What is the most annoying part about line-training as a freediving instructor, deep diver, or diving with buddies that have varying degrees of depth?
For me, it is changing the depth of the line…constantly.
As a freediving instructor, I often have students of all different abilities training on my buoy, and by the end of the session, my arms have turned into jelly from setting the line to 50m (164ft) just to pull it back up to 10m (32ft), then lower it to 25m (82ft), pulling it back up, and so on. As soon as I saw the Octopus Pulling System on Indiegogo’s crowdfunding site, I knew I had to get my hands on it and test it out for myself.
First Impressions
The Octopus Pulling System is compact, lightweight, and does not take up much extra space on your buoy. As small as it is, it promises sturdiness and a long life with its specifications. This pulley works for ropes ranging from 8mm to 12mm (0.31in to 0.47in) thick, which gives it a nice variety of ropes to work with. Even the little details put into it, such as the ergonomic shape and the absence of any sharp edges for those times that you bump into the buoy on your ascent, shows that a lot of time and effort was placed in the making of this pulley.
Performance
The Octopus Pulling System is a dream to work with! It is so easy to release the line with it attached; two fingers are all you need. The pulley reacts immediately to any changes; whether you are dropping the line or stopping it, the system quickly releases or locks the line in place with no lag. As for pulling up the line, all you need is your foot; no more jumping on the buoy and struggling blindly with hooking and unhooking the knots underneath. I would recommend attaching a lockable carabineer to the pulley system to keep it secure. I am also an anxious freediver, so I attached an additional carabineer to secure the loose end of the rope in a knot, just in case.
Final Thoughts
After using the Octopus Pulling System, I will personally never go back to the struggle of heaving myself onto the buoy and straining myself pulling up a 50m line. Everything is easier with this: teaching freedivers of different abilities training on the same buoy, variable weight dives with the bottom-weight, training with a buddy who goes deeper or shallower than me…the list is endless. The fact that it adds an extra layer of safety to your sessions, such as being able to pull up the line faster and with greater ease if someone blacks out at deeper depths, is already a strong selling point in itself.
So do yourself a favor, invest in safety and making your life a whole lot easier with the Octopus Pulling System!
Features
- Polyamide charged with 20% fiberglass
- 8mm (0.31in) anodized aluminum arm
- 2 low-friction polyamide pulleys
- Marine stainless-steel screws
- Maximum load – 250kg
- Designed for ropes 8mm to 12mm (0.31in to 0.47in) thick
- Colors available: black, white, blue, red, and yellow
Price
- €49 Euro / $54 USD / £44 GBP
