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Ken Sallot wrote: > 3) If you do things the right way and the octopus isn't working, then you > at least have some time since you've just taken a full breath of air I thought the point of the discussion was, that an out-of-air diver will "surprise" you and just grab the (working) regulator out of your mouth without giving you any choice. If THAT'S what you're planning for, you also need to plan for the fact that you were JUST about to take a breath when he snatched your primary reg. You very likely will NOT have "just taken a full breath of air". Now you would have that "two divers out of air" scenario that others are concerned about. If, on the other hand, you see the diver approach, decide that he's gonna need your air, and have the time to prepare yourself by FIRST taking a full breath before passing on your primary regulator - then you could have used the SAME time and deploy your ALTERNATE second stage regulator and hold it in FRONT of the approaching diver's face. Guess which regulator he'll go for - the one in front of his face or the one to which his view his blocked (which is the one in your mouth). >> 4) In the event that the diver that is out of air grabs the one your breathing >> off of to begin with, he's now getting the one you want him to have. I can't argue the fact, that an OOA diver is better off breathing from your primary regulator. If your primary regulator is a side-exhaust regulator I do consider your technique safer for the OOA diver. If your primary regulator is the traditional style regulator, there is the risk that the OOA diver (in his/her) excitement may end up with the regulator upside down, which might flood the chamber and have him breath water (as heavydude@ao*.co* reported). However, except for the left-mounted "octopus" that risk is the same if the diver grabs my secondary regulator. Overall, I agree that from the viewpoint of an OOA diver, HE is safer breathing your primary regulator. But I'm not sure about the safety of the TWO divers... >> Simple logic analysis requested from you: If a stressed out, out of air diver is handed a regulator that doesn't work for any reason what do you think he will do? << After reading both sides of the argument for a week, it appears to boil down to that: a) if the secondary regulator is working just fine, then it is better to only have ONE person without a regulator in their mouth. Heck, I've seen more than once divers practicing out-of-air scenarios and DROPPING the functioning regulator out of their gloved hands which resulted in sufficient confusion during practice - not to talk about a REAL emergency. b) if the secondary regulator is NOT working (that 1 out 100 times, as someone suggested), and the OOA diver grabs the primary regulator while you were about to take a breath - then this scenario is less safe for you (and ultimately for both divers) since now you can't take the needed breath off the secondary regulator and are "out of air". Now combine that with the possibility of dropping that ONE working regulator during the exchange back and forth. c) if the secondary regulator is NOT working, and the OOA diver grabs that same regulator, then this scenario is less safe for the OOA diver (and ultimately for both divers). It's a game of what-ifs and WHICH likelihood you assign to each possibility (e.g., item a) or item b)). But I can't say that "simple logic analysis" would give you a straight YES/NO answer - for me, it sounds like a case of "it depends". And that's how I approach it with my students - "There's two techniques: Here are the arguments of its proponents and adversaries. Depending on which scenarios you consider the more realistic pick the one technique that you're comfortable and confident with - and then PRACTICE frequently to make sure it'll work that ONE time that you'll need it." Best Regards Andy Schmidt [NJ] http://OurWorld.CompuServe.com/Homepages/Andy_Schmidt/ AOL: ASchmidt1 * GENIE: A.Schmidt1 * MSN: Andy_Schmidt
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