Does my rig default me as a "Bad Buddy"?

[Chaiyz]

My current setup is a Scubapro Seahawk w/Air2. My primary 2nd is on a very short hose. My GF was recently certified and I'm realizing that my short lp hose is not ideal for buddy breathing.

So, how should I fix this.

1. longer lp hose to my secondary with swivel? How long?

2. Add an octo to my setup in additon to my air2?

3. Leave it alone and get her a pony or spare air?

I like my setup alot, my gear does not produce a large profle and the only dangly is my large flashlight that is easily secured when I'm not using it.

Here's a pic.

Has anyone ever seen a diver with air2 and an octo?

 

[Chaiyz]

Thanks, got the extras removed.

 

[Tigerman]

You should have an edit link on the original post so that you can edit out the pictures yourself.
Should be in the gray area right below your pictures

Personally I would say get an octopus OR put your primary on a long hose so that you can donate the primary and use the air2 as your own air supply should you need to donate.

There is routing options for long hoses that will make them very streamlined

 

[chrpai]

Several thoughts.....

The only time you'd buddy breath would be if one diver had a complete failure ( his alternate didn't work ) and he needed to share air with you and you're alternate didn't work. So let's assume you are the donor. You would donate your primary and switch to your Air 2. If you're Air 2 didn't work you'd have to buddy breath off the primary not the Air 2.

That said, when I see someone on the boat with a rig likes yours it doesn't automatically tell me they are going to be a bad buddy but it's a strong indication. I can give more details on why but I'm not sure you are looking for that level of comment.

1)

 

[CT-Rich]

Since you are commiting to donating your primary in an OOA then I would say go for the longer hose for it, otherwise you and buddy may find that sharing air is going to be more intimate than you had planned and at that particular moment want.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

The best way to tell if the rig is function for you and your buddy is to do a drill and try swimming a couple hundred feet together and then do a normal ascent. If your primary is too short to donate and do this, then you need to change it up. A long hose IMO is the optimal way if your married to the Air2. You can swim out of a minor overhead (small wreck or kelp bed), deploy an SMB and do everything else more or less normally. Its a lot less complicated than doing a pony. Adding an octo in addition to the Air adds more failure points (you now have 3 seconds that can free flow instead of 2), but it would work.

 

[Tigerman]

Just to adress the "complete failure" statement - the octopus is not there for me to breathe on if my primary fails, its there for my buddy to breathe on if his or her reg set fails - and my octopus HAS been used in real incidents.

Ive seen pressure gauges not function properly and show over 1000 psi when the tank is infact entirely empty.
Ive seen first a first stage o-ring blow out at 20 meters below the surface - you DONT want this to happen, let me assure you.
And of course theres the chance someone is just inattentive and use all their gas with no actual gear issue.
The result of all of the above is that you HAVE to get air from a different source - which for the vast majority of rec divers is their buddy.

Now when you have to get your air from somoene else theres really two ways of doing it and people do tend to use the terms without distinguishing the meaning of the two, but there is a difference;
You can either donate one of your two (or more) second stages and breathe from the other yourself or you could do what "buddy breathing" originally referr to;
share ONE second stage between two divers by taking 3 breaths, hand it off and wait for the other diver to take three breaths, hand it back and repeat from the top.

Buddy breathing from a single reg is no longer common and no longer part of the basic courses though, so relying on it in a world where everyone is trained to get a reg to themselves, not to mention people might just panic and grab your reg from your mouth and not consider YOUR air needs, I would consider a very bad plan..

 

[Chaiyz]

Ok, now we are getting somewhere.

As for when she'd need to buddy breathe, I know that OOA is supposed to be the only time but I'm a realist and she's newly certified. Moving my primary to a long hose seems like the simple solution but I've no experience with how it will change my profile and effect my trim etc.
The thought of having a long octo seems like a simple choice as I can definetly route an octo cable out of the way and keep it streamlined but I don't have an inflator for my BC and I'd still have the air2 and I'm not wanting to make people think I'm an idiot. I really don't care what it looks like personally, but I don't want to give that "idiot" signal in groups.

Please don't hold back, I'd like to know whatever you have to add to help me make a good decision.

Thanks,

chaiyz

 

[Tigerman]

A long hose on your primary is not something that will change your profile and trim all that much, thats just a matter of routing and theres a lot of info on that part on the interwebs, including this board

The difference between adding regular octo on your current gear or just replacing the hose is really wether youd be more comfortable breathing off a normal regulator or the air two, in addition to as mentioned that if you have the primary, second and air2 youll have one more possible failure point.

 

[Chaiyz]

Ok, after reading everything I'm going with a longer hose on my primary. As for my Air2. I am married to it. I actually love the thing. I really don't know why more people don't use it. It's easy to maintain and cheap to maintain and I've never had a problem with it. I had some freeflow issues initially and after having it rebuilt in front of me, I realized how easy it is to rebuild and maintain and I like it very much.

Now knowing that I'm going to go longer on my primary I'm also concerned about comfort. How long should I go? 42" seems logical but if there are some good routing options and adding a swivel is a good idea I would be up for the option. The only swivel I've ever used was on a rental Aeris setup in the Keys and I really liked the swivel alot but the DM told me it's the only swivel he trusts and they are major failure points.