5ft vs. 6ft vs. 7ft Regulator hose (recreational diver transitioning equipment)

[ronscuba]

I understand putting the octo on a necklace. Makes sense.

If you don't do any single file penetration dives in caves or wrecks, what is the urge to change to 7' long hose now vs. later when you do that kind of diving ? If and when you do single file penetration dives, it's easy and not expensive to change to a 7' hose.

An option you didn't list is a 40" hose with a 90 angle connector, routed under your right arm. It's streamlined and long enough for open water reg sharing. I believe this is what tbone is talking about.

 

[Yoyoguy]

I understand putting the octo on a necklace. Makes sense.

If you don't do any single file penetration dives in caves or wrecks, what is the urge to change to 7' long hose now vs. later when you do that kind of diving ? If and when you do single file penetration dives, it's easy and not expensive to change to a 7' hose.

An option you didn't list is a 40" hose with a 90 angle connector, routed under your right arm. It's streamlined and long enough for open water reg sharing. I believe this is what tbone is talking about.


View attachment 210232

the reason I don't really want to go the route you state is because I am a firm believer of repetitive motor skills ensures proper technique in emergencies. This honestly stems from my motorcycle stunt riding days in my younger 20s (yes young and dumb haha) but honestly it is true when it comes to motor skills. This is why I want to start diving this set-up now. If I get used to it starting now, then it will be almost second nature when I actually get into tech diving. Maybe I am thinking about this all wrong?

 

[RJP]

Maybe I am thinking about this all wrong?

Nope... you're thinking about it is all right!

I've got ~1,000 dives. I'd say 991 of them are in a 7ft hose/BPW rig... the first 9 being OW and AOW cert dives.

 

[redacted]

With your intention to transition to tech, the 7' hose makes sense. I have never had such intention, so I tried a 5' hose and found it to be a bit short. I ended up with hoses a few inches longer, like 5'4", which work great for me. The only downside of the 7' hose is cost and a little extra hose to manage for an OW diver.

 

[eelnoraa]

7ft. I'm short (5'6'') and it's fine.

For reg hose swap, use the same procedure you used for swapping your lp hose. Easy.

Me too, 7ft is not too long at all

 

[Yoyoguy]

Nope... you're thinking about it is all right!

I've got ~1,000 dives. I'd say 991 of them are in a 7ft hose/BPW rig... the first 9 being OW and AOW cert dives.

for fear of sounding dumb in another thread, I cant for the life of me figure out where you keep your depth gauge? Right now I still have a gauge cluster which has the spg, depth gauge and compass all in one unit. I see that in the hogarthian style set-up your spg gets clipped off to your left hip D-Ring...where does your depth gauge and compass go?

 

[tbone1004]

muscle memory is the same, only difference is not having to duck your head when you're donating the long hose, but all of the motions are the same. I voted for 7'. The 40" is a great alternative if you are only doing OW diving or are going back and forth from sidemount, but for $20 for the hose, and you can stuff it in the waist belt if you want, or grab the can light simulator for $15 and call it good. Learn that way and you'll be fine. I will say one of the huge advantages to the 40" is if you're travelling and have to rent a standard stab jacket the 40" is a bit easier to work with than a 7' when you are dealing with that scenario, but it is an exception, I would recommend going to 7' first.

GUE used to allow a standard 36" recreational hose to be used in place of the long hose for OW diving, so make sure you don't get rid of your current octo length hose in case you are travelling and don't want to deal with the long hose on rented gear.

Depth gauge and compass are forearm mounted where the computers go, with GUE that is on the right. We teach our students in a 36" hose similar to the way GUE used to teach their short hose and the consoles come across the chest and clip to the right shoulder D-ring. Issue with a long hose here is the hoses are crossed so it's a bit interesting to look at the console.

 

[FinnMom]

for fear of sounding dumb in another thread, I cant for the life of me figure out where you keep your depth gauge? Right now I still have a gauge cluster which has the spg, depth gauge and compass all in one unit. I see that in the hogarthian style set-up your spg gets clipped off to your left hip D-Ring...where does your depth gauge and compass go?

When my single tank rig had a console (i.e. gauge cluster) I had the whole thing clipped off as above. Some people also run the console or pressure gauge hose under their left shoulder strap, or clipped to the BCD somewhere alongside the left-side pocket.

BTW a compass is much easier to use if you can hold it straight out in front of you. This work best w/o losing it if it is free (i.e. watch style) and has a bungee strap (the bungees can secure it on your palm or across the back of your hand whwn in use -making dropping it quite unlikely).

 

[PfcAJ]

I kinda like the 40'' hose thing. Its fine for shallow stuff.

 

[Lorenzoid]

When I first set up my Hogarthian rig, I went with a 5-foot hose, because 7 feet seemed pointlessly long, I am about 5'8" tall, and everyone--even GUE--seemed to agree it was acceptable for recreational diving. But the resulting relatively short bend exerted a pulling or twisting force on the reg in my mouth that I found annoying. One solution is to add a swivel or elbow, but some instructors/agencies frown on that as adding an unnecessary potential failure point. Since I was hell bent on following GUE's dogma, I swapped it out for a "standard" 7-foot hose. It feels just right. When I first switched to this configuration, nobody could have convinced me that a 7-foot hose would someday feel perfectly normal and not unwieldy in the least, so I can understand if you similarly cannot imagine it. But try it and see. Yes, you can readily swap out a hose if you want to try something else.