How do you feel about teaching new dive atudents to go “straight” to the octo (safe 2nd) when recovering a lost primary regulator?
There is a hot discussion out there on whether divers should be taught to go to their backup FIRST, before beginning sweeping/lost regulator recovery.
PROS: Some divers miss the regulator on the sweep, or it gets caught/snagged somewhere tough to find. Having the octo already in their mouth would alleviate potential panic, or heightened anxiety that could lead to panic.
Also, if the octo is used as a “last resort” because they couldn’t find their lost primary, they are already running low on air and approaching the panic threshold.
If there is anything wrong with the octo, this gives very little wiggle room at the last minute.
The reality is, many divers do not test their regulators, neglect their octos, or they rent poorly maintained gear with octos that can malfunction. Sometimes, an octo can simply get debris in the exhaust diaphragms and “breathe wet” (we have breakdown videos on this channel discussing that issue).
If the octo is malfunctioning at this critical moment, there is a compounded issue, vs finding that out early on in the initial moment of the switch.
CONS: This can create gear complacency, and prevent the student from learning to cope with urgency. It also reduces the likelihood of a student learning the different places an octo might get stuck (or float above them) and not have to contend with the importance of learning different techniques for finding and recovering their primary.
While there are plenty of great arguments for alternative configurations, hogarthian / long hose, necklace use, or even an integrated inflator (safe 2nd) such an Air2 or SS1. This is still a required basic Open Water teaching skill, and is the most common scenario with rental gear or typical dive buddy setups.
Is there a “best” way, or should we actually consider teaching both?
🛟🤿
#scubadiving #scubalife #rescuediver #panicmanagement #sweetwaterscuba
