On Thursday, August 15, 2002 10:48 PM, Mark Goldsmith wrote:

(snip)

> Now, to my question.  Since our family as well as most divers I have seen
use
> the yellow face plate on their second stage to indicate which is their
> regulator to be donated (octopus), wouldn't it follow that with our chosen
> necklace arrangement that the primary longer hosed second stage that we
use
> on a normal basis should have the yellow face plate indicating its use for
> donation in an OOA situation and the necklaced second stage hanging around
> our necks should have the traditional black face plate?

Mate!  I was actually obliged to go and have a look at the face plates on my
regs and check what colour they were! (Just for the record, one's matt black
and the other - slightly older - is scuffed black.  I didn't purposely
select black, that just happened to be the standard fitting.)  But it did
start me thinking about colour face plates - and about which reg to donate.
:-)

At a personal level, I don't think that colour makes much difference.  Prior
to the widespread introduction of the AAS, we just used to teach buddy
breathing.  From memory it was only in the early 'eighties - certainly here
in Oz - that we began to also teach, (together with air sharing using one
reg) the use of the AAS.  Strangely enough, as I now recall, it was
conventional practice to donate the primary and for the donor to use the
AAS.  This, we claimed, had two practical purposes! :-)

Firstly: knowing that you might be required to be a donor, it was an
encouragement to have an AAS that functioned perfectly at all depths and
wasn't just a cheap POS intended more for window dressing than for use!
Secondly:  It was assumed that an OOA diver - who might well be under stress
<bwg> - would be focussed on getting air from an obviously working source.
i.e. the one in the donor's mouth.  (Also consider that, generally speaking,
the OOA might well focus attention on a working air source and thus make it
easier for the donor to establish eye contact with the recipient as a first
step towards taking control of the situation and calming impending panic.)
:-)

It was only when AIDS became an issue that the emphasis shifted towards
handing off the 'occy'! :-)

(snip)

> I know that logic would seem the answer to my question is self evident,
but
> it does go against tradition to breathe from the yellow face plated second
> and perhaps their is something I've overlooked.

I don't know about tradition, but it seems to me that part of the pre-dive
drill is to confirm with ones buddy what to do in OOA situation.  In that
regard, it doesn't matter what colour the face plate is! :-)

(snip)
> We leave for a week in Turks in ten days and can't wait to get in the
water
> sporting our new jewelry (necklaces and tiaras of course)!

Mate!  I expect the water will be a hell of a lot warmer than it is right
here at present!  Have a great trip.  :-)

Strike