I did do the class in a BP&W. I ardently refuse to wear any other bc because I do not fit correctly in any other type i've ever tried(I have an extremely long torso, and can really only get something with a crotch strap that is not dependent on torso placement to fit), and consider it more of a risk than I'm willing to take. I will not do something I consider unsafe for the conditions for anyone....period.
I'm a little amazed at the can of worms I opened.
To training: No I have never had formal training in the use of a long hose or BP&W. I do not see where either require any particularly specialized training to use sufficiently, though practice in any air sharing drill is very important, as the concept is not difficult. I did spend significant time in the pool with the long hose before I ever took it into open water, and would not have taken it on a dive unless I was 100% confident of my ability to deploy it and re-stow it. I also asked my fire department dive partners to practice with me, so they would at least understand what I would/would not be doing in the event of an air sharing drill. I have logged something like 6 hours of pool time and about 25 dives using this configuration, as well as two search and recovery(not of casualties thank God) deployments with the fire department, and have even deployed it from 100ft in Cozumel for an air sharing/assent exercise for a "deep" specialty the shop I was with offered for almost nothing. After using both methods, I do not feel comfortable in open water with a low clipped octo on, nor the hug wind loops sticking out from my head from "short" hoses. GUE or UTD classes are in my future, but my own physical fitness and dive experience levels need to come up a good bit before I do either. I am most definitely not a paragon of diving, but am working to better myself and my knowledge, and see the hogarthian system, and to a similar extent the concepts laid down by DIR, as a segue into putting my abilities on a better, and safer level. It's kind of ironic that I'm moving towards DIR and hogarthian configurations, but will spend 50% or more of my in water time in a very "un hogarthian" full face mask. The one are I have found where DIR and Hogarthian ideal don't always work to there full extent....crawling on your belly, in the mud, finger searching for a body or weapon!
I will offer some input on the "all gear should be the same" argument side, from a purely anecdotal standpoint:
When first asked to conduct an air sharing drill this weekend, I was still carrying my octo on a necklace, simply using a shorter hose on my primary. I, by habit and practice, when asked to share air, removed my primary, picked up my secondary, and offered the primary to the other diver. This utterly confused him to the point I didn't think he would take it at first. We where asked to make an ascent sharing air while grasping each other bc, again, the lack of large straps and padding utterly confused him, and he had difficulty with the skill. This was NOT a bad diver. He was approaching 100 logged dives, and I would have considered him a reasonable candidate for a dive buddy in a basic "rec" dive. Quite simply, he had never seen someone do it that way, and was not particularly equipped with a knowledge basis to deal with an alternative to the "standard".
The argument can be made "but, how many times do you see a hogarthian diver"....the answer is not often. However, my observation is that primary donate IS becoming more common with the AIR 2 style system coming into popularity. You do not have time to "figure it out" in the water, you're already going to be forced to delay the contact with EMS for a period( from a 911 dispatchers standpoint, delays are bad, because there are delays on our end as well....), fiddling with a new gear configuration you've never seen, while trying to solo tow an unresponsive in giving rescue breath, after surfacing from 80ft, is a bad time to learn.....
That was one of my biggest disappointments in this class, that it mainly focused on surface rescue, and that more variables were not discussed. I realize the class is not a true search and rescue scenario, but I find it disheartening that some of this was not taught in OW, leaving more time for more advanced topics later.
I'm NOT knocking the guys I took this class from btw. I consider them friends, and good divers. I will probably dive with them and buy gear from them again(they are doing my fire department VERY right on gear and training), and they're fun folks to be around. I want that clear in case they read this, or someone figures it out and goes and tattles. Big difference in philosophical debate and bashing someone.
I'm a little amazed at the can of worms I opened.
To training: No I have never had formal training in the use of a long hose or BP&W. I do not see where either require any particularly specialized training to use sufficiently, though practice in any air sharing drill is very important, as the concept is not difficult. I did spend significant time in the pool with the long hose before I ever took it into open water, and would not have taken it on a dive unless I was 100% confident of my ability to deploy it and re-stow it. I also asked my fire department dive partners to practice with me, so they would at least understand what I would/would not be doing in the event of an air sharing drill. I have logged something like 6 hours of pool time and about 25 dives using this configuration, as well as two search and recovery(not of casualties thank God) deployments with the fire department, and have even deployed it from 100ft in Cozumel for an air sharing/assent exercise for a "deep" specialty the shop I was with offered for almost nothing. After using both methods, I do not feel comfortable in open water with a low clipped octo on, nor the hug wind loops sticking out from my head from "short" hoses. GUE or UTD classes are in my future, but my own physical fitness and dive experience levels need to come up a good bit before I do either. I am most definitely not a paragon of diving, but am working to better myself and my knowledge, and see the hogarthian system, and to a similar extent the concepts laid down by DIR, as a segue into putting my abilities on a better, and safer level. It's kind of ironic that I'm moving towards DIR and hogarthian configurations, but will spend 50% or more of my in water time in a very "un hogarthian" full face mask. The one are I have found where DIR and Hogarthian ideal don't always work to there full extent....crawling on your belly, in the mud, finger searching for a body or weapon!
I will offer some input on the "all gear should be the same" argument side, from a purely anecdotal standpoint:
When first asked to conduct an air sharing drill this weekend, I was still carrying my octo on a necklace, simply using a shorter hose on my primary. I, by habit and practice, when asked to share air, removed my primary, picked up my secondary, and offered the primary to the other diver. This utterly confused him to the point I didn't think he would take it at first. We where asked to make an ascent sharing air while grasping each other bc, again, the lack of large straps and padding utterly confused him, and he had difficulty with the skill. This was NOT a bad diver. He was approaching 100 logged dives, and I would have considered him a reasonable candidate for a dive buddy in a basic "rec" dive. Quite simply, he had never seen someone do it that way, and was not particularly equipped with a knowledge basis to deal with an alternative to the "standard".
The argument can be made "but, how many times do you see a hogarthian diver"....the answer is not often. However, my observation is that primary donate IS becoming more common with the AIR 2 style system coming into popularity. You do not have time to "figure it out" in the water, you're already going to be forced to delay the contact with EMS for a period( from a 911 dispatchers standpoint, delays are bad, because there are delays on our end as well....), fiddling with a new gear configuration you've never seen, while trying to solo tow an unresponsive in giving rescue breath, after surfacing from 80ft, is a bad time to learn.....
That was one of my biggest disappointments in this class, that it mainly focused on surface rescue, and that more variables were not discussed. I realize the class is not a true search and rescue scenario, but I find it disheartening that some of this was not taught in OW, leaving more time for more advanced topics later.
I'm NOT knocking the guys I took this class from btw. I consider them friends, and good divers. I will probably dive with them and buy gear from them again(they are doing my fire department VERY right on gear and training), and they're fun folks to be around. I want that clear in case they read this, or someone figures it out and goes and tattles. Big difference in philosophical debate and bashing someone.