DIR hose config. with back-inflate BC

[GetNarc'd]

I'm wondering if anyone can tell me whether it would be unsafe to equip a Back-inflate BC with the standard DIR hose configuration (across chest and around neck)? I'm prepared for all the critisizm I may be subjecting myself to by posting this, but I'm going on vacation at the end of this month and would like to get used to the new configuration. I'll be beginning this season with the complete BP/W and Hogarthian harness, but would feel more comfortable on this vacation using something I'm in complete control of.

Chris

 

[David Watson]

you should definitely dive the long hose if you are comfortable with it.

 

[LAJim]

Chris:

If you have dive buddy who has some skill and is game (plan this in advance) try an air share and swimming along the bottom doing an air share using a standard (PADI, rental, whatever) reg. configuration where the sharing diver is pulling air out of an "octo" on some wierd hose. Try it and ask yourself if that's a good way to get out of an overhead environment.

Then try it with a long hose - and -don't forget this part - bungied back-up. Different story.

Jim

 

[TSandM]

My husband dove a 5' hose with a Seaquest Balance for months before he broke down and got his BP/W. Works fine.

 

[IceBergSlim]

I'm not sure why you think it would be a problem.

The long hose and bungee backup is pretty easy to manage and much better in a share air situation.

Plus, chicks dig it.

 

[limeyx]

I'm not sure why you think it would be a problem.

The long hose and bungee backup is pretty easy to manage and much better in a share air situation.

Plus, chicks dig it.

Just make sure (if it's 7 foot) that you have somewhere to stow it -- under a pocket, or a knife on a belt etc. so the hose doesn't flap and dangle around.

Oh, and make sure you practice some shallow S-drills before going too deep so you get the hang of how to donate and receive gas with that configuration.

 

[GetNarc'd]

My husband dove a 5' hose with a Seaquest Balance for months before he broke down and got his BP/W. Works fine.

That's what I have! An older balance that I stiched two D rings to each shoulder of. I actually just got a Seaquest Airsource for it, kind of as a backup to my backup reg. that I'll have bungeed around my neck. I hadn't realize that the airsource would have such breathing resistance. Then again, I didn't consider the likelyhood of a more free flowing reg to umm... free-flow.

Excellent news from everyone. I'm really looking foward to diving the backplate and wing, but don't know if I can afford the money on top of the new apeks reg I'm buying, all in the same month! Maybe, but I think if I practice with the hose configuration on a BC for a dozen dives, it'll allow me to adjust to the bp/w and harness more easily, with less to concentrate on besides my bouyancy/trim.

Just make sure (if it's 7 foot) that you have somewhere to stow it -- under a pocket, or a knife on a belt etc. so the hose doesn't flap and dangle around.

Oh, and make sure you practice some shallow S-drills before going too deep so you get the hang of how to donate and receive gas with that configuration.

I assume you're referring to a substitute for the HID canister I won't be using? I could try to mount my knife vertically on the side of my Balance and tuck it underneath.
Chris

 

[wunat]

Don't see it as a problem.

You can also tuk the long hose along the waist strap as well. Which ever way you end up with, do practice the OOA drill some where shallow with a buddy if you aren't familiar with such reg configuration.

 

[GetNarc'd]

Don't see it as a problem.

You can also tuk the long hose along the waist strap as well. Which ever way you end up with, do practice the OOA drill some where shallow with a buddy if you aren't familiar with such reg configuration.

Oh, no doubt. Just as they have new divers do OOA drills with the common Rec OW short octopus hose in the OW Diver course, you should do it with whatever setup you're using. Am I corect in assuming that an S-Drill is simply donating your long hosed reg to a buddy in an OOA situation? Is there any travel after this?


On a similar subject. What do you all use to bungee your backup 2nd stage around your necks? My mother is an RN and says that surgical tubing is no longer used.

 

[TSandM]

S drill is "safety drill" -- donating the long hose, positioning the two divers and initiating an ascent or exit.

I use shock cord to make my necklace. Search the DIR forum on "necklace" and you'll find a number of threads with pictures and links.

The nice thing about the Balance is that it has trim pockets. If you play with your weights and distribute them between the weight pockets and the trim pockets, you can trim out as horizontal as you will in your BP/W, and that will give you a good start on internalizing the feeling of diving horizontally and in good trim.

I have great pictures of my husband, hovering six inches off the bottom in perfect trim to take photographs.