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

 

[boulderjohn]

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

Whenever you want to or never. Primary donate or secondary (octopus) donate is not really a progression, start with either, switch to either, use either as you feel appropriate.

Long hose primary donate may not be exclusive to a BP/wing but generally it will set up better. So perhaps that is the trip wire for a preference of one to the other. But you can certainly dive BP/wing with a standard secondary donate rig.

I don't see any setup issue with using a long hose setup with a conventional BCD. I began using the long hose setup when I started technical diving, but for quite a while I stayed conventional for recreational diving using a ScubaPro Knighthawk. Then I decided that was stupid and went with the long hose with the Knighthawk. A couple of years ago I forgot to pack the STA for my BP/W for a two week trip to Roatan and was forced to rent a jacket BCD from each of the operators I used while there. I used my long hose regulator setup with each of the BCDs (ScubaPro and Aqualung) that I used.

 

[growcurlyhair]

I think I've tried it all. I started with the traditional setup, where the octopus is the longer of the two hoses at 40 inches and is semi-secured on the chest. A few years later I arrived for GUE Fundies class with a 5-ft primary hose and bungeed-necklace backup, but I found it uncomfortable--and I'm not a tall guy. So I switched to a 7-ft hose for rec diving and found it surprisingly comfortable and not unwieldy at all. And the 7-ft hose was required when I later took cave diving courses. But ...

I got tired of being the only person (well, along with my wife) on the boat at tropical dive resort-type destinations or on liveaboards with a 7-ft hose, having to hand the rig up from the water to a DM only to see my neatly coiled and clipped-off hose uncoil, and the DM not having the time to coil it up again because he needs to quickly move on to the next diver. I think we encountered DMs who had never even seen a 7-ft primary. Outside of Florida and a few places where cave/tech and recreational diving communities intersect, there are still people who have never seen this configuration. On a trip where we dived from a RIB/Zodiac, the DMs would put our rigs in a rack in the middle of the boat with others' rigs, and our 7-ft hoses would inevitably find a way to spill beyond our slot and get caught between tanks. From where I was seated on the RIB, my rig was often not within my reach for me to be able to re-stow the hose properly. While I really like the idea of having a single configuration that feels comfortable and familiar for all my diving, I finally relented and got the "streamlined OW" configuration mentioned in Post #2 of this thread by @tursiops, where the backup reg is bungeed, but the primary has a "just right" length (generally 40 inches): long enough to comfortably donate to an out-of-air diver but short enough for the traditional routing under the arm. I do have a swivel fitting on the reg for improved comfort.

Yeah i think this is the case. i think most of the rec dive centers in asia don't see a long hose often. I actually messaged my instructor and he wasn't very clear on what it was. But as mentioned earlier, it seems that the "streamlined OW" configuration setup seems good enough!

 

[EFX]

I went to a long hose with bungeed second when I thought I would get into tech diving. My buddy at the time was full cave and he talked me into it. I was using a Scubapro Knighthawk BCD which worked fine. I did a cavern specialty with it at Ginnie springs. It didn't take much time to get used to it. If you've been using a conventional octo system I would wait until you get fairly comfortable in the water then switch and practice donating your primary and switching to your bungeed second.

 

[Nemrod]

Scubaboard is a universe to itself. I rarely see a long hose in use in the wild outside of Florida and technical diving. Technical diving is not the norm or especialy common. The vast majority of divers use a conventional short hose primary. The various long hose primary contraptions so often discussed, promoted and debated on Scubaboard are simply not the norm. Most divers have no idea what my set up is, do not care and really have no interest and would not know the difference much less why such might be preferred. It is just not something they have thought about, seen, taught or understand the need for or why..

I find a five foot hose just dandy but now like others, I prefer either a 40 inches primary Florida/Streamlined rigging or the combination inflator BCI. This works fine for non-tech diving. And the long hose 40 inches primary and a BCI are becoming very common, much, much more so than long hose primary donate and necklaced secondary. This week in Roatan, I would say about 50/50 standard octo and the other half a BCI. I have but rarely seen anyone on a long hose set up with a necklaced regulator outside of Florida and a few in Cozumel.

 

[OTF]

The very best time to switch to diving a 7ft longhose is when you are out of air and your buddy has a 7ft longhose.

 

[Blackreef]

You can make the switch whenever you want but you should understand how the setup works. If possible, find a workshop to train how to properly donate gas in an out of gas situation.

 

[EFX]

The very best time to switch to diving a 7ft longhose is when you are out of air and your buddy has a 7ft longhose.

Ha! Ha! Good one!