Question about octo design

[mm2002]

Why (on most standard octos) do they have the hose exiting the right side of the reg? If the reg is routed on your right side, and intended for your buddies use, wouldn't it make way more sense to have the hose exit the left side of the reg?

[rye_a]

Probably because most octos are a yellow reproduction of a primary 2nd stage, and it is cheaper for the manufacturers not start from scratch to design them right. Just a guess...

[ScubaToys Larry]

It's all a matter of where the OOA diver is in relation to the donor. I have some we can do in either direction - and then if you look at something like the Oceanic Swivel Octo - it doesn't matter!

Oceanic Swivel 180 Octo Demo Unit, Demo/Used, Oceanic, Oceanic Swivel 180 Octo Demo Unit

[mm2002]

It sure doesn't seem that there would be too much re-tooling involved with reversing the hose inlet.

[rye_a]

To deal with this issue I went with an Apeks Egress, which works either way. Now I'm going to an Octo-Z though...

[CompuDude]

It's done that way because it's possible for something go wrong with YOUR primary reg, forcing YOU to switch to your own octo. It's far easier for someone else to reverse the octo, due to the extra distance involved, than it is for you to do so.

[rye_a]

Originally Posted by CompuDude

It's done that way because it's possible for something go wrong with YOUR primary reg, forcing YOU to switch to your own octo. It's far easier for someone else to reverse the octo, due to the extra distance involved, than it is for you to do so.

Makes sense...gotta look after #1

[mm2002]

Originally Posted by ScubaToys Larry

It's all a matter of where the OOA diver is in relation to the donor. I have some we can do in either direction - and then if you look at something like the Oceanic Swivel Octo - it doesn't matter!

Oceanic Swivel 180 Octo Demo Unit, Demo/Used, Oceanic, Oceanic Swivel 180 Octo Demo Unit

Yep, that Oceanic design makes lots of sense! Also, because of this reason I put a side breathing reg on my pony, that way it works no matter how it's positioned.

[rye_a]

Originally Posted by mm2002

Yep, that Oceanic design makes lots of sense! Also, because of this reason I put a side breathing reg on my pony, that way it works no matter how it's positioned.

Yep. That is where my Egress is going.

[mm2002]

Originally Posted by CompuDude

It's done that way because it's possible for something go wrong with YOUR primary reg, forcing YOU to switch to your own octo. It's far easier for someone else to reverse the octo, due to the extra distance involved, than it is for you to do so.

I can definitely see your point there, but isn't the primary reason you carry an octo for use by your buddy? After all, a regulator is designed to malfunction as a free flow, not stop delivering air altogether. In that case, you can still breath from it, and going to your octo is just going to waste more air, right?
remember, I'm relatively new at this, so I'm just trying to reason things out in my own mind.