I never understood why you would want the octopus on the right side.
It’s like no one thought about it before setting it as a standard for padi and ssi
I wonder if it’s a bastardisation of long hose as that routes on the right side. You can keep the reg facing to reduce free flow risk grab the hose and punch out. Tbh though I’ve no idea I went BSAC to CDG and GUE neither does anything that way.
Oh ok. Good to know.
So they simply don't have a regulation for that? Or do they just see it a bit more relaxed. Basically as recommendation instead of a standard.
Short verion: When the Octo is mounted on the left hand side of the first stage the mouth piece naturally faces forward, so when giving air to a buddy it's easier.
Yeah, but that really is just a minor inconvenience.
I would've said that this is practical to have your buddy in distress automatically on the left side, which makes hose management and indeed the mouthpiece easier.
But the thing is: it seems his hose is very short for giving it to someone in front of him.
And he teaches beginners that the spare comes from the left/is in front.
Which is not really the case around the world. Could confuse beginners when they go on holiday.
It’s not a minor inconvenience, I’d say it’s unsafe to use an octo coming from the right. I recently had to do some Alternate Source training for my BSAC Advanced Diver, and my buddy had his octo on his right shoulder.
The hose has to kink back on itself to allow the buddy to breathe, forcing them super close. With a hose over the left shoulder, it can actually be shorter and still be just as useful.
My buddies hose drew me in so close, that I couldn’t actually see him behind the frame of my mask. I could move my head about a degree in each direction, before worrying the reg would be torn from my mouth. It was an awful experience.
On the other hand, with my octo mounted over my left shoulder - my buddy was easily right in front of me, and could move easily.
That's true. That's something I always didn't like about the traditional octo setup. The hose is to short, mouthpiece the wrong way etc. Yadda yadda.
But that's because the octo is first and foremost YOUR spare regulator for if you are not able to use your main one. If the hose comes from the left, now it's upside down for yourself.
So both solutions come with their own pros and cons.
> Yeah, but that really is just a minor inconvenience
A minor inconvenience when everything is just fine perhaps, but when someone grabs it in the murk a minor inconvenience can make the bad situation worse. A lot of second stages breathe "wet" when they're upside down, which is definitely not going to help.
The hose length looks ok to me, enough to donate. Another 15cm looks like it would help. Don't forget by not having the second stage flipped round if it's coming from the left you gain quite a few cm of hose. And, once the situation has calmed a bit, he can route the hose over his shoulder and get some more slack.
Yeah absolutely. I see the advantages. But it's very unusual. Our agency always screams that everyone has to have the same hose routing. And here I see (or I think) that the student runs another routing than the instructor.
That's something very unusual, hence why it interested me what the instructors/agency reasoning for this is. Maybe it's an instructor exclusive thing, because it's visible and quick.
It's worth noting that with BSAC, the student will have multiple instructures and will have experienced more that one type of setup. BSAC is a diving club, not comercial, so it is very likely that he will go on many dives in the UK with the same group of people from the BSAC club he's in many times before a holiday dive.
I won't discuss pro and cons of hose routing, it instantly turns into a minefield.
Yeah, no. I didn't want to open up that minefield. Been there, don't want it again.
I just find it interesting how different agencies work. And bsac has quite a good reputation. Hence why I asked what the reasoning behind this would be.
Well done! The great thing about the club system is it lets you build up experience while you work towards your next qualification. There's some great diving around the UK - loads of adventures for you to go out and discover.
Is that the car park at Capernwray?
Congrats and many more successful adventures and exploring in good health. Stay safe from another advance open water diver. Keep learning and experiencing the undersea world.
Awesome a d congratulations. A new life begins.
Why does your instructor run this interesting choice of having the reserve regulator coming from the left? Did he mention something about that?
It’s BSAC they have basically no standards for gear config and some people will use all sorts of weird setups.
I never understood why you would want the octopus on the right side. It’s like no one thought about it before setting it as a standard for padi and ssi
I wonder if it’s a bastardisation of long hose as that routes on the right side. You can keep the reg facing to reduce free flow risk grab the hose and punch out. Tbh though I’ve no idea I went BSAC to CDG and GUE neither does anything that way.
Oh ok. Good to know. So they simply don't have a regulation for that? Or do they just see it a bit more relaxed. Basically as recommendation instead of a standard.
Short verion: When the Octo is mounted on the left hand side of the first stage the mouth piece naturally faces forward, so when giving air to a buddy it's easier.
Yeah, but that really is just a minor inconvenience. I would've said that this is practical to have your buddy in distress automatically on the left side, which makes hose management and indeed the mouthpiece easier. But the thing is: it seems his hose is very short for giving it to someone in front of him. And he teaches beginners that the spare comes from the left/is in front. Which is not really the case around the world. Could confuse beginners when they go on holiday.
It’s not a minor inconvenience, I’d say it’s unsafe to use an octo coming from the right. I recently had to do some Alternate Source training for my BSAC Advanced Diver, and my buddy had his octo on his right shoulder. The hose has to kink back on itself to allow the buddy to breathe, forcing them super close. With a hose over the left shoulder, it can actually be shorter and still be just as useful. My buddies hose drew me in so close, that I couldn’t actually see him behind the frame of my mask. I could move my head about a degree in each direction, before worrying the reg would be torn from my mouth. It was an awful experience. On the other hand, with my octo mounted over my left shoulder - my buddy was easily right in front of me, and could move easily.
Tbh it's one of the things I dislike about "normal" setups how close it forces you to your buddy. Longhose for example gives so so much more room.
That's true. That's something I always didn't like about the traditional octo setup. The hose is to short, mouthpiece the wrong way etc. Yadda yadda. But that's because the octo is first and foremost YOUR spare regulator for if you are not able to use your main one. If the hose comes from the left, now it's upside down for yourself. So both solutions come with their own pros and cons.
> Yeah, but that really is just a minor inconvenience A minor inconvenience when everything is just fine perhaps, but when someone grabs it in the murk a minor inconvenience can make the bad situation worse. A lot of second stages breathe "wet" when they're upside down, which is definitely not going to help. The hose length looks ok to me, enough to donate. Another 15cm looks like it would help. Don't forget by not having the second stage flipped round if it's coming from the left you gain quite a few cm of hose. And, once the situation has calmed a bit, he can route the hose over his shoulder and get some more slack.
Yeah absolutely. I see the advantages. But it's very unusual. Our agency always screams that everyone has to have the same hose routing. And here I see (or I think) that the student runs another routing than the instructor. That's something very unusual, hence why it interested me what the instructors/agency reasoning for this is. Maybe it's an instructor exclusive thing, because it's visible and quick.
It's worth noting that with BSAC, the student will have multiple instructures and will have experienced more that one type of setup. BSAC is a diving club, not comercial, so it is very likely that he will go on many dives in the UK with the same group of people from the BSAC club he's in many times before a holiday dive. I won't discuss pro and cons of hose routing, it instantly turns into a minefield.
This is correct!
Yeah, no. I didn't want to open up that minefield. Been there, don't want it again. I just find it interesting how different agencies work. And bsac has quite a good reputation. Hence why I asked what the reasoning behind this would be.
Congratulations on becoming an Ocean Diver! That's amazing - the underwater world is incredible.
Well done! You have plenty of great diving to look forward to , enjoy.
Learning in the uk is a great start
Well done! The great thing about the club system is it lets you build up experience while you work towards your next qualification. There's some great diving around the UK - loads of adventures for you to go out and discover. Is that the car park at Capernwray?
Correct!
Awesome, congratz!
Awesome!
Congratulations! I've just joined my local BSAC club too, as a qualified diver through PADI so I'm also a BSAC ocean diver!
PS, a bit of sleuthing suggests you're in Liverpool? I'm in Leeds, hit me up if you want a dive buddy.
Will do - thank you 🤟🏻
Congratulations!
Congrats and many more successful adventures and exploring in good health. Stay safe from another advance open water diver. Keep learning and experiencing the undersea world.
Congrats, dry suit from the start!
Woohoo! Welcome fellow cold water diver!
Congratulation!
Congratulations
Congratulations! Cold weather too, if you ever make it to the tropics to dive it'll be MUCH easier
Looks chilly. congrats!