Hose Routing Decision

[kr2y5]

So you honestly believe that the environment you are in has an influence on someone panicking, and that one is soothed by the idea of being in a cave when running out of air and hence won't panic? May I suggest there's something very wrong with the guys you're training if that's the case?

I don't know about influence, but I suspect there is some correlation between being in a cave, and a bigger fraction of the surrounding divers having technical training, being less prone to panic, etc.

 

[tursiops]

So you honestly believe that the environment you are in has an influence on someone panicking, and that one is soothed by the idea of being in a cave when running out of air and hence won't panic? May I suggest there's something very wrong with the guys you're training if that's the case?

May I suggest you have misread the post?
The long hose is NEEDED in the cave; it is not NEEDED in OW, and may add the problem of entanglement if the OOG diver is flailing about. Why add that problem in OW if there are no benefits?

 

[tep]

Sure. Magnetic-Hose-Holder-Black-Body

I should clarify I use a ScubaPro Air2. I replaced my corrugated hose and inflator hose to the length I felt comfortable with. Since it ended up a little longer than a typical short inflator setup I needed a way to secure it and this magnet has worked great. Very streamlined which is a top priority for me.

Here's a picture of how they work. There's two screws that capture the hose. They are strong neodymium magnets and therefore will eventually rust after a lot of use. You can put a very thin wipe of silicone over it to extend the life. I always spray my gear with food grade silicone spray and that works well too.

View attachment 376720

One of my buddies has one of these - he said the only problem is that you have to be careful to keep it very far away from your compass. The holder can deflect a compass from up to 2 or 3 feet away. So compass on your wrist on side away from hose OK, compass in a console on a hose with this, may not so much?

 

[CuzzA]

One of my buddies has one of these - he said the only problem is that you have to be careful to keep it very far away from your compass. The holder can deflect a compass from up to 2 or 3 feet away. So compass on your wrist on side away from hose OK, compass in a console on a hose with this, may not so much?

Good point. My compass is integrated into my wrist computer. Not sure if it effects it but I haven't noticed anything that would lead me to believe it's altering the reading.

 

[tursiops]

LOL. My wife took a night-diving class, and for the compass run every direction she went was North. Nobody told her that resting her light on the compass to illuminate both the compass and her course was a bad idea.

 

[CuzzA]

May I suggest you have misread the post?
The long hose is NEEDED in the cave; it is not NEEDED in OW, and may add the problem of entanglement if the OOG diver is flailing about. Why add that problem in OW if there are no benefits?

I've never been in an OOG situation, but I imagine aside from the entanglement issue, and even bigger problem if it involves a "panicked diver" is the fact they are most likely going to be heading to the surface. Now this diver has you on a leash, out of reach because they have 7 ft. of hose to seperate themselves from you, they're probably above you, kicking you in the head, maybe inflating their BCD and either you play tug of war with your long hose or go along for the ride.

Of course this scenario is purely theoretical, but still possible. I'd rather have that diver in arms reach to control them. Nevertheless, it makes you think about who you're diving with. Choose wisely.

 

[Kevrumbo]

This whole long-hose issue for open water diving seems silly to me. I don't know if any of you supporters have ever found yourself in an actual emergency air-sharing situation, but I have, and I can tell you that the LAST thing you want is to have some spooked, near-paniced person flailing about on the end of a hose that's attached to you.

Maintaining control of the situation is critical and to that end, being able to hold that person's harness and look them in the eye to reassure them is critical. A long hose in open water provides no benefit what so ever, and IMHO, actually creates a potentially MORE dangerous situation. Odds are, you will never find yourself in such a situation, but in the mean time, all you will do is spend the rest of your diving life tripping over an extraneous length of hose...

In overhead environments, it's a great idea that could make the difference in a successful outcome.

Here's your panicked diver "flailing around": at this worst case scenario point (after rejecting her regulator & ripping off her mask), it doesn't matter what kind of "safe secondary" air source regulator system you utilize to donate -->the panicked diver OOG whether actual or perceived, in her present cognitive state of mind & action, is heading immediately for the surface. . . You do your best as an assisting diver (as the Instructor in the video is trying to do) to recover some semblance of control on the way to the surface.

In thirteen years now consistently diving the 7' long hose Primary DIR configuration, I've donated for real in three non-panic circumstances --twice for for divers in Open Water low on breathing gas, and once for an Indonesian Dive Guide who had O-ring blowout on his yoke valve on initial descent (donated my 7' long hose, switched to my necklaced bungee'd back-up, shut down his tank valve, displayed my SPG showing 150 bar indicating plenty of breathing gas for us both --and we both elected to continue the dive, sharing gas for nearly 30 minutes dive time on a nice shallow 9 meter part of the reef system at a dive site in Raja Ampat).

 

[Landlocked123]

Tested bungee to D ring in my pool last night and definitely the way to go for me. Hose no loner dangling.. I was able to get the right amount of bungee so that if I had to I can vent air without even removing it from the bungee loop. Works very well.

 

[Landlocked123]

CuzzA I agree with everything you said. On deeper dives <100 Feet (where I typically use an HP133) I will be switching to a slung pony..30 minimum and most probably a 40. In that case the OOA diver will be getting my Pony not the 5 foot hose. I could totally see what you are saying happening... By the way I am enrolled in a Solo class.. Just waiting for it to start. It dawned on me after a few boat dives that we are all solo diving whether we realize it or not.

 

[Landlocked123]

Regarding the panicked diver video. This hit very close to home. 7 years ago I decided to have my daughter try scuba. We were in Mexico. She did well with all the pool testing. This was a discovery scuba dive. I was in the water personally checking her out. The instructor seemed like he was on his game for sure. All went well until the dive. I was obviously allowed to go along but was told I had to not interfere with the instructor who was with my daughter. I respected the direction and it seemed to me like good logic. An instructor who has been diving for 10 years in Mexico clearly more experienced and qualified to handle any emergencies. Then it happened. I was at 30 feet looking up at her and the instructor who were at 20 feet or so and descending. He was all over her like glue. She was equalizing ok and heading down. Her mask flooded and it all fell apart. Seeing this video made me re live that day. She spit out her regulator and off came her mask. Up she went. I darted up from 20 and I could not catch her. The instructor may very well have saver her life. I watched as he tried to stay with her. She would not take his octopus and bolted. He reached up an grabbed her by her fin. He held onto her enough to where he slowed her down but I am sure she held onto some of the air as she was not trained in CESA. I caught up to them and she was floating on her back saying her lungs hurt. The fear for her well being that came over me was unlike I have ever experienced. We headed back and got her into the boat. She felt better by the afternoon, never dove again, is an active soccer player, and clearly somehow got really lucky. That taught me a lesson I will never forget. The quote " when the s..t hits the fan you will not rise to the occasion, you will fall to the level of your training, that is why we train so hard" ... I have tried to hold onto that ever since that incident. Not sure how I got to sharing this off of a "hose routing " thread but the video above hit very close to home.