Custom mouthpiece on you donor reg: problem?

[bowlofpetunias]

I've had a reg in my mouth 749 hours and 19minutes and never had to share air except on course. So far I have used a fairly standard mouthpiece. I have been getting a sore jaw the last while so I may change. My comfort will be the deciding factor. Perhaps I am selfish but my comfort outweighs the slight chance that my choice of mouthpiece may not suit in the unlikely event I need to share air.

I do not teach and am quite selective of who I will buddy with. It is unlikely that one of my buddies will run out of air from poor gas management. It is however possible they will have an equipment failure. That is always a possibility no matter how careful you are of your gear.

I do however dive at sites where OW courses happen and where inexperienced divers abound. I figure there is a reasonable chance that one day a diver may appear "out of nowhere" and need my air. I have purchased a much higher quality adjustable occy than is recommended. I figure it is more important I get a good light breathing reg into them than worry about mouthpiece. I have the longer hose on my occy but don't much care if they take the occy or reg.

 

[videofly]

I have no top teeth and few on the bottom so I love my Mares JAX moldable primary regulator mouthpiece. I do not dive with my dentures because they tend to float out of place and block my breathing. My son and I dive with Air2 secondary regulators and when we first practiced sharing air with my primary, he said he was surprised when he put my primary into his mouth; but not so surprised that he couldn't share air. Now I remember to discuss my regulator mouthpiece with buddies during pre-dive planning. I would think that although uncomfortable, in an OOA situation, a well-informed buddy could manage an ascent with my primary regulator. If not, I suppose I could donate my reg and then hand off my shears so they could trim my mouthpiece to their liking (joking). As others have mentioned, I'd breathe off of just about anything for a short ascent if I were OOA, but I do feel that mention of my mouthpiece is a good addition to a pre-dive discussion.

 

[fnfalman]

Since that we're talking about the gagging effect caused by a regulator mouthpiece, I've witnessed it happened once but not with a Seacure but a standard Sherwood mouthpiece. There were two boys, probably in their early teens, getting certified. One of them simply couldn't keep the mouthpiece in and kept gagging, spitting it back out.

After much consternation and examination, the shop tried putting a smaller mouthpiece on and he was fine.

Nonetheless, if I were OOA, I'd move heaven and earth to keep that mouthpiece; whichever it is, in my mouth.

 

[highdesert]

If I have to donate my second stage, with SeaCure attached, to an OOA diver, I'm not interested in having to learn the hand signs for, "Is my mouthpiece comfortable for you?" They're just going to have to deal with it.