Scubapro Air2

[plongere]

My wife and I have Scubapro MK 16/550's and an Air2 Integrated Octo. We loved the setup, that is until we put a dive alert on the Air2 / BC inflator hose. It made the hose too long, and it swung up in our way because of the added 3.5 inches or so of the dive alert. We are beleivers in the dive alert system, so we went on a year long search for a solution.

We tried to find longer corrugated hoses for our Mares BC and extend the wire inside with a stainless swivel. No luck on finding longer hoses. All of the shorter hoses we found were BC hoses with a smaller diameter than an octo hose, so no good at depth.

Finally on a trip to Florida we found a shop that also services the Sherwood systems and voila, a regulator hose about 3.5 inches shorter. Works great now!

 

[mchiapetto]

I am also planning to buy an Air 2 setup (on Monday). Those plans also included getting a dive alert. But I was planning to carry the dive alert in my BC pocket and only hook it to the hose when (and if) I need it. Most of the time I expect it to just be in my pocket.

Is this a bad plan?

 

[AltonK]

I have the same setup and would not advise that. It would just result in some search patterns after it snapped out of your hands. besides when you need to alert someone surface or below you want to do it asap, especially in low vis or high seas.

 

[SM Diver]

I have an Air-2, and have always put the dive alert directly on the LP hose before the dive. The first thing you find when switching to the SP Air-2 is the need for a new dive alert, because of the larger fittings. My only concern is that some would argue the very existence of an octo on your power inflator is asking for trouble. Personally, I like the Air-2 and see it for it's safety features.

Nonetheless, by adding a dive alert to an Air-2, you've got a heck of a lot going on now in one piece of equipment, which to me is a concern due to multiple failure points. For me, I think I'm going to stick my dive alert in my pocket and connect it at the surface when needed. Just don't drop the thing, for God's sake.

 

[plongere]

Never thought of putting in my pocket, but it may work. My thought is when you need it you need it and I don't want to be fumbling around with disconnects, etc.

My wife and I also got longer primary hoses because there is no way in heck that we could buddy breathe with the integrated AIR2 being given to the buddy. Our setup is the primary would go to the out-of-air diver and the sender would take his octo.

We tried this several times in the pool and in open water, and that's where we found out we needed a longer primary for the receipient. Otherwise, they were chasing the reg around in circles trying to get a puff of air. I looked quite comical in the pool but at 100' ... no joy.

Anyway this setup works well, and the diver alert doesn't get in the way when I use the integrated octo.

Have a ball out there and good diving!

:wave:

 

[Dryglove]

i used the air 2 in my open water cert.You are correct in the fact that you donate your primary reg to the OOA diver and you breath off of the air2.A longer primary hose does help give you some room and gets the out of air diver out of your face somewhat.This is where the 5-7ft hose comes in handy but thats a whole subject by itself.Enjoy and dive safe!!

 

[IyaDiver]

I used to love AirII, I also have a Seaquest Air Source another inferior copy of the AirII. When I first started to use Air II it in 1995, Dive Alert do not have the fitting ( probably not available in my country ) for AirII connection. So what I did was to buy another regular inflator hose, thus I can mount my Dive Alert plus a Hammerhead and have the capability of using a non-AirII BCD, if the need ever arises. I also have a regular back up long hose octopus plus a Spare Air. This set up will allow you to travel world wide in peace of mind cause u can always rent a BCD if urs have trouble. AirII or equivalent is something many Dive Operators world wide wants to avoid cause they will want simplicity in their gear and interchange-ability.

What I hate most about inflator/octopus is that they are not very reliable. May it be AirII or Seaquest. When u soak them in water, you need to attach the hose so that they become water tight.
Don't rely on the rubber plug. By the time ur o-ring on that AirII hose has minor leak, you need to abort the dive. With a regular inflator, I just plug off the hose and use mouth inflation and carry on the dive. O-ring for inflator hose is the first to go, cause every insertion does a minor friction and it will leak someday. Try diving with AirII or equivalent un-connected, a service shop is ur next destination.

When it comes to feeding ur buddy of air, the AirII set up is at least 3-4 seconds slower cause ur primary reg must be given to ur buddy. It is also not a design that ur buddy can grab on his own easily when he need it. AirII type is also the most uncomfortable second stage you can ever put in ur mouth, now the US Diver Micra Inflator/Octopus get that "heavy weight" title. All those BCD air hoses and extra mechanism is so heavy.

After trying them all ( 3 brands ) I have decided that a regular long hose octopus is best IF an octopus is very much intended for ur buddy. Also when somehow u tear ur mouth piece on your primary 2nd stage or any other bad luck that put that reg out of service, not including freeflow, I don't think you can't bear the burden of carrying on the dive with either a AirII/Seaquest/Micra inflator-octopus set up.

Finaly, try to give ur primary 2nd stage to ur buddy and u on ur AirII or equivalent and start an ascend from say 60 feet. With having to remove the AirII out of ur mouth to dump air on ascend once in a while.....it is sure no fun. The more uncomfortable the dive situation, deper dive, strong current, huge swell, low viz.... the more trouble u must expect from this kind of set-up.

AirII and equivalent looks cool, that is why I bought them but in real use if ever the need arises, they are not the best emergency 2nd stage to use. In certain situation where 3-4 seconds extra delay in giving air ur to buddy can mean a disaster, this is the time you realized the design flaw of AirII and equivalent.

But hey, the AirII is still by average the best of all thee I mentioned, in terms of breathing resistance, light weight and so on. That I know.

Dive Safe.......

 

[AltonK]

The airII is definitly for you not your buddy. But, every OOA situation I've been in ,(2), My buddy elected to take the primary from my mouth. Panic is a wonderful thing.

 

[DiveTub]

Finaly, try to give ur primary 2nd stage to ur buddy and u on ur AirII or equivalent and start an ascend from say 60 feet. With having to remove the AirII out of ur mouth to dump air on ascend once in a while.....it is sure no fun. The more uncomfortable the dive situation, deper dive, strong current, huge swell, low viz.... the more trouble u must expect from this kind of set-up.

As above why would you need to take the Air 2 out of your mouth to dump air during ascent? almost all recreational BCD's now have a dump valve in both shoulders ?

I have been in about 200 OOA situations using Air 2's in all conditions during training, and three OOA situations for real. From as deep as 100ft. The Scuba Pro Air 2's have never given us any problem, have always worked very well and never failed.

I would not however put those crappy Dive Alert things on the same hose. They are more likley to fail than the Air 2, are noisy and annoy the hell out of other divers.

I have done over 300 Dives with my current ScubaPro Air 2 attached, and I have not encountered any of the issues that IyaDiver has stated in his post above.

 

[Bobb]

Sydney_diver....
I am considering getting an Air II...but I'm wondering if it will work on my Dacor Nautica WD? I think that the air II is made for an Oceanic BC.. are the fittings the same for the different BC's?
thanks,
Bob