they master their new system. All these systems work, and all of them are out there, so a student should not be seeing them for the first time after they have been certified.
Take care,
George