When is it time to switch to a long hose setup?

[growcurlyhair]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently diving with a standard recreational setup; Octopus on a short hose clipped to my BPW, standard length primary, etc. I’ve been reading up on long hose configurations (5–7ft hose for primary donate and bungee backup) and I’m curious when divers typically make that transition.

I'm not tech diving (yet), and most of my dives are recreational, within 25m depth, with decent visibility and usually with a regular buddy or guided group. However, I am thinking more about streamlining, ease of gas sharing, and just having a cleaner setup that works well in emergencies.

So my question is:

At what point does it make sense to switch to a long hose configuration?

Was there a specific dive scenario or training progression (e.g., Rescue, Cavern, or Intro to Tech) that made it worthwhile for you?

I'm also curious if any of you made the switch early in your dive journey; Do you need to get some training for it?

Appreciate any insights, especially from those who started recreational and later moved into more advanced diving.

Thanks!

Best
Garrett

 

[rongoodman]

LOL. So was that a problem with having an Air2 or with wearing a snorkel?

Yes.

 

[Subcooled]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently diving with a standard recreational setup; Octopus on a short hose clipped to my BPW, standard length primary, etc. I’ve been reading up on long hose configurations (5–7ft hose for primary donate and bungee backup) and I’m curious when divers typically make that transition.

I'm not tech diving (yet), and most of my dives are recreational, within 25m depth, with decent visibility and usually with a regular buddy or guided group. However, I am thinking more about streamlining, ease of gas sharing, and just having a cleaner setup that works well in emergencies.

So my question is:

At what point does it make sense to switch to a long hose configuration?

Was there a specific dive scenario or training progression (e.g., Rescue, Cavern, or Intro to Tech) that made it worthwhile for you?

I'm also curious if any of you made the switch early in your dive journey; Do you need to get some training for it?

Appreciate any insights, especially from those who started recreational and later moved into more advanced diving.

Thanks!

Best
Garrett

You will want a long hose when you need to keep a distance.

Examples:

1. If you are a cave or wreck diver, then you might need to exit through a small hole while sharing gas. Unless the hose is longer than you and your fins, you're going to need to reverse through that hole. I can see how that could be a PITA.
2. If you dive in open water and you share air to a panicked diver, then you might want to keep a distance. It would be a safe thing to do. A liveaboard with random dive buddies, especially extremely inexperienced and/or arrogant ones, might warrant a long hose.
3. Sharing air is much more comfy if you have a long hose. This is especially true for longer times or when doing decompression stops or if there's wave action complicating things.

Thus, you would probably want a long hose on technical diving courses: anything that includes mandatory decompression stops or overhead environments.

Remember though, that the hoses are not permanently fixed. I am wearing a long hose on mine dives and ice dives and decompression dives, but I am not wearing a long hose while doing shallow water SAR or some team solo sumps. The length of the hose depends on the situation and your overall assessment of risks and benefits. Some people always stick to long or short hose, but there are those of us, who change the hose length when needed. It only takes a minute or two. My long hose is 7ft, but I am considering getting a 5ft hose too, for some dive scenarios.

 

[Subcooled]

You will want a long hose when you need to keep a distance.

Examples:

1. If you are a cave or wreck diver, then you might need to exit through a small hole while sharing gas. Unless the hose is longer than you and your fins, you're going to need to reverse through that hole. I can see how that could be a PITA.
2. If you dive in open water and you share air to a panicked diver, then you might want to keep a distance. It would be a safe thing to do. A liveaboard with random dive buddies, especially extremely inexperienced and/or arrogant ones, might warrant a long hose.
3. Sharing air is much more comfy if you have a long hose. This is especially true for longer times or when doing decompression stops or if there's wave action complicating things.

Thus, you would probably want a long hose on technical diving courses: anything that includes mandatory decompression stops or overhead environments.

Remember though, that the hoses are not permanently fixed. I am wearing a long hose on mine dives and ice dives and decompression dives, but I am not wearing a long hose while doing shallow water SAR or some team solo sumps. The length of the hose depends on the situation and your overall assessment of risks and benefits. Some people always stick to long or short hose, but there are those of us, who change the hose lenght when needed. It only takes a minute or two. My long hose is 7ft, but I am considering getting a 5ft hose too, for some dive scenarios.

(technically longer than your buddy and his/her fins, but you get the idea; it might be better for the recipient to dive first)

 

[brsnow]

You also never have to switch, plenty of great divers don’t.

 

[Subcooled]

You also never have to switch, plenty of great divers don’t.

That's true. A short hose is never a requirement.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

LOL. So was that a problem with having an Air2 or with wearing a snorkel?

Both!
Snorkels don't work underwater for breathing air, water yes, but not air.
The air2 is a compromise and not that good at any one thing. The reg is not the same as a regular high quality second stage, the inflator hose has to be longer so that it's usable, which also means that it hangs down in front further than it should. The location is obviously not that great because my buddy confused it with his snorkel. Why the snorkel? Because we were shore diving and he liked to snorkel out to the drop zone face down so he cold see.
If he had a bungeed second then snorkel away! because the two are in entirely different locations.
I had an air2 for about 6 months, then switched to a bungeed second in 1999 as soon as I heard about it on diver.net

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The Air 2-type system has deficiencies that have been noted in this thread. The bungeed alternate does not have those deficiencies. Comparing the two, the only advantage of the Air 2 is one less hose, and I fail to see much benefit in that missing hose compared to a short hose lying on the right shoulder. So given the choice, why would one go with an Air 2?

Before you go to a shop and ask the experts, check out this story.

The shop I was working for changed agencies, and the owner of the new agency suggested a bunch of strategies to increase shop profit margins. One of them was to identify one specific model of every piece of equipment to focus on for sales, because higher volumes of specific models lowered dealer cost and increased profit margins. Accordingly, the shop identified those specific items. Again following the lead of the agency owner, all instructors were to purchase those items to use any time they were in the presence of customers, including, of course, students. We would be required to tell students that we had personally selected those models because they were the best, even though the real reason was we would be fired if we said anything else.

One of those items was the Atomic version of the Air 2. If I had remained with that shop, I would have had to buy and use the Atomic SS1, and I would have been required to lie to my students, telling them it was the very best choice, even though in my own private diving I used a bungeed alternate and would never have dreamed of using the SS1 the shop would have required me to buy.

It was the same thing at my shop except everything was Scubapro. All the instructors had a "uniform".
That was typical marketing in the 90's right before the internet blew it all up.

 

[lexvil]

Air 2’s are fine, snorkels are fine, just learn to use them, practice with them on each dive, once you get the hang of each toss the snorkel in a bag and look into the necklaced second even if you keep the air 2 eventually you’ll decide what works best for you.

 

[Brett Hatch]

Air 2’s are fine, snorkels are fine, just learn to use them

You're going to die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Next you'll come in here saying split fins and scissor kicking are acceptable and common!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[lexvil]

You're going to die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Next you'll come in here saying split fins and scissor kicking are acceptable and common!!!!!!!!!!!!

They’re not?