A Question of Hoses

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Max_Power

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Yeovil, UK
I have just bought my First reg (V16 Proton Metal / Proton Octo). I am shortly off to warmer seas for my AOW. Being a novice diver I have a novice diver type question: I will be using a rental BC in resort and my own reg, do I need an extra LP hose to attach to the BC or will the hose already be on the BC? Dumd question I know but it was 6 months ago I lasted dived and can't remember. I can take a little ridiculing but any help would be appriciated.

thanks

Max
 
You will likely need a LP inflator hose on your reg set - some shops will loan you one during your rental, but I wouldn't count on it. You might want to contact the shop you will be renting from to see what type of inflators they use.
 
Rental BC's are usually designed to go with the rental reg, so the hose is on the reg not the BC.

About 80% of the time a standard inflator hose should do the trick so adding a hose with a standord QD to your reg would be the way to go.

The other 20% of the time, you may encounter rental BC's with a Air2 type of dual purpose inflator requiring a different quick disconnect or a BC with a Sea Quest QD on the hose. The sea quest QD is nice in that it is pre-cocked and idiot proof to connect, but is very non-standard.

In either of these cases, the rental shop would need to add a suitable hose to your reg. Normally this should not be too big of problem but it complicates the rental process.

There is also the question of fit. An inflator hose that is too short and badly matched to the corrogated hose will make it impossible to properly dump using the shoulder pull dump. Too long a hose will leave the inflator floating around in odd positions and can be uncomfortable. That is essentially why inflator hoses come with the BC. So if you have a hose with the right fitting for the BC but that is the wrong lenght, you may still find yourself having to borrow one from the shop.

What it all means is that a BC will probably be your next purchase unless you dive one location and always rent from the same shop.
 
DA Aquamaster:
The other 20% of the time, you may encounter rental BC's with a Air2 type of dual purpose inflator requiring a different quick disconnect or a BC with a Sea Quest QD on the hose. The sea quest QD is nice in that it is pre-cocked and idiot proof to connect, but is very non-standard..
My Seaquest Pro QD BCD has a standard connector.

The only weird Seaquest connector I've seen is for the SeaQuest Airsource (combo inflator/octo), which is the same connector as Zeagle Octoplus.

The ScubaPro Air 2, Tusa Duo, etc. are a 3rd type.


MaxPower: while it might not fit all BCs perfectly, a standard 24 or 25" LP hose will work with almost any BC except those that are setup to work with a combination inflator/octopus.
 
Charlie99:
My Seaquest Pro QD BCD has a standard connector.

The only weird Seaquest connector I've seen is for the SeaQuest Airsource (combo inflator/octo), which is the same connector as Zeagle Octoplus.

The ScubaPro Air 2, Tusa Duo, etc. are a 3rd type.

No argument from me on that one. The Seaquest QD was mentioned in the paragraph with the Air 2 etc as I was referring to the air source connector. (But I should have been more specific.) It is easier to connect but I have always questioned the wisdom of going their own way cnnection wise.
 
All of places I dove from had the "standard" LP hose connector on the rental BC. I was on a boat, getting ready for a dive excursion on St. Maarten and a diver who normally used a Air2 and had to get out and go up to the shop and have his hose changed to work on their BC. You might take a standard one and give yourself some extra time to double check.
 

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