Streamlining underwater for the diver is always desirable. Movement through the water is easier. Management of equipment is also simplified. As California divers, however, streamlining is not just something to do to make diving easier, it is a necessity. Every extra gauge, hose, console, inflator, or regulator, hanging from our bodies underwater is a potential snag point in the thick kelp. This is at a minimum quite annoying in some cases dangerous.

Devices that combined a safe-second regulator (octopus) and the power inflator to the BCD have been around for some time being widely accepted as a way to eliminate at least one hose and device from the regulator assembly.

Many divers also now dive with a signaling horn for emergency signaling on the surface. Some dive operations even require the use of these devices. So add another device to your regulator assembly.

On the surface the horn sounds much like a very loud duck call. While not quite as loud and piercing as other air horns, the volume of this horn is certainly loud enough to get the attention of somebody from several hundreds of yards away. Underwater the sound is different and more subdued but loud enough to get the attention of a buddy that has wandered off. Underwater the sound quality is more that of a metallic rattle, like an engine with a very bad ping. And the horn requires very little air to operate.

Other than the fact that so many useful devices have bee n combined into one ergonomic and easy to use unit, perhaps what impressed me most about the Air-3 is it's solid construction. The housing is high strength reinforced plastic polymer which provides durability without extra weight.

Adding it to your BCD is simple and takes only a few minutes. It fits nearly all BCDs. The corrugated hose on the BCD must be 1 inch, pretty much standard for most BCDs. The air supply hose from the first stage is larger than standard inflator hoses but is included.