Does Your Gear Configuration Affect Air Sharing? 

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For more information about Air Sharing techniques visit our blog post on the subject:
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Disclaimer: Before discussing air sharing techniques and configurations, it’s important to note that air sharing, especially in an emergency, is a skill that must be mastered in confined water under the supervision of a qualified SCUBA instructor. Do NOT SWITCH YOUR CURRENT CONFIGURATION without training and coaching from a SCUBA instructor!
Which regulator should you give a diver in distress?
Before we can address the issue of how to configure your regulators, we need to discuss the major difference in opinion that many SCUBA instructors have.
You see, some instructors believe that an out-of-air diver should always receive the regulator which the diver that’s doing the rescue is breathing from.
Others believe the out-of-air diver should receive the octopus.
Configurations where you give out the octopus
The placement of the octopus holder should be somewhere in the “safety triangle”. This is an imaginary triangle that goes from your chin to your waist in front where the octopus can be easily accessed by both the diver and their buddy.
Having the Octopus on a holder
There are many different types of octo holders on the market. Each design has their benefits and drawbacks. The basic premise behind all octo-holders is the same.
BCD with integrated Octo-holder
Some BCD manufactures have taken note of the issue of keeping the octopus nice and tidy while still making it easy to deploy in case of emergency.
Rigs where the primary air source is donated
Air 2 (Regulator Low-Pressure Inflator Combo)
One of the most common configurations where the primary air source is placed on a longer hose and donated is when a diver is using an Air2 or similar inflator/regulator combo.
By combining the low-pressure inflator and the alternate air source into one, the diver removes one hose from their SCUBA configuration.
You also remove the possibility of having the octopus dangle because the hose used for the low-pressure inflator is typically much shorter than that of an octopus.
As mentioned before, the downside is that it requires the diver to be more involved in an out-of-air scenario because the must give out their primary regulator.
Because the hose on the Air2 is short, it makes it very awkward and less than ideal to be donated to another diver for air sharing.
Hogarthian set up (long hose tech set up)
The final rig worth mentioning is one that was born in cave / technical diving but has been adopted by many recreational divers.
It is known as the Hogarthian rig named after Bill Hogarth Main.
The rig consists of the primary regulator being a longer hose (up to 7 ft) curled around the diver’s body. The octopus is worn on a necklace right under the diver’s neck.
In this configuration, the octopus never comes off the necklace. In an emergency, the diver donates the longer hose and then switches to the octo.
Some advantages of this system include:
Most divers using this configuration opt to have 2 high performing regulators on your rig which eliminates the low performing octopus other divers use.
It eliminates the possibility of a regulator ever dangling because it’s nearly impossible for the octopus to come loose from the necklace.
If a diver ever approaches you in an out of air scenario, you can give away your primary and have almost instant access to your back up.
Because this set up often uses a much longer hose, it will give you the freedom to have some more space to move should you ever have to share air.
The only real downside to this configuration is that it does require training in sharing air using this configuration. Also, if using a long hose for the primary, it does require extra care to not drag the primary regulator on the floor since it is on a very long hose.
If you want more detailed information, check out our blog post by clicking the link below:
greatdivers.com/air-sharing-c...
Don’t forget to download our free guide “The Four Keys to mastering your Diving.” In it, we go over several little-known tips to make you a better diver. Many of these tips are not reviewed by instructors so you definitely want to check it out.
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