For divers contemplating using a long hose configuration

[Wibble]

My observation is that many divers leave their Open-Water training, with their octo & spg dangling, or loosely tucked where it'll fall out. The arm-sweep is vital to know, but ideally something you should never have to do in an emergency. I didn't really know about breakaway clips, retainers, and necklaces until I had more than 50 dives. Having one around your neck, and another clipped to your BCD where you expect 100% of the time is something I never expect to stop, excluding discovering better ways of securing a reg.

Longhose doesn't take much to understand. It's best if someone shows you but it's definitely not necessary to have a "course" on using it.

With a short-hose and regulator under the chin held by a bungee necklace, it's always there and in the same place. The long hose can be donated at any time in the extremely unlikely scenario of an out-of-gas diver.

Forget the technical diving implications of longhose; it's an excellent way to dive recreationally. Safer, easier, tidier, far more natural.

IMHO Longhose should be taught from the beginning of open water.