Is the air 2 a good octo?

[Scotty]

Is the air 2 a good octo or should I go with the standard octo? I know I can go much cheaper for a standard. Someone said the air 2 was ok but not as good as a standard octo. What would you do and why? I would like to stay under 80 bucks or even under 60 if I could. Thanks

 

[redacted]

It is a reliable, good breathing octo. But it does complicate an OOA situation as dumping air is a bit more difficult.

If you are expecting to use a back mount pony, the Air2 is a good choice to cut the clutter. Also, if you intent to solo dive, it's a good choice. But for buddy diving with no redundent tank or even a slung pony, the standard octo, is probably a better rig.

 

[detroit diver]

Scotty once bubbled...
Is the air 2 a good octo or should I go with the standard octo? I know I can go much cheaper for a standard. Someone said the air 2 was ok but not as good as a standard octo. What would you do and why? I would like to stay under 80 bucks or even under 60 if I could. Thanks

Consider one thing. If your inflator decides to stick open, and you're got to disconnect the hose to it to stop a runaway ascent- you've disconnected YOUR backup air supply. Why would you pay MORE for that?

 

[Scotty]

Point taken. Now, what octo would you buy then? Thanks again>

 

[jonnythan]

That octo is what's going to either be given to someone who is underwater with no current air source or it'll be your only air source when someone else is using your primary. In other words, that backup regulator is the one that absolutely, positively, has to deliver all the air you can use at the most critical moment.

Do you really want to get the cheapest one you can?

 

[DeepTechScuba]

Of all the ideas that ScubaPro ever came up with, the Air-2 was the only really bad idea. It works to about 66 ft, but not much deeper than that really well.

Additionally, the cheap-o "octo" regs that you see on a lot of rigs are a really bad idea as well. Deeper than 33 ft, these things do not work worth a darn.

What you really need is two full service 2nd stage regs attached to your 1st stage. This way, they will both perform sufficiently should you ever need them for air sharing.

And what you really should do is wear one 2nd stage on an elastic necklace around your neck, like the cave divers to, and breathe off of the other longer hosed 2nd stage yourself.

If a buddy ever needed to air share, you would then donate your primary 2nd stage, and switch to the alternate 2nd stage that was hanging on your necklace around your neck, ready to go.

This works at every depth, shallow or deep, anytime, all the time.

This is what the cave divers have formulated over the decades, except the cave divers use a 7 ft hose on their primary 2nd stage, and they keep it wrapped around themselves ready to deploy.

 

[Scotty]

Ok, advice taken. Which one would you get then?? Thanks again.

 

[JohnCollins]

detroit diver once bubbled...


Consider one thing. If your inflator decides to stick open, and you're got to disconnect the hose to it to stop a runaway ascent- you've disconnected YOUR backup air supply. Why would you pay MORE for that?

But that made a whole lot of sense.

I really like mine, and I've practiced with it and find it no more "complex" than a regular octo, and it breaths every bit as good a normal octo. But the more I think about it, it doesn't really provide any real significant advantages. I think if I had it to do over again now, I wouldn't get one, but there are no disadvantages significant enough (IMO, of course) to make me want to replace it. I'm fine with it. When I get my BP/wing I'll sell the Air 2 with my BC and get a regular octo.

As a satisfied Air 2 owner, I'd tell you it's personal choice. They are high quality, breath great, and (also IMO) no more complex to deploy. . .maybe less so. . .than a normally carried octo, but you should practice. People fumble octos for lack of practice, too. It's nearly impossible to go wrong with normal octo especially bungeed around your neck.

I'm coming around to the opinion that an Air 2's main "advantage" is it's a cool gadget. DeepTechScuba's comments not about performance at depth is a knock on all lower performance octos, not a fault specifically of the Air 2's. A properly tuned Air 2 (my shop tuned mine carefully) should breath as good as the Scubapro R380. DeepTech may have had a less than well-maintained Air2 or he may be used to really top-shelf octos, but all the magazine reviewers, and 90% of the Air2 owners will tell you it's a quality breather.

I'll quit rambling now. Stick with a regular octo, there's no real reason not to. Get as good a second as you can afford, your goal should not be to spend as little as possible on it.

 

[agstreet]

DeepTechScuba once bubbled...
Of all the ideas that ScubaPro ever came up with, the Air-2 was the only really bad idea. It works to about 66 ft, but not much deeper than that really well.

While I share some of the misgivings about the AIR2, my daughter has used hers at 125 ft without any problems. As far as hose mounted regulators go, it's pretty decent.

Before I discovered hogarthian rigs, I used a Sherwood Shadow because I liked the idea of donating the reg out of my mouth and going to my own backup. At the time, having it my backup on the BC hose sounded like a neat idea. I had the occasion to make a 60 minute dive using that back-up when my primary failed, and I discovered just how difficult it is to dive for any extended length of time with your BC inflator hose in your mouth. This was compounded by the fact that the BC I had at the time only had a shoulder dump, so I *had* to take the reg out of my mouth to dump air from the BC. Major pain.

Now, of course, I dive with a necklaced back-up and a long hose for the primary. It solves the issue of donating the primary reg to the OOA diver, keeping my back-up under close control, and keeping the BC inflator free for the task it was intended.

Just my perspective.

Alan

 

[jonnythan]

agstreet once bubbled...
I had the occasion to make a 60 minute dive using that back-up when my primary failed, and I discovered just how difficult it is to dive for any extended length of time with your BC inflator hose in your mouth.

Um, what?