39 replies to this topic

[uwfan]

Come on the Dolphin trip in September and you can see it for yourself.

You have NO idea how TEMPTING that is...alas, I am but a poor teacher-type who has vacation only certain times in the year!! (Don't feel too bad for me, this summer I managed TWO scuba trips and plan for the December Bahamas trip-- YOU should come on that one! )

[peterbj7]

If I am on my octo, the dive is pretty much over

Under what circumstances would YOU be on YOUR octo? And why would your dive be near its end?

[georoc01]

If I am on my octo, the dive is pretty much over

Under what circumstances would YOU be on YOUR octo? And why would your dive be near its end?

I would be on my octo if I shared my primary.

And at that point with two people on my single tank, we would be ending the dive.

[finGrabber]

there are other reasons that you might chose to be on your octo besides air sharing:

blowing a SMB or Lift Bag from depth; both my SMB and my lift bag have a semi closed bottom so I fill them using my long hose; reason being, I can hold the reel and bag away from me and keep me from getting caught in the line

another is when I change to my deco bottle or stage bottle. I first verify the bottle has the correct gas, recharge the system (my instructor taught me to charge my bottles once and then turn the valve off to prevent losing gas) switch to my bungeed octo, clip off my primary, and switch to the deco/stage bottle.

another time is when I check that my octo is functioning properly at depth

[peterbj7]

OK. This is really just semantics. I believe that the 2nd stage I'm breathing from at any instant is by definition my primary, and if I've handed another 2nd stage off to someone else that is by definition my octo.

When it comes to inflating a DSMB I greatly prefer to use a short hose. By necessity I'm going to hold the bag close to me as my arms aren't very long, and I don't want surplus hose all over the place. I certainly don't want it round my neck. I'm not worried about getting regulator or other gear/fingers tangled in the DSMB because I've worked out procedures to prevent that. I certainly won't tangle anything in the line as I keep that taut throughout the process.

On the deco bottle procedure, I don't follow why the octo comes into the picture. Why not go straight from primary to stage bottle then stow the primary?

[finGrabber]

On the deco bottle procedure, I don't follow why the octo comes into the picture. Why not go straight from primary to stage bottle then stow the primary?

Because I clip off my primary to a D-ring; and this year I plan to use a 44" hose on my deco bottle so I hope to first set up my deco hose with reg, then stow my primary plus switch to the octo, reverify the gas I'm switching to, then switch to the deco bottle

I'm sure that once I get more experience making gas switches that I'll make adjustments to my regimen but this one works for me at this time

[peterbj7]

Still don't follow why the octo comes into it..... I've done these sort of gas switches many times and I've always gone from from primary reg straight to primary reg. I usually stow the one I've relinquished after I've activated and started breathing from my stage. I don't usually even have an octo with that sort of diving, unless you call the reg on the other post on a twinset an octo.

That's a monstrous hose you're going to have on your stage tank. Why so long? You'll end up with it round your feet!

[shadragon]

I managed TWO scuba trips and plan for the December Bahamas trip-- YOU should come on that one! )

Went last year in December...

[shadragon]

Under what circumstances would YOU be on YOUR octo? And why would your dive be near its end?

I have a Pony with my octo attached with separate reg. If anything goes wrong with my main reg or tank I would swap to the pony and abort the dive. All local divers here have pony's for the most part.

[peterbj7]

I have a Pony with my octo attached with separate reg

?????