Hose length

[Chuckitall]

What's the standard in the industry for the hose length between 1st and 2nd stage. I just received a reg with a 28" hose and it's driving me nuts. Considering a Miflex 32 ". Am I making a big deal out of what's considered a normal hose length?

 

[Peter_C]

28" would drive me nuts too. It would bump into kelp and errant dive buddy hands could latch onto it, ripping it from my mouth. I prefer a longer hose that stays tight to my body, allows for easy air shares, and doesn't cause a pull on the reg in my mouth.

 

[rhwestfall]

Its all about how you intend its use. this one is 7' with a 24" on the bungied octo (the wider loop on the outside is actually my LPI......

I want it all to be inside my shoulder profile.....

 

[Jim Lapenta]

28 is the standard. You can go to a 32 miflex as long as you don't mind a big floaty loop coming over your shoulder. I'm with PeterC on this. I dive a 7ft hose no matter what set up I'm diving. Singles, doubles, recreational, tech, etc. Nice and tight and doesn't pull on the second stage.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

It varies by company and changes from time to time, but 26" to 30" is common.

I am not a fan of miflex hoses as they are too torsionally rigid and that usually ends up in less than clean hose routing.

My preference is a long hose - 5' for recreational diving in a conventional jacket BC with no waist band to tuck any excess in - that runs down the right side from the regulator, goes under the right arm, comes up across the chest over the left shoulder and around the back of the neck to your mouth. It lies flat against you and won't extend out over a shoulder, snag anything, create excess drag, etc. And in an OOA situation the OOA diver can take your primary reg and breathe in comfort with enough slack in the hose to allow a normal ascent, safety stop, etc.

Alternatively, I'll go with a very short hose - just long enough to go from the first stage to the second stage with enough length to let me turn my head all the way to the left. In both cases I prefer to use a fixed, one piece non swiveling 90 degree or 120 degree elbow to keep it closer to my neck and reduce the hose length required.

 

[halocline]

I use the 5ft hose as well, and greatly prefer it to 7ft for OW diving. In fact, just today I did two dives, one with a 5ft hose and the other with 7ft, as I was picking regulators for an upcoming trip that will involve both OW and cavern diving. I was reminded of how much better the 5ft hose routs without a canister light. The 7ft is necessary for single file air-sharing in restricted passages and that's it, so buying one for OW diving makes little sense to me.

 

[lloyd_borrett]

G'day,

It depends on how you like to configure your setup.

For my single cylinder setup, my occy is on a strap around my neck, so that is a 90 cm (36 inch) long black Miflex hose. The reg in my mouth is the one people are going to grab in an emergency, so that's a 120 cm (48 inch) long fluro yellow Miflex hose (not a LONG hose) that I run under my arm and up to my mouth.

For my twin setup, my occy is on a strap around my neck and runs from the left post, so that is a shorter 70 cm (28 inch) black Miflex hose. The reg in my mouth is the one people are going to grab in an emergency, so that's a 120 cm (48 inch) long yellow Miflex hose that I run from the right post under my arm and up to my mouth.

The sizes you need will vary depending on your body size (i.e. how far the hose has to travel to your mouth) and where it is attached (centre for recreational single cylinder setup, or left or right post on a twin cylinder setup).

Best regards, Lloyd Borrett.

 

[Nemrod]

The "standard" length hose on a regulator if you just buy a regulator over the shelf, most of the time is about 24 to 26 inches. Longer than that and it forms a huge loop and pushes and pulls on the mouth, shorter than that and it tugs when you turn your head. This is assuming a standard over the shoulder routing for your primary. Octopus/secondary regulators typically ride on a 36 to 44 inch hose, 40 being very typical. I like a 40 for that, my wife prefers about a 36 inch hose and this again assumes standard under the right shoulder routing for the octo/secondary.

It is perfectly okay to bungee necklace the octo with a slip/fisherman knot around the neck or any of the simple octo holders, some work better than others. As long as the regulator deploys easily and is located in the central/upper chest area, it is fine. I do like to bungee mine as that is much like the old necklace straps with the quick snaps we used to have in the old days.

N