Hose Adapter DIR?

[DIR-Atlanta]

My recommendations (in order of preference) would be:

1. Sell the Apeks and get a reg with uniform port sizes
2. Route the hoses so as to avoid using the 1/2" port altogether (assuming it is practical to do this)
3. Use an adapter
4. Use a 1/2" hose, but make sure you have spare hoses and/or an adapter available in case of failure

 

[Rick Inman]

My recommendations (in order of preference) would be:

1. Sell the Apeks and get a reg with uniform port sizes

That's what I did (matched the other XTX200) Now I wish I'd just bought the other 200 and kept the 100 for the 3rd stage I should have known I'd eventually want it for - adapter or no.

 

[Peter Guy]

. I think this is basically the sort of nit-picky detail that doesn't amount to much in the real world.

I really wonder about what people think IS the "meaning" of "DIR" when questions like this are asked. As has been written and said over and over again, the equipment aspects of "DIR Diving" are the least important. It has been, is, and will be my contention that the key to "DIR Diving" is the "teamness" of the divers throughout the whole dive (which starts, of course, at the time one calls the other and says "Let's go diving" and ends when they crack open the beer (or later)).

 

[Charlie99]

My recommendations (in order of preference) would be: ........
4. Use a 1/2" hose, but make sure you have spare hoses and/or an adapter available in case of failure

Why is this your least preferred alternative?

 

[DIR-Atlanta]

Use a 1/2" hose, but make sure you have spare hoses and/or an adapter available in case of failure

Why is this your least preferred alternative?

For starters, the non-standard port is a non-issue for me, since all my stuff is Scubapro (Mk10, Mk20, etc), which has a uniform port size.

If for some reason I did have a reg with a non-standard port, I would place more importance on having interchangeable spares than matching the port size to the hose. When you start diving with multiple bottles and regs, it can make a huge difference having to carry extra spares for every possible thing that can go wrong. If I also have to account for different hose sizes for some regs, then that's more than I care to deal with if I have to make a field repair or exchange at the site. This is also a team issue, since my spares need to be interchangeable with those of my teammates.

As far as the adapter goes, I don't see the extra O-ring as being much of an issue - as several people noted above, we don't worry about O-rings on unused ports, so it seems silly to worry about the O-ring on an adapter. In my opinion, there are a lot more pressing gear issues to be concerned over than that.

 

[caveandreas]

If one extra o-ring on a Apeks regulator bother you, you should not use an Scubapro regulator.
Scubapro is o-ring hell on the other hand they make still good regulators. So one extra oring is maybe not so important...