Air hoses and materials

[ksporry]

So here is a question. The other day I was shopping for my first scuba gear (simpel stuff, mask, snorkel fins...), and I noticed some of the regulators that were up for sale had braided nylon air hoses. When I asked about it, the girl said that nowadays all hoses are turning to these types of hoses. I mentioned that I preferred armoured rubber hoses as it is much easier to see what the rubber condition is (cracks, splits, etc), which makes finding leaks much easier, and more important, allows you to judge the condition and therefore usability of your equipment.
She responded that that was no issue with the new hoses.

I'm wondering what people here think of that. Surely the materials themselves remain susceptible to wear and tear and therefore don't we prefer to have materials that are easy to inspect?

Any thoughts?

PS I'm sure the girl was a diver herself, but she was very much into selling stuff, more than giving sound advice (which makes me doubt their motives...)

 

[Agility]

are you sure the braided hoses were nylon and not miflex?
Miflex Xtremem-hi High Pressure diving hoses

 

[iluvtheocean]

all hoses will do wear & tear - braided last better and less prone to crack/splitting since they aren't rubber. they are also much more flexible and lighter. issues with the miflex hipressure hoses aside which have all been recalled and the new ones are fine. the shops i've talked to still recommend hose protectors -- better safe than sorry.

 

[Bigd2722]

[QUOTE the shops i've talked to still recommend hose protectors -- better safe than sorry.[/QUOTE]
Interesting, most of the shops I talk to recommend the opposite.

 

[WeldonDowd]

I like braided hoses and have some on a reg. But every time I hear someone say that they last longer I think about the pile of rubber hoses that I have that are 20+ years old and still in good shape.

 

[halocline]

the shops i've talked to still recommend hose protectors -- better safe than sorry.

You mean the hose destroyers?

 

[diverjen]

Interesting thread I want to reconfigure long hose primary bungee necklace octo so I need to buy hoses, still yet to decide, been reading threads on this seems to me that the camps are evenly divided

 

[herman]

It you consider the construction of hoses, the rubber cover only gives you a suggestion of it's condition but not necessarily an accurate one. It does suggest age and overall treatment but like Weldon said, I have hoses that are over 20 yo that still look fine and work. A hose is multilayered with layers for sealing and for strength. In the fully covered ones, the outer layer is just a protective layer, it has no sealing and very little strength function, if you look closely, you will see it is covered in small pin holes. While the rubber did protect the inner strength layer, with the new materials that protection is unnecessary. I prefer them for short hoses, they tend to be softer and bend easier putting less stress on the reg. I am not sure that I would use it for a long hose. The braid is not as soft on the skin so it may be irritating if you are not wearing a hood or other neck guard. I have not tried one in long hose so that may be an inaccurate assumption but it's at least worth thinking about.

 

[ksporry]

interesting stuff...
Yes, I was talking about miflex actually. Probably misread at the time (forgive a beginner)...
indeed I expect braiding to be there for outer wear/tear protection. though since visual inspection is no longer possible, I would expect that manufacturers would specify a conservative lifespan after which they would have to be replaced. The alternative is that they rely on divers spotting leaks once they get in the water (assuming they don't take the risks of diving alone...).

I can appreciate the added wear/tear protection, but personally I feel somewhat uncomfortable with not being able to inspect a hose for its condition visually, and I rather take the potentially reduced lifespan of increased wear/tear over the risk of not spotting leakage with deadly resolve (call me conservative...)

 

[eelnoraa]

This can be a personal thing. I have had both. I started with braided long hose, 22" necklace and 24" HP hose for my single setup. The braided long hose is a true pita. I swapped it back to rubber almost immediately. The other two are OK, but it really didn't improve anthing IMO. When I build my double setup, I went back to all rubber.