OCTO Neglect

Hey you, over here! I’m the yellow one, your OCTO.  OCTO’s seem to get a back seat when people wash out their gear after diving. I see this often, even with experienced divers. Yesterday a diver bought in his regulator to be looked at because it was suddenly leaking and wouldn’t stop. After a quick inspection of the exterior of the regulators and hoses I opened up the OCTO. Ewwww!  Gross! Nasty! Inside the OCTO there was sand and muck in addition to a deposit of phlegm-like slime growing.   I shuddered at the thought that someone might have to put this in their mouth. It would be like sucking on a moldy piece of cheese.

OCTO neglect is an epidemic.  When servicing regulators, I find, almost across the board, that while the rest of the divers gear, including the  primary regulator, have been impeccably cleaned, the OCTO is in terrible shape. I think that OCTO’s don’t get a lot of attention when cleaning because they are used so infrequently.

 If you’re thinking, “It serves you right if you have to breathe off a moldy octopus if you don’t check your SPG often,” then you’ve probably never been in a situation where you had to use your own alternate.  I did.  I was making a shore entry and was knocked over in the surf. My primary regulator was ripped from my mouth and pinned under a piece of coral.  On my back and submerged by waves, I had no choice but to grab my OCTO and breathe from it.  I was happy that it was clean and functional.

Another reason that an OCTO can be dirtier than the primary is that divers do not always secure their OCTO to their BC, leaving it to drag in the sand, muck, or whatever, collecting dirt.  For $1.50, and a little care when setting up, that problem can be solved.

After giving the OCTO a bath in the sonic tub and spraying it with and oral disinfectant I made an internal adjustment, reassembled and returned to the customer, with a sales pitch for a new OCTO holder.

We all hope that we are never in a situation where we need to use the octopus, but if the situation arises, can you be sure that your alternate will be up to the challenge?  When rinsing out your gear post dive, don’t forget to rinse and care for your OCTO.

Maintenance tip:  Occasionally soak your primary and OCTO overnight in a solution of 1.5 cups of flavored Listerine and 4 cups of water.  The next morning, rinse well and you have minty fresh CLEAN regulators.