Curious about double hose regulators.

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

Hey all,
I've been looking at double house regulators/vintage diving. It's not something I'll be doing anytime soon due to budget constraints, but I'm curious all the same. How is diving them different from a single hose? What are perks and what are the drawbacks? What's the major "need to know" information?

I currently have a pair of LP steel 72's, and more J-valves than I know what to do with, so I like the idea of diving them with a double hose at some point.

 

[Nemrod]

They are fun and bring back memories and there is a history aspect. And they are cool looking. And there is a practical aspect for photo divers in that the bubbles exhaust behind. There may be slightly less noise to the diver and to the critter. To get the full experience they should be dived sans BC.







DH regs are very positional sensitive, need to be set up and worn just right. They breath hard and require a slightly different breathing technique than a single hose, long, slow deep breaths that utilize the Venturi to assist. They also breath wet, have a rather high WOB, no purge, require a lot of maintenace and travel heavy.





I did say they were cool looking and also very photogenic. I no longer dive DH regs except for fun, vintage dives, demonstration dives and a trip down memory lane. They are fun to play with. I learned on a DH Mistral in 1966 and dived with DH regs for years until the hoses rotted off and then yet again when I found hoses available again. But every dog has it's day, and for me, the DH dog had it's day and then a few more .



As I move gently into my golden years there are somethings best left behind, all things must pass in time.


(photo D.Haas)

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

I appreciate all the info and the perspective. I dive in mostly shallow water (diving for shark's teeth), and I hope to eventually make it a several times a month hobby, so I think it'd be cool to have a double hose reg to rock the vintage style now and then. Something to consider I guess.

 

[rhwestfall]

My daily diver, including travel is an updated DA Aquamaster (1958 body) with all modern (VDH) guts.

Joyous to dive.

I also use a DH for ice diving, practically nothing better suited.

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

Do you recommend a banjo for use with a pressure gauge or what is best practice on that? I dive with a pony, so no need for an octo

 

[rhwestfall]

With the Phoenix update on my daily diver, I have multiple lp ports and an hp port, so I run an octo, lpi, and a sending unit for my pdc. I've also run a dry suit hose...

With my more traditional one, I put a hookah port adapter on it to run an octo and lpi, and have used a banjo for pressure. The banjo however is tricky with a lot of modern valves, so your collection of vintage valves may be a nice option.

 

[TrimixToo]

There are some skill variations needed for double-hose regs. We were taught to always perform clearing skills for mask or regs by rolling to the left to put the exhaust hose under the regulator so we always rolled in the right direction. With a single-hose reg is doesn't matter how you are positioned to clear the reg, but it matters a lot for some double-hose regs. Also (especially older) double hosers are more sensitive to diver orientation in the water than single-hosers from a WOB standpoint. Clearing the reg is different. You need to hold the mouthpiece up, shake it up and down until it free flows, and then put it back in your mouth as you roll to get your left side down to finish. You might need to use your cheeks to move water for a few seconds until you get air. This is all from memory, so *look it up* or get instruction before using one. It's been sort of a long time since I was first judged certifiable.

I'd dive one without hesitation so long as it was reasonably shallow but I learned to dive...um...some time ago.

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

Thank you both very much! Silent Explorers (where I'd eventually plan on buying a two hose from, once my budget's more in order) sells a booklet that should help with a lot of these details, and I'd make a point to start off in an easy spot. There's a nice little dive site where they did some dredging, a while ago. Fifteen feet of water and pretty slow current, unless they're running power production harder than usual. It'd be a good spot to get started, I think.

 

[TrimixToo]

Thank you both very much! Silent Explorers (where I'd eventually plan on buying a two hose from, once my budget's more in order) sells a booklet that should help with a lot of these details, and I'd make a point to start off in an easy spot. There's a nice little dive site where they did some dredging, a while ago. Fifteen feet of water and pretty slow current, unless they're running power production harder than usual. It'd be a good spot to get started, I think.

I'd urge you to learn new double-hose reg skills in a pool with another diver. Practice then until they're automatic. I love this saying: "Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they can't get it wrong." I love to drill. You need these skills to work for you every time, under stress.

(Edit) I taught our kids to drive. One thing I did was drill them on skill control until they were *really* tired of it. One of them called a few years ago to say "thank you" after what could have been a much more frightening incident; he just did the right thing, right away, without thought.

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

@TrimixToo You make a good point; though I don't have good access to a pool for diving, I can pretty easily go in the shallows of the lake, which should be able the same thing. My dive buddy will complain, but that's what he always does lol.