Ditch the 7 ft. hose

[TSandM]

Boy, I had the kind of problems you describe when I first started using the long hose, but they resolved pretty quickly. It really was just a matter of finding something under which to route the hose (although I dove for a week in Australia with it tucked in my belt, and it only came loose once or twice).

 

[Rick Inman]

Before I got my can light I tucked in my 7 footer, and it was clean, tight against my body, never in the way, and in fact, I really had to give it a hard tug to get it out. Is your waist strap good and snug?

Coiling the hose and keeping it clipped when not in use keeps the mess nice and tidy and out of the way. In fact, it's cleaner than a regular recreational length hose bouncing around on the boat.

I suggest you find a mentor who can show you the basics on LH use and stowage. If just keeping it clean is an issue for you, you may learn some other good basic LH skills. Did you take the advice you were given in THIS post?

But yes, if you are not wanting to learn the proper LH techniques, it might be better to go back to the basic recreational setup.

 

[artek]

if i were you, i would play golf instead, less headaches and much safer

 

[SparticleBrane]

The first question that came to mind when reading your original post was "Why is he stowing his long hose?"--apparently it "comes unwrapped from [your] belt underwater".

In an emergency air share would you be able to get it out from under there in enough time to properly donate it? I guess this would depend on how tight your waist strap is--apparently it isn't too tight, which would probably allow you to get it out in time but why risk it?

For me, I have a "deep bellows waist pocket" from DiveRite that I wear on my Eclipse' waist strap, where the canister light would go. I use this to route my long hose. (I don't have a canister light, nor do I have x-shorts, so this is currently my only pocket...)

I've never had a problem with it unrouting itself except when I first hop in with a giant stride. It occasionally comes out from under the pocket but is quickly replaced and I don't have any more problems for the rest of the dive.

Before I had my pocket I dove with the long hose stowed under my waist strap for my harness--once, in a pool. It just didn't feel right.

 

[radinator]

For shame, artek. I wouldn't wish golf on anybody.

 

[wheelietaco]

Hey if you want to sell your long hose i might be interested.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

There are (at least) two ways to look at it.

One is that you don't need a long hose, so carrying it and doing the couple things you need to do different to make it work is just not worth it. In this case, you need to either go with a 5' hose or find a place that works for you to stow the extra hose.

The other is that a long hose makes air sharing a much easier evolution even on a recreational dive. Once you have done it, you'll never want to go back.

Personally, I have found the waist strap on my BP/wing works fine to secure the hose on rec dives. If you have a BC, a 5' hose is probably a better option.

I also have a bolt snap secured to the mouthpiece with an o-ring. (Loop the o-ring through itself around the boltsnap and then stretch it over the mouthpiece so it stays suggly around the base of the mouthpiece.) This allows me to clip the long hose second stage to a D-ring if I am not using it, either during the dive or when exiting/lifting gear out of the water. It prevent the otherwise loose long hose second stage from snagging on something.

I have separate wings and regs for single and double tank diving, so while it would be easy to set up my single tank rec gear for a short hose, I prefer to keep the long hose as it's easy to address the potential problems. Consequently the benefits more than offset the risks/problems.

 

[WaterDawg]

If your having all those problems w/ it you might be doing something wrong, have you had another person who knows about that ck your routing out? The long hose (when used properly) does not cause such problems.

Also you might want to post this in the Hogarthian section as well and get more replies.

 

[livingstone]

I have not yet acquired a cannister light but the seven foot hose, for at least 90 dives now, tucks very nicely behind my waist strap on the right side of the buckle and I've never had a problem with it coming loose. This was the configuration (when used without a cannister) directed by my GUE Fundamentals instructor.

Dan

 

[headhunter]

slaterson19,

I could not get a feel for what you are looking for with your original post.

Let us know if you are looking for some DIR specific advice here in the DIR forum or if you would rather that your thread be moved to the Hogarthian forum for a broader range of comments.

I'm just trying to help, so don't read anything into that.

With regard to your comments about the 7-foot hose, I'm guessing that you may not have had any help with this from someone familiar with a long hose. I may be wrong about that, but I dive with many people using a long hose doing both surf entries and boat entries and none of us have any problems related to the long hose configuration.

Hope this helps with whatever you are looking for.

Christian