Dry Suit Hose

[Giff]

Picking up my first drysuit and I've got a question I want to pose to the DIR crowd here on SB. I've received conflicting advice here so I want to see what DIR's answer is as well as the reasons for it.

For the Drysuit Inflation Hose, should I use an actual drysuit hose with a restrictor such as DiveRite Express sells OR should I not worry about it and just use a standard BC style inflator hose?

Thanks!

Giff

 

[Flatliner]

Interested to hear the answer...

 

[rjack321]

The restrictor / no restrictor is not important.

From the DRexpress website here's their rationale and here's why its not relevant

A rapid over inflation that may cause uncontrolled or unexpected ascent.

Learn to use the suit properly.

A flow rate that could exceed the drysuit exhaust valve expel capacity.

Gas will burp out your neck if you are overinflating at the surface. I have no idea why you be adding gas and venting gas simultaneously at depth.

A loss of intermediate pressure if the drysuit inflation valve should freeflow.

Theoretically partially possible although even a cut lp hose does not equal no IP pressure at all. Otherwise I couldn't inflate and inhale at the same time since I have no restrictor on any of my hoses. Regardless of whether this complete loss could even happen, suit inflators do not suddenly fail open anyway. They are a "balanced" design and leak water miserably long before you'll have gas self injecting itself into your suit.

Feel free to use a hose with a restrictor if you'd like. It may or may not make learning the suit easier. Its not really doing anything IMHO. Once you are proficient with the suit, I doubt you'll notice one way or the other.

It is important to use a standard shrader lp nipple on the system though. The various custom fittings that have been tried (by various manufacturers) are worthless and merely make it impossible to get a replacement hose in some distant land.