Alec Pierce Scuba - Long Hose Good or Bad

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Don't pull the same falsehood crap that Aled did. Because someone uses a configuration improperly is no reason to condem the configuration, just the poorly trained diver.

Yes and no. People buy octo holders and they expect those devices ... wait for it ... hold the octo. Problem is, as @PfcAJ stated, they often do not. Add in cold water divers with thick gloves and thus little dexterity, if it comes off, how easy is it to put back on? The only octo holder I've seen work well is the necklace. Magnets work okay too. The rest? As soon as they wear, they don't hold it reliably, if they did when brand new.

We have restricted fields of view from our mask. If the octo is not at the top of the triangle, we won't notice that it is loose unless we check for it. That's just a weakness of the standard configuration.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

 

[Fastmarc]

Even when used properly (octo hose not trapped/ stuffed somewhere), the 2nd stage has to be held by somthing that is secure but also easily releasable.

Having both of those things at the same time just isn't a scuba reality.

You can see it by going on a dive boat and watching how many octos come unsecured during the course of the day.

Not just not a good configuration.

The very 1st alternate holder I got held it well for many years until I went to the 'streamed lined' set up. Not once did it come out in the water or on a boat. With a tug it it was out, though I have never had to donate air. Was I just lucky to find the one type that worked perfectly with my alternate mouth piece? I doubt it. (that's it in my avatar)
I think if the diver want to secure in the traditional, it came be done.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

The very 1st alternate holder I got held it well for many years

LInk?

 

[Fastmarc]

LInk?

Got it so long ago, I think when I 1st went to LeisurePro for the 1st time about 2006. This really looks like it though.
It was permanently on the BCD, so reg mouth piece would put in and out. It never got looser. Stayed the same all those years. Mine glows in the dark.
https://www.amazon.com/JCS-Mouthpie...73755771&sprefix=OCTO+HOLDER,aps,197&sr=8-104

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Got it so long ago, I think when I 1st went to LeisurePro for the 1st time about 2006. This really looks like it though.
It was permanently on the BCD, so reg mouth piece would put in and out. It never got looser. Stayed the same all those years.
https://www.amazon.com/JCS-Mouthpie...73755771&sprefix=OCTO+HOLDER,aps,197&sr=8-104

I used to have that one (before I threw all the half dozen or so octo holders away). It did not work well. Very difficult to put back the octo back in with thick gloves while in the water. My guess is that the one you had from 2006 and mine from 2017 were made differently.

 

[StefinSB]

I don't care of you dive a long hose or not. I am trying to understand what you guys think is so difficult: taking your reg in your hand and stretching your arm forward? Bowing your head?

 

[Chavodel8en]

I don't think it is a matter of a diver using configuration improperly--you could accurately say that forgetting to put the bungeed octo around ones neck is the same as failing to properly stow octo and is improper. The issue is that stowing the octo some place that is not bungeed around the neck lends itself to so many more errors and mistakes that are not diver error. During a dive, items become unclipped or slip out, things can shift/move around--things that don't accurately fall to the level of "poorly trained diver", just stuff happens in the real world. I once saw a diver with octo clipped on shoulder ascend down a line in a hard current. The octo was free flowing and bubbles were going straight up and missing his shoulder and because he was the 2nd person on buddy team no one was around to point it out to him and correct. I was on my 20ft stop and he was too deep by the time I noticed.

Long hose/bungeed octo is as close to idiot proof as you can get. Octo is tied in close/right in front of mouth and even a trapped long hose will have enough clearance to at least donate. The trapped long hose might not be able to fully deploy, but it would be no worse than diving a short hose primary.

Not ever finding a proper octo holder is the reason I went to primary donate/ bungeed octo (altho I dont use a long hose).

Im not very "anal" or neurotic about gear. If it generally works, Im fine with it.

If I could find an octo holder that both kept the octo in place, and released it when necessary, maybe I would never have changed, even though I recognized that having redundancy right below my chin adds a measure of safety.

But I could never find a satisfactory octo holder. If it held the octo well, it might be a bit difficult to release. Mostly, my octo would occasionally slip out, and it might drag in the sand.

Im a conscientious diver, but there's no way I could keep my octo secure. So I agree with your point here.

 

[Must_dash]

Very defensive? I don’t see that at all. I see emphatic.

It was more when they were discussing jacket BCDs against BP/W config. That the jacket can 'go flip flop' etc.

 

[Chavodel8en]

I used to have that one (before I threw all the half dozen or so octo holders away). It did not work well. Very difficult to put back the octo back in with thick gloves while in the water. My guess is that the one you had from 2006 and mine from 2017 were made in different countries.

Yeah, I used to use a "scum-ball" octo-holder and thought that it was a solution, until I tried to put back the octo w thick gloves - almost impossible. I imagine the mouthpiece design holder is just as bad.

Again, I am about as non-elitist a diver there is, I'll dive any gear that works, but I am a firm believer that all octo holders suck, and its best not to rely on them.