Posted by Sumit on May 26, 2004 at 06:53:06:
In Reply to: smash urchins and get certified video posted by G. Snyder on May 25, 2004 at 13:27:49:
I kind of hesitate getting into a gear configuration discussion because they tend to spiral into an out of control bickering session, but here goes...
As I understand it, there are two primary reasons for routing the octo to the left. First off, the folks who dive with this gear configuration are generally taught to donate the octo in an out of air scenario. With the octo coming from the left side, the hose doesn't need to make an "S" bend when someone else is breathing off of it and facing you. Secondly, in the event that you need to kick out of a kelp bed before surfacing while sharing air, the left handed octo allows the donor and donee (is that a real word?) to easily swim side by side without, once again, putting an "S" bend in the hose. In addition to these two primary reasons, there are some other perceived benefits to the left hand octo routing such as having only one hose on the right side, or being able to have your buddy directly in front of you during an ascent while sharing air.