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How the octupus got its name


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#1 Landlocked Dive Nut

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Posted 11 October 2009 - 07:56 PM

Re-printed rom Dive Training Magazine, authored by Alex Brylske

Someone asked a question involving diving's history: "When I learned to dive, i was taught that the spare regulator used for emergency breathing was called an alternate air source. However, I hear the term 'octopus' often used instead. Where did this name come from?"

For many years after the introduction of the single-hose regulator, breathing systems had, as the name implies, one single hose. There were no submersible pressure gauges, nor any such things as BC's. The first "accessory" device attached to a regulator was the submersible pressure gauge. This was introduced in the mid-1960's. By the early and mid-70's, BCs were coming on to the scene, and the primary way to inflate them was via another hose attached to the first stage. A bit later still, but in this same time frame, recreational divers began adopting an innovation from the cave diving community -- adding a spare second stage to their rig as a way to deal with an out-of-air emergency. So, in only a few years, regulator systems had gone from a single hose to four hoses. While it may not have been anatomically correct, divers began calling these multihose rigs "octopuses" to distinguish them from the standard single-hose configuration. The term later came to mean only the alternate air source, probably because it was the last item added. Besides, "quadrapus" sounds stupid.....
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#2 drbill

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Posted 12 October 2009 - 08:42 AM

I can remember as each of those items was added to my single hose kit... but I added the BC inflator hose last since I refused to buy one until about 1996 or so. The first one I had ever used (in 1989) was required equipment when I dove with a Cousteau team, but it kelpt auto inflating so I just disconnected the hose and continued the dive. Adding the SPG was a big move... my J-valve was often already pulled (due to kelp) by the time I "needed" it.

#3 Hipshot

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Posted 12 October 2009 - 02:15 PM

I can remember as each of those items was added to my single hose kit... but I added the BC inflator hose last since I refused to buy one until about 1996 or so. The first one I had ever used (in 1989) was required equipment when I dove with a Cousteau team, but it kelpt auto inflating so I just disconnected the hose and continued the dive. Adding the SPG was a big move... my J-valve was often already pulled (due to kelp) by the time I "needed" it.


I think we can safely say that if the SPG had been introduced first, the J-valve would have never been used for diving.

Rick


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#4 peterbj7

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Posted 12 October 2009 - 07:44 PM

I always thought "Octopus" was a proprietary name introduced by one of the early manufacturers, I think Aqualung. But I can't find any evidence to support this.

#5 hambergler

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Posted 12 October 2009 - 08:45 PM

"Quartopus"???

One of my rigs adds a drysuit inflator. Quintopus? Cincopus? Funfopus?
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#6 Dantheengineer

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Posted 13 October 2009 - 07:41 AM

Doh! As soon as i saw the author wasn't Rudyard Kipling i realised (that, yes once again!) I was on the wrong track.......


http://www.flipkart....1869-3nx3finntf

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#7 Cold_H2O

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Posted 13 October 2009 - 07:57 AM

"Quartopus"???

One of my rigs adds a drysuit inflator. Quintopus? Cincopus? Funfopus?

I removed my drysuit inflator for the first time in Sept.. it looks and feels strange to have one less hose.
Might have to add it back just for comfort.
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#8 Capn Jack

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Posted 13 October 2009 - 02:54 PM

I removed my drysuit inflator for the first time

"Lucy - t'chu got sum 'splainin to do...."

Being a WWW - how do you inflate your suit? Forgive me if this is a stupid newbie question.
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#9 Landlocked Dive Nut

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Posted 13 October 2009 - 08:11 PM

:birthday: After the chilly PNW waters, she doesn't have to dive dry in Texas! :birthday: What's the water temp below the thermocline in TX waters?
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#10 Cold_H2O

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Posted 13 October 2009 - 10:01 PM

Sorry.. after reading my post I realize I forgot to include the word hose.
I removed my drysuit inflator HOSE..

I am getting use to this thing you all call wetsuit diving.
Its weird to exit the water and be wet from head to toe.... Such a strange feeling...

My brand new custom drysuit stays home in the closet more than it ventures out for dive trips since I moved to Texas. :birthday:

I haven't been tracking water temps.. but its not cold when I spend most of the dive pulling on my neck seal so I can get a little water in and cool off.

(oh how I miss the cold water diving :birthday: )

Edited by Cold_H2O, 13 October 2009 - 10:02 PM.

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#11 peterbj7

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Posted 14 October 2009 - 11:47 AM

A friend often exits the water wet from head to toe. The only snag is, he's wearing what is euphemistically called a "drysuit". It's a DUI he's had for years, and he can't find where the water's coming in.

#12 Capn Jack

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Posted 14 October 2009 - 03:18 PM

Sorry.. after reading my post I realize I forgot to include the word hose.
I removed my drysuit inflator HOSE..

I am getting use to this thing you all call wetsuit diving.
Its weird to exit the water and be wet from head to toe.... Such a strange feeling...

My brand new custom drysuit stays home in the closet more than it ventures out for dive trips since I moved to Texas. :birthday:

I haven't been tracking water temps.. but its not cold when I spend most of the dive pulling on my neck seal so I can get a little water in and cool off.

(oh how I miss the cold water diving :birthday: )

Come to Clear Springs 1/1 for the polar bear dive. I missed the classic when a guy took 1st place in the "longest dive with the least amount of thermal protection" category. Went in with a rig and swimtrunks, dropped the trunks after water entry. Gave new meaning to "skin diving"

Last time I went to 60' in Clear Springs it was about 53 - so if you need to freeze - you know where to go (it's the blue buoy about 150 yards east of Cisco the Shark)
No aquarium, no tank in a marine land, however spacious it may be, can begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea. And no dolphin who inhabits one of those aquariums or one of those marine lands can be considered normal.
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