Primary or alternate donate poll

[MichaelMc]

Most SBers (or at least the most active ones) seem to be tech divers or at least divers using tech configurations.

I dive recreational only, above 50' or 90', and donate my primary. Donating from my mouth is really easy and fast. As is swapping to my necklaced secondary.

I've done 'I/you will go OOA sometime during the dive' with buddies. I think that is a great drill! It's gone much better with my long primary than with their shorter octo. That is a bit about the length of the donated hose. But I've also waited very patiently -- and not panicking while dying -- while a buddy worked at finding and disconnecting their octo to donate, in scenarios where we were explicitly practicing OOA, not doing it unexpectedly sometime during the dive.

I've dove primary donate, and long hose, since I got back into diving with single back mount as part of scientific diving. Though now my diving is, recreational, tiny sidemount or occasionally tiny doubles.

 

[RogueClimber]

As I have been reacquainting myself with diving I have fallen (partially) under the ScubaBoard spell

When I trained we did buddy breathing as not everyone had a second (Edited to fix) second stage.

But I see the efficacy of the primary donate and have gone to a 5' primary to ease that way

 

[DBPacific]

I am not a tech diver nor do I want to be one. I use a 7" long hose for primary and will donate that one (have done that multiple times to divers in distress).

That's why I put in the extra bit about divers using tech configurations. I've always seen primary donate and long hoses be considered or treated as a tech configuration.

 

[Graveyarddiver]

If i have one to donate its my primary, my secondary is on an 18in hose. Granted I almost always dive my tec rig, as i prefer to dive solo in rec settings over an insta buddy due to the sheer incompetence of others.

When i dive a single tank and dive solo, I only have my primary regulator, (logic being is if there is a post or 1 stage failure, it wont matter anyway), unless i carry a pony bottle. The logic in this regard stands that if i donate my primary I have a full pony bottle all to myself and can control my gas supply to ensure I make it to the surface safely.

And finally the last option, on shallow rec dives without a BC, if you need gas from me you better be ready to buddy breath, because i only have one second stage, and it’s mine.

 

[HKGuns]

Being a new diver and after reading a lot on this subject I don't think there is a single correct answer to this question as posed. I think it depends on your configuration, your buddies configuration and the circumstances of the situation.

For example: Air2 = Primary donate

I have molded my SeaCure mouthpiece on my primary to my mouth and doubt it will fit someone else easily, thus I will donate my secondary if possible. But I'm sure, just as you can breathe through a free-flow you could get around my molded mouthpiece if necessary. (voted accordingly) So, yes the number of dives theory holds with my vote.

I am a redundancy fanatic, I bought an AL30 pony bottle yesterday and topped it off with a re-built SP MK10 and a Atomic Z1. (That combo breathes almost better than my MK25 EVO / A700 rig)

I am working on the rigging required to sling it and will bring my own redundant air with me once I understand how and have everything is set up correctly.

 

[loosenit2]

The poll results are interesting, so far 80 for primary donate (me included), and 27 for Octo donate. I do not believe the results show the superiority of primary donate, but rather the degree of skew towards technical diving of SB. In recreational diving trips I have only met one other person using primary donate, 95 percent of divers use the standard octo donate configuration with most of the rest of the 5 percent using an air2. (edited to clean up ipad autocorrect)

 

[scrane]

The poll results are interesting, so far 80 for primary donate (me included), and 27 for October donate. I do not believe the results show the superiority of primary donate, but rather the degree of skew towards technical diving of SB. In. Recreational Diving trips I have only met one other person using primary donate, 95 percent of divers use the standard o to donate configuration with most of the rest of the 5 percent using an air2.

Exactly right. This skew extends to many issues discussed here.

 

[rongoodman]

O

Exactly right. This skew extends to many issues discussed here.

Which doesn't make it wrong.

 

[hammet]

Let me just say that everyone who voted primary donate is wrong.
Ok. Just kidding. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the benefits though of primary donate and why the lopsidedness.

Here's how I see it:

Primary donate:
Step 1. Donate Primary
Step 2. Put alternate in mouth

Alternate donate:
Step 1. Donate Alternate

So one huge important step not needed that doesn't remove one's own gas.

Now I've never witnessed an OOA situation so I can't speak from experience, which is why I am curious. But there seems to be a lot of anecdotal evidence of divers who have had an OOA diver making a beeline for the reg that's in their mouth. Now it would seem to me, that a nice, bright yellow, UNUSED air source sitting right on a diver's chest is going to be a nicer target for someone about to suck salt water. But I've never been there, so I just don't know.

Furthermore, I don't buy the argument about knowing that the primary regulator is definitely functioning whereas there may be some doubt about the alternate. While I don't really do a pre-dive checklist anymore, verifying my gas is on, my BC inflates, and BOTH regs are working are done before every dive I make.

 

[Degenerate]

Now I've never witnessed an OOA situation so I can't speak from experience, which is why I am curious. But there seems to be a lot of anecdotal evidence of divers who have had an OOA diver making a beeline for the reg that's in their mouth. Now it would seem to me, that a nice, bright yellow, UNUSED air source sitting right on a diver's chest is going to be a nicer target for someone about to suck salt water. But I've never been there, so I just don't know.

I'm guessing that most divers (escpecially less experienced ones) would suffer some level of panic if their reg suddenly stopped supplying them with air, and when that happens all logic usually goes out the window.