I just try to use the philosophy when considering a new piece of gear or practice.
What problem does it solve?
Is that the best way to solve the problem?
What new problems does the 'solution' introduce?
For example, I know someone recently who said to me "I'm thinking of switching to a long hose, but I don't like the short bungeed backup. How about if I go to a long hose and have a normal octopus length backup?"
I thought about it and gave the following answer:
"There is a problem with this. Why are you switching to along hose? It's so you can share it in an OOA emergency, right? So you have room to work with when you hand off the regulator? [Note I didn't go into the reasons you want to hand off your primary reg, that is a separate issue.]
"Yes".
"So someone is OOA and comes to you for air. You hand off your long hose since that is your plan. Now what do you do? You reach for the octopus to breathe it yourself? Where is it? If it was bungeed on a short hose you would know exactly where it is with no fumbling. Ideally you can even get to it hands-free. But you have an octopus-length octopus so where is it?"
"Even if you do find it because it is clipped or something so it can't move around you still have to undo the clip. Meanwhile, you have no air and you have a long hose running somewhere on the right side of your head to the other diver. Are you sure the octopus-length hose is not going to foul on the other divers hose? It may have already done that, since you have this octopus (40" or so) hose running right near where the long hose runs on your right side, before the deployment of the long hose ever happened."
Of course, if it wasn't clipped to something there is a whole different cluster happening there.
The point being that an 'octo' is 'octo length' so it can be handed to the other diver. If you are keeping it for yourself and using a long hose for your primary to hand THAT to the other diver, that extra hose is a hazard and not a benefit.
So I told this diver (whom I dive with sometimes) that I would rather see them in a standard setup, or a "long hose with bungeed backup", but mixing the two in the way suggested is a real problem waiting to happen.
By the way, I have done many dives recently for an instructor class with an octo hose on my primary (40") and a short bungeed backup. That way I can still hand off my primary reg but I don't have 7 feet of hose getting in the way when I do the frequent "remove your gear on the bottom" drills that this class seems to require for some reason. Also, since the class' agency standards require a snorkel (mumbly grumbly), I'm not going to mix that required snorkel with an 'over the head' long hose. (The reason why is left as an exercise for the reader.)
The point being that you have to work out these issues and conflicts. Then convince others that it truely is a 'better mousetrap'. This is the way new ideas catch on all the time.
By the way, I'm just a lowly fundies grad who is working off the rust, and I made most of that answer up when I was asked the question. I then referred the person asking to some real experts on the subject. I don't claim to know anything about anything, so apply liberal salt.
What problem does it solve?
Is that the best way to solve the problem?
What new problems does the 'solution' introduce?
For example, I know someone recently who said to me "I'm thinking of switching to a long hose, but I don't like the short bungeed backup. How about if I go to a long hose and have a normal octopus length backup?"
I thought about it and gave the following answer:
"There is a problem with this. Why are you switching to along hose? It's so you can share it in an OOA emergency, right? So you have room to work with when you hand off the regulator? [Note I didn't go into the reasons you want to hand off your primary reg, that is a separate issue.]
"Yes".
"So someone is OOA and comes to you for air. You hand off your long hose since that is your plan. Now what do you do? You reach for the octopus to breathe it yourself? Where is it? If it was bungeed on a short hose you would know exactly where it is with no fumbling. Ideally you can even get to it hands-free. But you have an octopus-length octopus so where is it?"
"Even if you do find it because it is clipped or something so it can't move around you still have to undo the clip. Meanwhile, you have no air and you have a long hose running somewhere on the right side of your head to the other diver. Are you sure the octopus-length hose is not going to foul on the other divers hose? It may have already done that, since you have this octopus (40" or so) hose running right near where the long hose runs on your right side, before the deployment of the long hose ever happened."
Of course, if it wasn't clipped to something there is a whole different cluster happening there.
The point being that an 'octo' is 'octo length' so it can be handed to the other diver. If you are keeping it for yourself and using a long hose for your primary to hand THAT to the other diver, that extra hose is a hazard and not a benefit.
So I told this diver (whom I dive with sometimes) that I would rather see them in a standard setup, or a "long hose with bungeed backup", but mixing the two in the way suggested is a real problem waiting to happen.
By the way, I have done many dives recently for an instructor class with an octo hose on my primary (40") and a short bungeed backup. That way I can still hand off my primary reg but I don't have 7 feet of hose getting in the way when I do the frequent "remove your gear on the bottom" drills that this class seems to require for some reason. Also, since the class' agency standards require a snorkel (mumbly grumbly), I'm not going to mix that required snorkel with an 'over the head' long hose. (The reason why is left as an exercise for the reader.)
The point being that you have to work out these issues and conflicts. Then convince others that it truely is a 'better mousetrap'. This is the way new ideas catch on all the time.
By the way, I'm just a lowly fundies grad who is working off the rust, and I made most of that answer up when I was asked the question. I then referred the person asking to some real experts on the subject. I don't claim to know anything about anything, so apply liberal salt.
