Hose length setup...

[danemeyer20]

Not worried about DIR, want more comfort. I am looking to switch to a longer primary and shorter secondary. I am going with a 24" secondary but dont know whether i should go with a 5 or 7' hose length for my primary. I understand the 7' is customary especially for overhead environments but i dont think i will like wrapping the hose once around my neck which is why i want to go with the 5'. My problem with the 5' is since the hose will be coming from around a pocket on the hip the hose will be pointing down and not level with the reg in my mouth so that option doesnt seem to work for me either.

What suggestions and/or changes would you recomend? what setup do you use?

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

Do try it DIR style. I do not really notice it being there, and it is more streamlined that way vs. having a folded long hose. It seems to be a misconception that the hose is likely to choke you, but that idea always seems to come from people who have not tried it. I think 7' is better for air shares but it is a bit more trouble to stow if you do not have a canister light to tuck it under The canister light is kind of an expesive way to stow your hose, but has its own merits.

 

[Jimmer]

The proper way to route a 5 or a 7 foot hose both have it going around the back of your neck and into your mouth. The difference is the 5 foot hose just goes across your chest, the 7 footer goes down to your hip before coming back up, behind your neck and into your mouth.

 

[danemeyer20]

The proper way to route a 5 or a 7 foot hose both have it going around the back of your neck and into your mouth. The difference is the 5 foot hose just goes across your chest, the 7 footer goes down to your hip before coming back up, behind your neck and into your mouth.

so your saying the 5' hose would go around your chest, under your arm, and over the shoulder then around neck? or are you saying just under left arm, over chest, and around neck? if you got any pics i would love to see them if its not too much trouble

i do not have a canister light and dive almost exclusively open water. in case you were wondering

 

[Bob]

so your saying the 5' hose would go around your chest, under your arm, and over the shoulder then around neck? or are you saying just under left arm, over chest, and around neck? if you got any pics i would love to see them if its not too much trouble

No that's not what he's saying. The 5 ft hose goes over your right shoulder, across your chest and around your neck. Hope this helps. almtree: Bob

 

[halocline]

To clarify, the 5 ft hose leaves the first stage, goes UNDER your right arm, across your chest, OVER your left shoulder around behind your head and attaches to the second stage from the right.

It sounds like you might want to try a 39-40" hose that goes under your right arm, then up your chest and attaches to the reg from the right. To make that comfortable, you could try a right angle fitting between the hose and second stage so that when the hose is attached to the 2nd stage in your mouth, it routs down rather than straight out. I would not try this routing with a 5 ft hose, it'll be flopping everywhere. But if you're a really big guy it might fit you.

The behind the head routing of the 5 and 7 ft hose is not "wrapped around your neck." It's simply behind your head. It doesn't come close to your neck. The DIR guys may not be big on social skills (sorry guys, little joke there) but they're not dumb enough to wrap reg hoses around their neck.

Have fun!

 

[Splitlip]

Not worried about DIR, want more comfort. I am looking to switch to a longer primary and shorter secondary. I am going with a 24" secondary but dont know whether i should go with a 5 or 7' hose length for my primary. I understand the 7' is customary especially for overhead environments but i dont think i will like wrapping the hose once around my neck which is why i want to go with the 5'. My problem with the 5' is since the hose will be coming from around a pocket on the hip the hose will be pointing down and not level with the reg in my mouth so that option doesnt seem to work for me either.

What suggestions and/or changes would you recomend? what setup do you use?

A 5 or 7 will go behind your head. A 7 leaves the 1st stage down to the right hip (where it runs under something on the waist strap or is tucked into the waist strap), up across your chest, over the left shoulder and behind the head and into your mouth just like it would directly from the 1st stage in a standard set up.

The 5 leaves the 1st stage, goes under your right arm across the chest to the left shoulder, behind the head etc like the 7.

Now, maybe what you want is a 40 ". It leaves the 1st stage, goes under the right arm directly to your mouth. Usually requires a swivel. This is what I usually use.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I have used a 40" hose on a swivel with a full face mask (routed under the right arm and up to the mask) however a FFM works just as well on a 5 or 7 ft hose routed in the normal DIR manner.

To repeat in case it is not clear: Both the 5 ft and 7 ft hoses route under the right arm, across the chest and then over the left collarbone and around the back of the neck. The difference is that the 7 ft hose runs farther down below the arm with the extra 2 ft slipped under the cannister light or slipped under the waist band. From that point on they route and feel exactly the same.

If you are diving with a back plate or similar back inflate system with a waist belt, I'd recommend the 7" hose as the extra can be slipped under the waist belt and adjusted to get a perfect lenght around the neck.

If you are diving a conventional BC where it is difficult to put it under a waist band, get the 5 ft hose.

If you are a guy with broad shoulders (chest size 44 or greater) a 6 ft hose may work better as 5 ft can be a bit short depending on how it routes from the first stage. You want enough hose to ensure the hose does not pull on the reg when you look all the way to the left.

A bungeed secondary may be ideal anywhere from 22 to 26 inches in lenght depending on how it routes from the first stage. Shorter is better with a single tank as it is coming from the center rather than the left post and slightly longer may or may not be better if you have slightly larger dimensions. 24" is a good place to start but having a dive shop or a buddy who will let you try different lenght hoses is always nice. Ideally you want a hose on the secondary that is just long enough to allow you to look fully to the left without the hose pulling on the reg. Any longer and you end up with extra hose poking out over your right shoulder and or pushing the reg to your left under your chin.

 

[brutus_scuba]

Not worried about DIR, want more comfort. I am looking to switch to a longer primary and shorter secondary. I am going with a 24" secondary but dont know whether i should go with a 5 or 7' hose length for my primary. I understand the 7' is customary especially for overhead environments but i dont think i will like wrapping the hose once around my neck which is why i want to go with the 5'. My problem with the 5' is since the hose will be coming from around a pocket on the hip the hose will be pointing down and not level with the reg in my mouth so that option doesnt seem to work for me either.

What suggestions and/or changes would you recomend? what setup do you use?

Why would the five foot hose be coming from around a pocket on your hip? Is that your routing correction since you won't be diving with a can light. If so rather than routing around a dry suit pocket you can tuck the hose into your harness waist strap if you have a seven foot hose. What I would suggest especially if you are diving a single tank w/out an H-Valve is simply a five foot hose routed under the right shoulder across the chest and over the left shoulder behind the head as many people have stated above.

I don't believe you'll find wrapping the hose around your neck as uncomfortable as you may suspect now, and I would think you'd appreciate it being tight to your body during most your dive as opposed to floating under your arms and such.

 

[Bob]

As I am a big chested guy, the 5ft hose isn't long enough to route under my right arm. I wear it over my shoulder. OTOH I do see divers use both routings with the 5 ft hose.. almtree: Bob