Industrial air hose instead of Hookah hose?

[Rich Keller]

The best hose if you are using just the hose would be a Gates 3/4 hose, the same as used in a commercial umbilical. You can also use an oxygen hose from any welding supply but you should tape a life line to it to prevent it from breaking and kinking. I use a 50' oxygen hose with life line for kayak diving, I leave the tank in the kayak and let it carry the weight as I drag the kayak behind me.

 

[Akimbo]

The best hose if you are using just the hose would be a Gates 3/4 hose, the same as used in a commercial umbilical...

Gates 33HB Divers Hose, as it is currently sold, is 3/8” ID x about 3/4" OD. As far as I know this is exactly the same stuff that commercial divers in the US have used for over 40 years; except they didn’t always call it “Divers Hose”. Half-inch would be used on heavy gear/deep sea hats, but 3/8” is all I have ever seen used on umbilicals up to 600’ for demand and freeflow masks and hats with a neck seal.

Most commercial diving suppliers have reels of the stuff.

 

[Rich Keller]

Here is a picture of the smaller hose I was talking about. It is just adding 50' more hose between the first and second stages. I use the smaller hose when kayak diving as it is easier to use given the limited space in a kayak. The commercial hose would be the better use for most other applications. If cost is the issue though the smaller hose would be cheaper.

 

[DennisS]

I used food grade hose with my hookah rig. It was the clear hose with the "string" mesh. It floated on the surface so there was no drag

Food Grade Hose - Flexible PVC and Rubber at Amazon Hose and Rubber

Check out Keene for all the fittings and everything else you might need for setting up a hookah rig

http://www.keeneeng.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=RTH

 

[fstbttms]

Using anything but Grade-E breathing hose in a hookah rig is a health risk. Yes, you see cheap hookahs being sold with pneumatic tool hose being used as breathing hose. Yes, you see ignorant hull cleaners and recreational divers doing it too. But these cheap hoses can offgas toxins and are unsafe to use. Gates and Synflex are the most common brands of breathing hose and are available from reputable hookah vendors and your LDS can source it as well.

 

[Rich Keller]

Using anything but Grade-E breathing hose in a hookah rig is a health risk. Yes, you see cheap hookahs being sold with pneumatic tool hose being used as breathing hose. Yes, you see ignorant hull cleaners and recreational divers doing it too. But these cheap hoses can offgas toxins and are unsafe to use. Gates and Synflex are the most common brands of breathing hose and are available from reputable hookah vendors and your LDS can source it as well.

I do not see a problem with using oxygen hose other then the thickness of the hose as it relates to sustaining damage. I use it only it shallow water about 30' or above so if there is a problem I am within safe limits to acned without air. There is one very important thing I did forget to mention though, you should have a non return check valve at the divers end of the hose.

 

[fstbttms]

I do not see a problem with using oxygen hose...

Hey, they're your lungs. Knock yourself out. Don't say you weren't warned.

 

[muddiver]

I do not see a problem with using oxygen hose other then the thickness of the hose as it relates to sustaining damage. I use it only it shallow water about 30' or above so if there is a problem I am within safe limits to acned without air. There is one very important thing I did forget to mention though, you should have a non return check valve at the divers end of the hose.

Well if you are going to suck on a non-tested hose, why bother with the non-return valve? Also, if it is a true Hooka rig it has a scuba regulator on it and a check valve would really not be of any use.

If you stick a full face mask on it, then yes, a check valve is needed at the diver end of the hose. Perferably where the supply enters the mask.

 

[HowardE]

I would also clean the hose out with simple green. You can put some in a barrel or bucket, use a water pump, and pump a water/simple green mixture through the hose. Then rinse a few times with just water.