I used to really enjoy trying all manner of new gear in hopes that I'd find something that just worked a little better. Nowadays, I just want to go diving and have my gear be predictable and reliable, and if it starts to fail, to fail linearly and progressively. All of the floaty/fraying/pop-of-swaging/recalling really hammers home to me why DIR tends to be skeptical of new/unproven gear.
DIR Hoses
- Thread starter smorneau
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Please justify why it's bad to mix hoses? In your experience have you found personally that they don't work?
Reasons I switched,
time to replace hoses and I thought I would give these a trial. Why they worked (in my case), they are lighter and they pack better into carry on (I travel a lot), they route better (I don't have the bends I found concerning with rubber), I've noticed no signs of typical wear over the same amount of dives i get with rubber. I started 3 years ago and have switched each hose on 6 reg sets over time, excluding my Teaching sets which still have a rubber long hose ( it works much better for repeated deploy and stows). The LP hose sits much more comfortable than rubber on a necklace for me.
Adobo, what have you found with braided hoses?
As I said, I think if I used regulators that required the 90 degree bend in the hose for the backup reg and the wing inflator, I'd strongly consider the braided hoses, because they are built to tolerate sharper bends. I have not heard anything in the last few years about failure problems with low pressure braided hoses, only with the HP ones, which I would NOT use. Which is a shame, because they'd be kind of ideal for deco bottles.
BTW, I use HOG regs with the bottom port, and I don't have to bend my hoses that way, and I don't use braided hoses.
Adobo, how do you think your teammate's choice of hoses impacts his function in the team? (So long as he isn't using the HP ones, that is.)
BTW, I use HOG regs with the bottom port, and I don't have to bend my hoses that way, and I don't use braided hoses.
Adobo, how do you think your teammate's choice of hoses impacts his function in the team? (So long as he isn't using the HP ones, that is.)
I haven't felt the need to change out my hoses for miflex.
It's not advised to use HP miflex, and I wouldn't want the long hose to be miflex.
So that only leaves the backup reg and two inflator hoses...I don't see what "issue" I would be solving by replacing those.
I travel a lot also, but I just pay for an extra bag when I make reservations. So reducing baggage weight or bulk just isn't that much of a benefit for me.
It's not advised to use HP miflex, and I wouldn't want the long hose to be miflex.
So that only leaves the backup reg and two inflator hoses...I don't see what "issue" I would be solving by replacing those.
I travel a lot also, but I just pay for an extra bag when I make reservations. So reducing baggage weight or bulk just isn't that much of a benefit for me.
Adobo
Contributor
None of my buddies dive miflex hoses. But if I was diving with someone who had miflex hoses, I wouldn't care. Is that really the point though?
Here is the original post:
The question here seems pretty clear, what is the DIR standard? This person doesn't already have miflex hoses. So the question becomes, why bother? What is to be gained? What problem is to be solved?
So far, the two answers I am getting are:
- a miflex inflator hose and LP hose for the backup reg pack smaller than the rubber equivalents. To which I would reply, "Really?"
- if your reg (I assume this means first stage) requires sharp bends on the hose... To which I would reply, I dive Mk17s. Most of my buddies dive Mk25s. Some dive Apeks regs. I can't think of any one of them feeling compelled to solve any hose routing issues with miflex. If you 1st stage makes you feel a need for miflex hoses, maybe your choice in regulators is not very good.
I tried one Myflex on my backup reg - it was floaty so I ditched it. I also like to be able to inspect the hoses at regular intervals and replace as needed or every 2 years (good but timed out hoses go in the backup bin if they are fine if they show a lot of wear then they are tossed). No point in using hoses that are 2x more expensive and you can't inspect them effectively for wear (the cover prevents you from seeing the actual hose). No issue with them other than the hi pressure ones subject to the recall though, just don't see a point in them and I have yet to find a situation where I need to put a knot in my hose at depth 
Food for thought. Rub a miflex hose on your BC's corrugate hose very vigorously. You're not going to like what you see. Rub a traditional rubber hose against the corrugated BC hose and you'll be pretty indifferent about the results.
eelnoraa
Contributor
I don't think GUE has an official stand on this. It is up to the diver's preference. A few of studenst in my fundie, me included had braided hoses. We were not asked to replace them, so I guess it is OK.
Having that said, after using braided hoses for backup, bc and hp for my single tank setup, I don't like them. For my double setup, I went back to all rubber hoses
Having that said, after using braided hoses for backup, bc and hp for my single tank setup, I don't like them. For my double setup, I went back to all rubber hoses
It's just a plus/minus discussion really. There is no GUE prohibition against them. I'd venture to say they are not DIR but outside of the WKPP the diver should make the choice based on the evidence for and against. I personally don't use them b/c of the reasons above. Oh and they can chaff your neck seal if used on the long hose.
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