How do you setup your primary and secondary regulators/hoses for recreational?

[tooez]

I just ordered bp/w, 2 regulators and pressure gauge. I'm wondering how do you all run your primary and secondary regulators. I know a lot of you guys are putting around the neck with bungee for octopus and primary goes under the right arm to the D-ring.
Are there anyone do other way around? Primary on the neck and secondary on the D-ring? What is the best way for me as a beginner? Please give me some suggestion...

 

[RainPilot]

A lot will depend on whether you are doing a primary-donate or a secondary-take system.
I personally use the primary-donate (also a RAID agency standard) so my backup is for my use only.

Thus I have the backup on a bungee around my neck, with a short hose under my right arm. Normally i have a 7ft hose for primary, under right arm, tucked into waist belt, up left side around back of neck into mouth.

If I use a shorter primary hose I tend to avoid putting it under my right arm as it can get a bit awkward if someone takes it from my right side so I just run it over my right shoulder. That is personal choice though. If you want to run it under your arm it should be fine, I would suggest you look at a swivel or elbow to take tension off the second stage to avoid mouth pulling.

With primary donate the only reg that is clipped to a d-ring is the primary when not in use (air sharing or pre-dive etc). With secondary take, usually the backup is attached to a d-ring on right chest by some kind of quick release, there are a bunch of types available. Im not a fan of these as they are designed to release easily and will whether you want them to or not. I always end up tucking guys octos back into place when I see them ploughing the reef with no idea it's loose.

 

[Storker]

Like @RainPilot , I use primary donate. Classic long hose, bungeed backup setup. I would, however, be just a tiny bit careful about going that route unless you're prepared to learn proper drills. Also, be aware that those you'll be buddying up with, may not be familiar with a primary donate system. After all, secondary donate is the standard procedure taught in beginner training by all the major agencies. So, you have to brief them properly during the pre-dive chat, and make sure they have properly understood how you'll donate if necessary.

What is the best way for me as a beginner?

I'd seriously consider setting up your regs the way you were taught in OW class. Later, when you have more experience, you can make a more informed decision about whether primary or secondary donate is best for you.

With secondary take, usually the backup is attached to a d-ring on right chest by some kind of quick release, there are a bunch of types available. Im not a fan of these as they are designed to release easily and will whether you want them to or not. I always end up tucking guys octos back into place when I see them ploughing the reef with no idea it's loose.

I really dislike secondary take, since that removes the responsibility every diver has towards their buddy. Secondary donate is AFAIK the method taught by most agencies. Secondary take is always a backup option to secondary donate if the person donating gas isn't as alert as they should be, secondary donate isn't as well suited as a backup since the person donating gas then has to realize that their buddy isn't taking the reg.

And on the dangling octo issue: both my sons use a standard short hose secondary donate system. Their regs never drag the bottom or dangle. They use either this octo holder clipped to the right chest D-ring, or they just use the right chest D-ring. In both cases, the octo hose is bent 180 degrees, and the bend is either inserted into the holder or just tucked through the D-ring. Those octos have never come loose inadvertently.

 

[Neilwood]

I use the "standard" recreational set up on my rig.
Primary reg is mine only.
Secondary (octo) reg is on a longer hose (40"?) yellow hose and has a yellow face to highlight it as the donated reg. Similar to @Storker sons routing mine gets the hose folded into the chest D ring. Very secure location (no way is it going to move without a deliberate movement) and no where near dragging on any reef and placing it through the D-ring places it high enough that it is visible even when in good trim. One tug on the reg and it is free to use though.

Virtually all of the divers I am with use the secondary donate method so I have kept with it - I do see the merit of primary donate but if I were the only person in a buddy situation that knows and trains on the system (irrespective of how good the briefing is prior to the dive) I am placing myself in a potentially hazardous situation if the excreta hits the air moving equipment. If I present one set up and the OOG diver expects a different system that could present difficulties.

If I had a permabuddy that I dived with regularly then I might move to long hose primary donate as we could then train on it to the point of it being instinctual.

 

[rongoodman]

Standard Hog rig. If you're not carrying a primary light you might consider a shorter primary hose, usually 5', run directly across your chest rather than tucked in your waist belt.

 

[Storker]

If you're not carrying a primary light you might consider a shorter primary hose, usually 5', run directly across your chest rather than tucked in your waist belt.

I almost always carry a primary light, but I still use a 150cm/5' primary hose.

Why? My primary light isn't a cannister light, so I don't have a battery cannister on my waistbelt to route the hose under. And since I don't enter overhead environments, I can't imagine a situation where I have to swim single file while donating (which, AFAIU, is the primary reason for using a 210cm/7' long hose).

 

[Diver0001]

I just ordered bp/w, 2 regulators and pressure gauge. I'm wondering how do you all run your primary and secondary regulators. I know a lot of you guys are putting around the neck with bungee for octopus and primary goes under the right arm to the D-ring.
Are there anyone do other way around? Primary on the neck and secondary on the D-ring? What is the best way for me as a beginner? Please give me some suggestion...

Are you using 2 tanks?

The way I see it there are basically two common configurations. One of them involves the primary routed over your shoulder and the secondary (octopus) routed in such a way that the 2nd stage is somewhere in the triangle between your neck and the mid-torso. This is a sort of conventional "recreational" setup that people have more or less settled on since the mid-80's .

The other configuration you will see a lot is the "Hogarthian" configuration where the primary is on a long hose and the secondary is routed over the shoulder and hung on a necklace.

For recreational diving, particularly with a single tanke, I find the first configuration more to my liking because the hoses route well. However, I dive most of the time in a twin set and for that I prefer the Hogarthian set up because the hoses on a conventional setup are simply too short to air share comfortably when both divers are wearing a truck load of gear.

This is the reason I'm asking if you are using twin tanks or not. On a single tank you can route a long hose so the hose doesn't float up over your head but the result is that your inflator hose sticks out a bit on the other side. With twin tanks you don't have this problem. Take a look at this picture of me diving with a single tank with a long hose and you'll see what I mean.

The other argument you see a lot online is that you need to consider if you are donating the primary or the secondary. To me this is a nonsense argument in the context of recreational diving. You can donate either depending on your configuration without needing new training. Obviously with a conventional setup you will need to donate the secondary so if for some reason you strongly object to doing this, you will need to use a long-hose configuration. Likewise, if for some reason you strongly object to donating the primary, then you will need to use something more along the lines of a conventional configuration. To me this is all personal preference and much of what you hear about it online isn't nearly as interesting when you apply it in the real world. Both configurations have their uses.

R..

 

[tbone1004]

did we not literally just have this discussion like 2 days ago?

Read this post from this thread, there is nothing that we can post that hasn't been covered in the last week.
Why do you have your regs set up like that?

 

[halocline]

On a single tank you can route a long hose so the hose doesn't float up over your head but the result is that your inflator hose sticks out a bit on the other side. With twin tanks you don't have this problem.

The other argument you see a lot online is that you need to consider if you are donating the primary or the secondary. To me this is a nonsense argument in the context of recreational diving. You can donate either depending on your configuration without needing new training.

R..

I don't understand what you mean by the inflator sticking out with long hose in a single tank set up. I've been using a 5 ft hose with single tanks, hogarthian routing, for many years and I've never had an issue with the inflator. It's exactly the same as my 7ft hose with doubles, except of course the 7ft hose goes under a can light. The 5ft hose just goes across the chest.

There is a little difference with the alternate in that on singles, the hose starts from the center, where in doubles, it starts from left of center a few inches. So I use a 22" hose for single and 24" for doubles.

I agree that you don't need extra training to choose primary or alternate donation in recreational diving. But, I think that primary donating is much better for two reasons. One is that a longer hose (like 5ft) is much more convenient to share air with than the common 36" 'octo' hose on alternates in a typical OW set up. The other is that in real OOA situations, it's likely the OOA diver will simply grab the primary right out of your mouth. This has happened to me twice. It's surprising how fast someone moves when they are truly OOA and afraid of drowning. So there are times when you are giving up your primary 2nd stage whether you want to not.

 

[tbone1004]

@Diver0001 what are you talking about and what do doubles have to do with it? My complaint with 5' hoses is they can do that because they aren't held down, but 7' hoses don't move at all, whether it is in singles or doubles.