Hose length thoughts, questions and confusions....

[stuartv]

@flybigjet nothing wrong with that setup, just an extra step in the beginning. You can tie a piece of bungee cord into the same loop as a suicide strap and get the same result for basically no money. It's a common setup in the UK for 7' hoses

You and your suicide strap. It's a bungee necklace! This isn't the rebreather subforum!

Like tbone said, I made the hose retention bands for my sidemount tanks using bungee cord. But, I tied them using a double overhand knot, instead of two Fisherman's knots, like you'd do for a bungee necklace. The double overhand gives me something big to grab when I have gloves on, to pull the elastic away from the tank and stow a hose.

The only potential problem that comes to mind immediately in doing what you are talking about for single tank back mount is will the hose retention bands get cut or otherwise damaged by being pinched between the tank and whatever back plate/BCD tank plate you're mounting the tank on? Maybe you can put the hose retention straps at the top and bottom of the tank, above and below the tank straps and above and below whatever plate or rails the tank is being secured to.

Maybe you could just make small loops of bungee that go around the tank straps (assuming you have 2). They would sit naturally at 90 degree angles to how the long hose would run, but it's bungee so it can twist and stretch and should work okay.

The other problem would be, how do you re-stow the long hose if you pull it out during a dive? I wonder how the BSAC guys handle that. I guess you could just Hog loop it (around your neck) for the rest of the dive and re-stow it after you got out.

 

[KenGordon]

The advantage of the hog looping is that it is easily stowed after a practice run. The BSAC way is ok when the dive is now over and it will be breathed off until the surface. Or you can stuff it back in the buddy commando's special place.

 

[tbone1004]

@stuartv sorry, it's been ingrained as a suicide strap for my entire diving career, so it's hard to think of it as a necklace....

I use the DSS plastic retainers which are super slick for stage bottles so you can grab it, but for this application I don't think you would ever plan to restow it. If you are using it as your primary, if you have to donate and then go back to it for surfacing, just put it under your arm as normal. The guys that I know that run with long hoses along the tank will hog loop it after a donation event for the rest of the exit.

It is a right PITA in sidemount though, so usually we phone a friend and have them restuff it for us. Particularly obnoxious during training

 

[stuartv]

I use the DSS plastic retainers which are super slick for stage bottles so you can grab it

A $12 clamp to hold the ends of a piece of bungee?!? I'll take "Knots for Free, Alex." I've had things that are screwed together (with blue Loc-tite, no less) come apart underwater. I haven't had any of my knots in bungee cord come apart yet.

 

[tbone1004]

A $12 clamp to hold the ends of a piece of bungee?!? I'll take "Knots for Free, Alex." I've had things that are screwed together (with blue Loc-tite, no less) come apart underwater. I haven't had any of my knots in bungee cord come apart yet.

I find it a lot easier for stage and deco bottles that have regular hose storage required and the knot is hard to grab for me with gloves on

 

[casts_by_fly]

After spending the last two hours in the back of a jet thinking about this.....

Why wouldn't the below be a reasonable setup?

- Short hose w/ backup reg over shoulder.
- Long hose strapped along length of tank using a stretchy nylon band and over the shoulder for your primary (and "give-away") reg. You'd go down from the vertical port in the first stage, along the right length of tank, loop up and over your shoulder.

That would solve the "I don't like the hose between my arm and torso" issue, but give you plenty of length of hose in a "give-away" situation. Since the strap is elastic (I've seen them on DRIS, DGE and other sites), one pull and the hose is completely free. You're still using the long hose as both your primary and as your "give-a way".

Thoughts? Good idea? Bad idea?

I remember seeing some of the Truk guides with this setup, but I don't remember if they had it set up as an octo or primary reg.

Thanks.

R.

This is basically my setup. We dive tropical, rec diving in pretty clear water on open reefs. A long hose isn't necessary. The friends I dive with are basic padi style divers. Most all of the other divers we might be diving with are in the same position. Primary donate? They wouldn't know what was going on. For the most part, all of our friends are aware divers and our dives not difficult. Out of air? Call the dive and surface. Notice it early enough that you are sucking it down? Move a little shallower and share from me if you want to.

My setup? I stuck with a standard 36" hose for my primary. I might go shorter, but I had the hose already so I stuck with it. I have a 5' on my octo. I use a dive rite deluxe hose retainer on the tank and tuck the octo hose into it. I have the reg clipped to a hip d-ring. My octo faceplate is yellow and located where a generic padi diver would expect it. If someone is out of air they can grab what they want from me. Grab my octo? Great. You have 5' to work with. Grab my primary from my mouth? Still long enough to work with and I know where my backup is clipped.

Stowing isn't easy once pulled out and it even takes a little practice to tuck it well at the start. I can do it underwater, but with a big camera to hold also it isn't nice. That said, if I've pulled it then someone is out of air and we are going up. If the dive really is continuing then I can hog wrap it around my neck and stow my shorter hose on a clip.

Rick

 

[lowflyer]

I guess I'm going to have to reveal ignorance here, but why on earth does a recreational diver (no caves, tech, or serious overhead environment) need his primary on a 40" hose? If I need to donate my primary to an OOA diver, I will be holding on to him/her to make sure he/she doesn't bolt to the surface. So we are going to be close. 30" with a swivel on the primary reg is good enough for this in my practice scenarios, and 40" is just extra hose dragging in the water.

 

[tursiops]

I guess I'm going to have to reveal ignorance here, but why on earth does a recreational diver (no caves, tech, or serious overhead environment) need his primary on a 40" hose? If I need to donate my primary to an OOA diver, I will be holding on to him/her to make sure he/she doesn't bolt to the surface. So we are going to be close. 30" with a swivel on the primary reg is good enough for this in my practice scenarios, and 40" is just extra hose dragging in the water.

The 40 inches is to make it comfortable to get from the first stage, down under the arm, and up to the mouth, without any pulling. 30 inches does not allow it to go under the arm comfortably.

 

[tbone1004]

I guess I'm going to have to reveal ignorance here, but why on earth does a recreational diver (no caves, tech, or serious overhead environment) need his primary on a 40" hose? If I need to donate my primary to an OOA diver, I will be holding on to him/her to make sure he/she doesn't bolt to the surface. So we are going to be close. 30" with a swivel on the primary reg is good enough for this in my practice scenarios, and 40" is just extra hose dragging in the water.

most find it more comfortable because the 40" hose goes under your arm pit. It doesn't bow out. It is much more streamlined than a 30" bowing out. 30" is nowhere near long enough for me to dive under my arm and 40" is a "common" hose length

 

[lowflyer]

Yes, I used to dive with a 40" under the arm, but then I switched to 30" over the arm because it was easier to keep the reg from getting in the sand or bumping on the ground when changing tanks. With that extra 10", the reg seemed to end up too often where I didn't want it