OK, now that everyone has beaten the AIR2 topic to death, let’s talk streamlining.
Regardless what you decide about inflater & 2nd stage, the following will do a lot more for streamlining that that ever could:
- Hose routing - route hoses down from 1st stage, not flailing out to both sides. Consider 90 deg fittings at the 2nd stage end to keep them in tight.
- Lose all the dangly stuff - put all that stuff you’re tempted to clip all over your BC in a pocket. Clip what does need to be clipped to your butt D ring (if you don’t have one, you should) to keep it from flopping around below your body.
- Learn to swim in proper streamlined trim - that’s horizontal, especially into current
- Lose the extra weight - breathe all the way out and you may be surprised that you don’t really need that last 4 to 6 lb of lead.
- Lose the other extra weight - streamline your body. Less diameter means less hydrodynamic resistance when swimming. Also, fat floats, so the less fat you have the less lead you’ll need.