How long a hose for your primary when using BCD inflator air second?

[johndiver999]

You need to balance the potential inconvenience of having a too long hose on every single dive versus the very unlikely chance that you will ever have to share air. I just use a short primary and accept the fact that the victim is going to be in my face.

If you want to run a longer hose - which I don't think is the wrong decision- then make sure you have figured out a hose routing method that WORKS and doesn't leave a ridiculous loop of hose sticking out from your side and getting caught on everything.

Possibly a longer hose with a swivel routed under the arm? I'm not sure, but try to get advice from people who are using the setup you have, rather than advice from people who say: "don't do that".

 

[Wibble]

You need to balance the potential inconvenience of having a too long hose on every single dive versus the very unlikely chance that you will ever have to share air. I just use a short primary and accept the fact that the victim is going to be in my face.

If you want to run a longer hose - which I don't think is the wrong decision- then make sure you have figured out a hose routing method that WORKS and doesn't leave a ridiculous loop of hose sticking out from your side and getting caught on everything.

Possibly a longer hose with a swivel routed under the arm? I'm not sure, but try to get advice from people who are using the setup you have, rather than advice from people who say: "don't do that".

There's other benefits of a long hose which, to be really honest, are far more important than the donation malarkey.

Firstly there's the necklaced short-hose backup regulator that's held closely under your chin. The longhose you use to breathe all the time, but should it be knocked out / donated / whatever, then you simply scoop up the necklaced backup and stick it in your mouth to breathe. Compared with an "octopus" which is hopefully still where you left it and not being dragged along the bottom. This backup is trivially easy to swap over; you should do this at least once per dive to build your muscle memory and validate that it's working OK.

The backup, as it's so important, will be a normal quality regulator; not the forgotten low-price low-quality octopus reg.

For beginners, the backup regulator and primary long-hose will get them used to switching regulators underwater. Always a good thing that inspires confidence.

When you do share gas, the longhose means you've some distance between yourself and the other diver. They can place one hand on the hose to make sure it's not pulled out of their mouth.

In short, it's a lot more relaxing to dive with a long hose than that awful octopus and it's special "sweep" trick to find the reg if it's dropped out of your mouth and been kicked behind you. Longhose kicked out: sweep up backup and breathe. Then chase down and remove the fins from the Muppet that's kicked it out of your mouth.

 

[rsingler]

Then there's the corollary to this discussion: the integrated second stage. Once you choose your desired hose length, you'll find that you have a challenge breathing from the same second stage that you're using to control your buoyancy as you ascend with a panicked diver, whose own buoyancy you may also have to control. Very hard to do smoothly at a moment when you need to be at your best. You run out of hands if you need to take the reg out of your mouth to elevate the corrugated hose to vent, at the same time as you're nearing the surface.

I was seduced by the same thing 35 years ago. Dove it successfully for many years. But when I became an instructor, I finally realized the flaws in the system and switched over to the necklaced octo that I still use today.

I realize your frustration. The local dive shop model is broken. The advice you're getting is conflicting. You've plunked down some money, and the possibility that you've made a few errors maybe makes you a little angry.

Hang in there. It's a great hobby/passion/job. But ponder some of the advice here. Meanwhile, don't sell your integrated second. I put one on a Scubapro Go lightweight bcd for a trip to Bonaire a few years back because it was so compact and light in my baggage. It has uses!

 

[rx7diver]

I am going to use an Atomic Safe Second inflator instead of a regular octopus.

If I am going to hand off my primary air source to my buddy in case of an emergency, it seems like the standard 32 inch hose on my primary may be a bit short ...

My current primary hose is 32 inches. ...

What is the advice of the collective?

When I dive my Scubapro AIR 2, I use a standard-length (~32") hose on either my Scubapro D400 or G250 or Balanced Adjustable second stage. A 32" hose is perfectly adequate for emergency air-sharing.

In fact, my first Balanced Adjustable (which I purchased new in 1987) shipped with a 28" IP hose, and even this four-inch shorter IP hose is perfectly adequate for emergency air-sharing.

(My G250, which I purchased new as an "octopus" 2nd stage reg later that same year, shipped with a 32" IP hose. And my D400, which I purchased new c. 1994, shipped with a 32" IP hose, too. I have my original catalogs, and I just double-checked these hose lengths.)

Emergency air-sharing, even buddy-breathing (!!), using a 28" IP hose was no problem for a recreational diver when I took my open water class in 1986. And it's still no problem for a recreational diver. So, air-sharing using a 32" IP hose is no problem for a recreational diver.

rx7diver

 

[halocline]

I am going to use an Atomic Safe Second inflator instead of a regular octopus.

If I am going to hand off my primary air source to my buddy in case of an emergency, it seems like the standard 32 inch hose on my primary may be a bit short.....

I am considering a 44 or 48 inch hose for my primary.

Would this be long enough? I've seen videos of folks with 60 and even 84 inch primary hoses, but that seems like it would introduce tangling issues. I'd like something long enough to keep some distance from my buddy while sharing my primary, but not so long that it's going to be a nuisance.

What is the advice of the collective?

There are two pretty common options. One would be to use a 40" or so primary hose with a 90 degree elbow (or swivel) on the 2nd stage. The hose routs down from the 1st stage, under your right arm, and back up to the 2nd stage. Lots of people have posted that they like that set up, I've never used it.

What I do is also pretty common, which is use a 5' (60") hose on the primary with no swivel or elbow. It also routs down from the 1st stage, under your right arm, then across the chest and around behind your head. This is a modified routing of the long hose which technical divers use on their 7ft hose. They need 7ft to allow for single file travel in tight spots while air sharing. OW divers do not need that. I also am a cave diver, and for that I use a 7ft hose. But I would not use one in OW with a single tank. I find that the 5ft hose routs perfectly and is very streamlined and comfortable for OW. Keep in mind that the longer the hose is, the more flexible it is, and as such one of these longer hose set ups does not push and pull the regulator in your mouth nearly as much as the short 30" or so hose.

Either of those two set ups would probably work really well for you. It's good that you're thinking about this stuff; sharing air on a 30" hose in a real emergency situation, while also trying to breathe on a octo/inflator and control your buoyancy, is a train wreck waiting to happen.

 

[rx7diver]

When I dive my Scubapro AIR 2, I use a standard-length (~32") hose on either my Scubapro D400 or G250 or Balanced Adjustable second stage. A 32" hose is perfectly adequate for emergency air-sharing. ...

I just snapped the attached photo from page 68 of my original 1987 Scubapro catalog. It shows two divers emergency air-sharing, using an AIR 2 and a G250 on a 32" IP hose--while mugging for the camera!

It really is this straightforward. People who have never tried this imagine all sorts of difficulties/complications that simply do not exist.

rx7diver

 

[DogDiver]

Anything between 40 inches and 7 feet. It’s your gear, your choice.

 

[grf88]

I just snapped the attached photo from page 68 of my original 1987 Scubapro catalog. It shows two divers emergency air-sharing, using an AIR 2 and a G250 on a 32" IP hose--while mugging for the camera!

It really is this straightforward. People who have never tried this imagine all sorts of difficulties/complications that simply do not exist.

rx7diver

View attachment 657930

Neither of those in the photo looks like a panicked diver. Practice shares with an Air2 or similar are quite easy, it is only when the SHTF that things become a little harder especially when the panicked diver tries to take control and Polaris to the surface.

 

[M-Cameron]

...i cant believe its 2021 and people are still buying Air2's...

 

[grf88]

...i cant believe its 2021 and people are still buying Air2's...

We will both probably be saying this in 2025.