31 replies to this topic

[VADiver]

Perrone,
Your right on track...why bother learning two different ways to dive when one set-up works fine for everything from caves to open water. Switching back and forth between two different gear configuration only sets the diver up for a potential failure.

[Basslet]

I wore this to Back to School Night last night
Hose
I saw one guy in Spanish reading it, but I don't think he got it.

[jextract]

I wore this to Back to School Night last night
Hose
I saw one guy in Spanish reading it, but I don't think he got it.

Hey, I have that shirt too!

I mean, I don't like to brag or anythin'..........

[tdtexas]

Are we talking about scuba equipment here or body parts??????

[maninthesea]

Unless I am in a cave or a wreck I dive with a "medium" 48"-52" long. I pass this off. If I need a hose long enough so someone can follow me or I can follow them I swap it in. Honestly it does not happen that often as there are not many caves here and I usually penetrate wrecks solo.
Cheers

[Trimix2dive]

Their should be a category of it depends on the situation and diving conditions with who and what activities. Or all of the above.

whatever works for the time and place.

[WreckWench]

After an excellent gear clinic on our last NC trip...(thanks Trace) I have decided to switch from the long hose as my secondary to the long hose on my primary. Not sure if it will stay that way as I get lots of volunteers for any extra air that I have so giving up my primary under those circumstances is not usually my first choice.

Giving up ANY air I have to help a diver in need is entirely different and I will gladly give anything I have!

[George]

...and I will gladly give anything I have!

Won't go there...must b - e - h - a - v - e...

...stepping away from the keyboard

[jholley309]

Both my primary and octo are on 35" hoses; the octo has bright yellow hose wrap around the hose, and the purge valve cover (which is HUGE: the octo is nearly identical to a Dive Rite RG1200-series octo) is the same color. It gets clipped to the right-hand shoulder harness d-ring on my BC. The low pressure ports on the regulator first stage swivel (again, like a Dive Rite; they're made in the same factory), so as long as I can find the octo myself, I could care less who grabs which. I typically try to breathe from the one that's not bright yellow. The octo has a standard mouthpiece, too; I prefer a long bite, which is what's on my primary.

Of course, I'm only going to be doing rec diving for the foreseeable future, so as long as I have some sort of air source close at hand, I'm good to go. If I have time to defend the primary before it gets snatched out of my mouth, I go for the octo and shove that at the OOA diver.


Cheers!

Jim

[TraceMalin]

I dive a 7 foot hose for my primary and a bungied secondary on my double and single tanks. I feel it's the best method for both technical and recreational diving.

Donating your primary (on the 7 foot hose) reg in an OOG situation prevents further complications and makes the original emergency that much easier to handle.

You STUD you! That's why you get all the girls! Was your Kool Aid cherry flavored too? I think it's cherry in DIR-F and grape in Tech 1?

Trace

[Seahorsewrangler]

...and I will gladly give anything I have!

Won't go there...must b - e - h - a - v - e...

...stepping away from the keyboard

You go behave... I'm going for the fun!

[TraceMalin]

Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages to breathing a 7 foot long hose primary for all your diving needs and using a short hose for the backup regulator on a bungee cord:

SNAGS -

Advantage: Once the long hose is routed correctly, you'll have less hose profile coming around the right side of your head and into your mouth. For those who dive in and around wrecks, this means that you'll have less chance of snagging the regulator on protruding objects. I used to snag mine all the time until I started diving the 7 foot primary. I have yet to snag it in a wreck now.

Disadvantage: When looking far behind you over your right shoulder, it is possible to snag your primary 7 foot regulator on your right post while wearing doubles. I've had to reach back and undo it on several dives when this happened and I once had my regulator pulled from my mouth slightly. Not a problem for single tank divers at all.

(Personal opinion: The 7 foot hose is superior because it will reduce swim drag when routed correctly and have less of a chance at snagging an unknown object. In my experience, it tends to snag my right post which is preferable to being caught on an unknown object and I can reach it easily and undo it when it does.)


OUT OF GAS/AIR SITUATIONS -

Advantage: The diver in need of gas gets a working regulator (beacuse the donor is already breathing from it) right from the mouth as fast as a gun is drawn (GUE training anyway). This makes it easier to gain rapid control of the energency, calm the OOG diver, and allows the divers to swim at a comfortable distance or move through restrictions in wrecks or caves in tandem. Because the regulator is working, there will be no delay in the OOG diver getting gas and no shells, sand or debris in the mouthpiece to exacerbate an already dangerous situation.

Disadvantage: The diver donating the gas will be out of gas while switching to the backup regulator. Because the left post on a set of doubles can roll off when contacting the ceiling of a wreck or a cave, the donor may find that he/she won't have any gas after making the switch. This will first require the donor to reach the left valve knob and turn it forward to make sure it is open (yes, single tankers, all knobs turn in the same direction, so the left knob turns forward to open rather than backward like the one you are used to, or, like the way the knob turns on our right post) before assuming that something else may be wrong. By donating the long hose, the donor places himself/herself at risk in an OOG situation.

(Personal opinion: Getting a working regulator to an OOG diver as quickly as possible is the best way to control an OOG emergency. The OOG diver will be far more stressed than the donor who will be better able to control the situation or to manage the nuisance of a left post roll-off if one occurred. If bungeed around the neck, the backup regulator will be immediately located by the donor and the 7 foot hose will allow the divers far more swimming flexibility.)

AUTONOMY:

Advantage: By breathing the long 7 foot hose rather than placing it in a deployment bag, bungeeing it or tubing it to the tank or the manifold the hose easily routes down the side of a tank behind the wing or BCD and then is retained under a light, knife, pouch or tucked into the waist strap. It is easily deployed and replaced for air share drills or in emergencies and is incredibly easy to replace by the user without buddy assistance. In the water, the hose floats up against the divers chest and doesn't hang down to create any entanglement hazard or drag across coral. The other methods of stowing a long hose probably will require buddy assistance to restow the hose.

Disadvantage: A 7 foot hose may be more difficult for an open water diver using a jacket or a tech style BCD to route correctly. In that case, switching to a 5 foot hose will still allow the diver to have a long hose advantage for OOG and swimming situations, but will not afford him or her enough length for overhead environments.

(Personal opinion: This one is almost a no-brainer. If a diver retains a long hose in a bungee or a bag, the hose can easily come out during the dive and be a pain in the butt to restow both for the individual or for the team. Carrying a long hose this way is completely detrimental. If a long hose regulator is used it should be routed so that it is immediately deployable and easily restowed. Routing it the Hogarthian/DIR way is the best and safest way to maintain autonomous control over the regulator and hose.)

SOLO DIVING -

Advantage: Having a long hose will allow a diver greater flexibility in situations in which the equipment may need to be removed to pass through restrictions or to sort out entanglements.

Disadvantage: It might be possible to snag the long hose inside a wreck in such a way that it might be hard to extricate, or a diver could snag the long hose on the right post. The diver will have to work with regulator stages, hoses and valves behind his or her head.

(Personal opinion: Solo diving requires personal comfort and the ability to be completely self-sufficient with one's gear. There might be different preferences for different divers. Many solo divers who are cave trained prefer to side mount their tanks because they can easily clip and unclip them and have complete access to their equipment without having to work with it behind their heads.)

O2/CO2/CO TOXICITY -

Advantage: Bungeed backup regulator can be secured in the diver's mouth if he or she feels like he/she is becoming sick. Having a rapidly deployable long hose makes it easy to insert a regulator in someone's mouth if they may be showing signs of bad gas or start to convulse due to toxicity.

Disadvantage: In rare cases a long hose may decrease the performance of certain regulators causing CO2 retention at depth or when a diver is exercising or stressed.

(Personal opinion: With so many diver's using higher percentages of oxygen in their gases, the ability to bungee a regulator around one's head is an essential survival option and outweighs any other advantages and disadvantages.)

Trace

[Diverbrian]

Many times, I have been known to switch to my bungeed back-up before climbing back on the boat.

The bolt snap that I use to clip my long hose to my BC when using a deco bottle can be difficult to operate with gloves at times. I dive cold water so everything that I have is designed around being able to operate with gloves. Couple this with the fact that I am restowing my reg on on my deco bottle to hang off of a line attached to the boat or hand up to the crew. If using two stages, handing up the bottles is almost necessary as the weight out of the water of two additional tanks when one is a little beat from the dive makes climbing on the boat nearly impossible with them clipped on.

Anyways, I now have no deco reg in my mouth (clipped back to the deco bottle neck area) and the simplest thing to reach is my bungeed back-up. My dive buddy isn't likely to need air that they can't get because deco is done and we are at/near the surface. So, I simply switch to the back-up, dump off my deco bottles on the line/hand them up, and board the boat happy to have lived to tell tales of another dive.

[Dennis]

I do not use a long hose. For the type of diving I do, I really don't see it as an advantage. I am sure there are those who will dissagree. Fine with me, I also use an Air II. I am still alive after 17 years of diving using my Air II. So call me a stroke, I wear the title proudly.

Having said all those things, if I used a long hose, I would connect it to my primary. Why? When someone comes to you out of air, you will lose your primary immediately. They will pull it from your mouth so quick you won't know they are there until they get it. I know, it has happened to me. So, give them the long hose and take your backup. But, don't let them get too far away from you, they will want to rocket to the surface if they are scared or panicked. You have to then calm them down and take them to the surface in a normal ascent.

By the way, it is likely to not be your buddy either. It will be someone who you've never seen before. You are (or should be) checking your buddies air from time to time and your buddy will be checking yours, so you know when you need to start your way back to the surface.

[WreckWench]

WOW! Trace...that was an excellent primer!

Now all I need are routing directions for a single tank with a 7 foot hose!