Hose Routing Decision

[Patoux01]

During my safety stop i will switch to my necklaced octo then attach the long hose to a d-ring with a bolt snap. That way I can just spit the reg out as I climb out of the water and not worry about banging the second stage around.

Sounds like a bad idea. Attach it on the surface.

Reason is simple, once you've swapped, that reg is as good as dead as it is clipped off. It won't be available should it be needed for any reason.

 

[PACKRMAN]

I can see how it might look that way, actually its not a problem.
I use a 4" double ender on a ring attached 6" down from the reg with a very small zip tie.
There is enough length to breath from the reg while it is attached. Or,
It is pretty simple to remove the bolt snap with either hand. Or,
The zip tie will break away if pulled firmly.

 

[211ratsbud]

Personally I think the 40" streamlined is best for regular open water.

Less clutter and the central location underneath the arm is more natural for my head.

 

[rongoodman]

During my safety stop i will switch to my necklaced octo then attach the long hose to a d-ring with a bolt snap. That way I can just spit the reg out as I climb out of the water and not worry about banging the second stage around.

If your buddy comes to you for gas, he might not appreciate you having to mess around with the long hose to get it free. Keep it in your mouth until you both surface.

 

[BrianF]

I don't like 5' hoses, others do. I find them very annoying. I'm very long waisted so a 7' is actually too short for me with a properly fitting backplate unless it has a swivel on it, so I dive a 7' hose with an omni swivel. I do this for one main reason and that is because I dive independent doubles. At times I may need/want to make a regulator swap to my left bottle and having the long hose able to hang from my neck is advantageous. For normal doubles or single tanks in open water I prefer a 36-40" hose with a swivel of some sort. I prefer the ball swivels to the angle adapters. Click on the Cave Adventurers link in my signature and give them a buzz. They have hose pricing that is as good as anyone and their ball swivels are very cheap.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I ended up ordering hoses and a swivel from cave adventurers to set up a 40" hose with a swivel as my primary reg and a 22" hose and a bungee necklace for my back up reg.

 

[lermontov]

If your buddy comes to you for gas, he might not appreciate you having to mess around with the long hose to get it free. Keep it in your mouth until you both surface.

i dont know what set up you have but my long hose reg has a simple bungy with a larks foot around the crimped part of the connection -all I have to do is pull the reg it and it slides up to my face -dont need to unclip it, when i want to swap ( sidemount) i just pull the hose back so the bungy supports the reg ( then tuck hose into tank band )

 

[Alastor]

Just my experience (and 2 cent).
I moved from recreational OW configuration, as taught by most of the agencies, to long hose, and backup on necklace.
Because I'm very tall, there is no option I can go with 5ft long hose, so I use a full 7ft. Moreover I put a pocket on my right side (no canister light till now) and I route the long hose on the pocket as people do with the canister.
I also noticed that the best routing starts from the first stage, either if you dive octopus or with two first stages and an H valve on the single tank.
Depending on which 1st stage you have, you may try to experiment the different port choices and also significantly different orientation of the first stage on the valve. For common first stages form factor (and brands also) Google can find for you may pictures for routing, just observe and try them on your rig.
I also changed inflator hose lenght, because I did't like the curve it did behind my head.
Look also to the SPG and its HP hose, to be more streamlined, often you need to shorten it: recreational lenghts are too much even for me.
I think that Hogarthian routing is a very good option for it. In case you shoud have an AI computer, probably you don not look at the SPG during the dive to check remaining gas, so a shorter hose is not an issue (should not be in any case, but someone prefer to look at it without unclipping).

 

[w3dge]

i dont know what set up you have but my long hose reg has a simple bungy with a larks foot around the crimped part of the connection -all I have to do is pull the reg it and it slides up to my face -dont need to unclip it, when i want to swap ( sidemount) i just pull the hose back so the bungy supports the reg ( then tuck hose into tank band )

There's little advantage to you being able to breath from your long hose while your buddy is OOG...

 

[lermontov]

There's little advantage to you being able to breath from your long hose while your buddy is OOG...

I'm confused by your response?? is it meant to read "There's little advantage to you being able to breath from your short hose while your buddy is OOG"

regardless though my comment was on the need to unclip the primary reg not on whether it was a good practice to use your necklace at the safety swap

to put this in real life perspective and in context of PACKRMAN's post in which he sates he swaps to his necklace at safety stops-It would be a rare thing if a diver at a 3m or 4m safety stop would not bolt to the surface if they were OOA -unless they had a deco obligation in which case were talking about a different scenario

 

[Patoux01]

to put this in real life perspective and in context of PACKRMAN's post in which he sates he swaps to his necklace at safety stops-It would be a rare thing if a diver at a 3m or 4m safety stop would not bolt to the surface if they were OOA -unless they had a deco obligation in which case were talking about a different scenario

It should actually be a rare thing that any diver bolts to the surface when he's got a buddy next to him... You can still get hurt easily from 5m, what benefit does it have that you value it that much to clip off your reg?