New divers and buying equipment

[stuartv]

I am getting is, "but your a new diver, you need to just listen {to us}".........yeah, Ok, I've been listening.....for about 5 pages now and I am still not hearing a single viable advantage over an octo.

Hey msinc, unfortunately, "you are new and I have a lot of dives logged, so you should take my word for it" is a fact of life around here. No point in getting wound up about it. It happens.

As far as *I* am concerned, you are exactly correct that the only advantage of an Air2 is one less hose. An advantage of debatable value. But, as you are seeing, you are not likely to change the mind of anyone who thinks that advantage overbalances the various disadvantages.

My most friendly and sincere suggestion is to be content with the knowledge you have gained (about the pros and cons of an Air2 - or perhaps, what different people THINK are the pros and cons) and put aside tilting at windmills. You know what you know and you are unlikely to even get a thank you for trying to change anyone else's mind.

I say this fully recognizing that it is advice I would have done very well to heed, myself, many times in the past.

And, welcome to SB and to diving!

 

[stuartv]

Those are just silly @stuartv . Everyone knows that heels that high would be more of an evening look.

Well, obviously they are only for dives starting after 6pm. Duh!

 

[Lorenzoid]

Interesting post. I have about 375 dives in the last 2 years in SE Florida, Red Sea, Cocos, Roatan, and Cayman Brac. I have yet to see a single diver diving sidemount. Especially in Florida, I frequently see BP&W, some doubles, a few rebreathers, but no sidemount

I had Cozumel in mind when I made that statement about having seen sidemount. Maybe it's a Coz thing. On each of my past two Coz trips, there was a sidemounter on the boat.

 

[MargaritaMike]

View attachment 433399

Those are just silly @stuartv . Everyone knows that heels that high would be more of an evening look.

BUT the real question is "Can you get them in a color that will match your bag and electrical tape?". BCD/BP&W, Wetsuit/Drysuit, Mask are next. Not to mention wrist straps for computers,
Cheers - M²

 

[Bob DBF]

evidence not anecdote and speculation. I've looked and can't find evidence one way or other,

I know, the SCUBA police are never there when you need them, they don't take reports, and they don't keep records.


Bob

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The only problem I have with *some* people equipped with air 2’s is not the air 2 itself, but the other hose length they use for their primary, which becomes the secondary in an air share. Many people I see use a standard length primary hose and not a secondary donate length hose. The problem is they don't like the awkward in-between length of a 40” hose. For primary use it’s too long to go over the shoulder, and going under the arm it tends to put a bend in the hose at the reg making in uncomfortable and causing jaw fatigue. This can be cured with a swivel but that’s another part, more expense, another potential failure point, etc.
So now what? Maybe experiment with a 5’ or 7’ hose that can be wrapped and when deployed can give the OOA diver room to function without cramping the donating diver?
This to me all to me leads and ends at the long hose short hose configuration, which is what the air2 system basically is, just a semi disfunctional version of it.
In my opinion, if you’re going to use the primary donate system, then why not just use the better version to start with? Air 2’s work if practiced, but there is a learning curve. A bungeed second under the chin IMO is a superior choice. There is always a fully functioning high quality standard reg right under your chin. There is no fishing for anything, no grabbing for something, no mistaking it for a snorkel (happened to my buddy once), no longer length inflator hose, reduces multi tasking, etc.
If a yellow hose is some big hangup for some people then use a yellow hose and reg for your long hose primary. There’s your yellow, problem solved.
I would go back to a stowed 40” standard octo placed somewhere in the triangle and figure out some way to stow it securely before I’d go to an Air2.
An Air2 would be my last choice.

 

[mcohen1021]

Well, obviously they are only for dives starting after 6pm. Duh!

No white after labor day!

 

[Saniflush]

No white after labor day!

Why is it always about color with you?

 

[msinc]

Hey msinc, unfortunately, "you are new and I have a lot of dives logged, so you should take my word for it" is a fact of life around here. No point in getting wound up about it. It happens.

As far as *I* am concerned, you are exactly correct that the only advantage of an Air2 is one less hose. An advantage of debatable value. But, as you are seeing, you are not likely to change the mind of anyone who thinks that advantage overbalances the various disadvantages.

My most friendly and sincere suggestion is to be content with the knowledge you have gained (about the pros and cons of an Air2 - or perhaps, what different people THINK are the pros and cons) and put aside tilting at windmills. You know what you know and you are unlikely to even get a thank you for trying to change anyone else's mind.

I say this fully recognizing that it is advice I would have done very well to heed, myself, many times in the past.

And, welcome to SB and to diving!

Thank you very much sir, it is very kind of you to say so. It does appear that some of the more "experienced" divers on here at some point in all that diving swapped brains with a giant clam. Some of this stuff is just not rocket science!!!!!

 

[scubadada]

I had Cozumel in mind when I made that statement about having seen sidemount. Maybe it's a Coz thing. On each of my past two Coz trips, there was a sidemounter on the boat.

That reminds me, it's been a long time since I was in Cozumel, I need to get back there