Is the DIR reg config safe when diving with rec trained divers?

[D_B]

When I go on rec dive trips I simply tell my instabuddy that I would be giving the reg from my mouth.

This has been easily understood and not been a problem.

An out of air diver wont be fussing about an offered working regulator, he'll be too happy to take it.

Practice the S-drill by yourself, switching to your second and unraveling your long hose, to build up muscle memory.

I wish you the best on your stay in paradise, I hope to visit this area one day.

Two out of three times the average recreational diver when confronted with a true OOA will take the reg in your mouth anyway regardless of how they were trained. If/When that happens, you are better off with a long hose primary configuration as it 1) gives you a bit more room to move and swim more or less normally, 2) will virtually eliminate the tendency that a short hose has to pull on the reg and increase the panic level of the OOA diver who feels he may lose the reg and 3) finally, the bungeed octo is very easy for you to find when you sudenly lose your primary.

The only real caution would be to go with a folding snorkel in a pocket if you feel you may still want to have a snorkel to eliminate any interference with long hose deployment. Also, hose lenght may depend to some extent on the rest of your configuration. If you have a back plate and wing, just go with a 7' hose and tuck the extra in the waistband. If you have a more recreatioanlly oriented BC with no waistband, go with a 5 or 6 foot hose so that the extra unsecured lenght is not a problem.

Kathy, I travel with my long-hose setup all the time. Be prepared to deal with some curiosity from people who've never seen one before, and perhaps some gentle ribbing from dive staff. And don't let them set up your gear if you can help it ... (lots of places consider it a "service").

What I will do if I'm hooking up with a buddy I haven't dived with before is show them how it works ... i.e. "you give me an OOA signal" ... and then show them how it's donated. That usually gets a "that makes a lot of sense" response, and there are no language barriers with a demonstration.

As others have said, go with what makes you more comfortable.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Coming from an outsider that is eventually going to convert to the long hose/bungee backup and occasionally lurks here .. I've highlited the areas that I think will answer/help you in your transition.

I think that donating the reg in your mouth makes sense, for many reasons, one being that the reg your handing off will be water free and ready to breathe.
I already have a rec. config. that requires me to donate my primary, and I put it on a longer hose to make that easier

 

[Diver0001]

I;ve been lurking here for a while and it;s kinda scary to post in this forum. But I believe I have a legitimate question. Hopefully you guys will be gentle with a DIR curious newbie ;-).

I am trained up to rescue on the rec hose/octo config & soon will be diving for 2.5 months with various rec partners in fringe SE Asia locations. I;m upgrading some gear to DIR now, love your DIR hose configuration and have ordered a dark plate for my
R295 SP Octo.

But before I convert the hoses & octo config, I;m wondering if you think is safer to continue through this trip with the rec hose/octo configuration that is familiar to me and is consistent with my various dive partners training (I probably will be doing mellow diving with partners where English is not the first language). Or is it safer to switch now to the DIR hose configuration?

IÃÎ not DIR trained yet, but fully enamored, busy absorbing and slowly heading towards GUE-F ;-).

Thank you.

I'll read the other posts in a minute. Forgive me if I'm repeating.

To sum up my thinking on this:

a) If you're properly configured and trained, neither "traditional" (trad) or hogarthian (which is part of DIR) is more or less "dangerous" than the other in terms of sharing air in the context of recreational diving. A regulator is a regulator and there's nothing magical about donating either the primary or the secondary that makes either way inherently safer or more dangerous. It's just a reg. The really important part is that both parties need to know what protocol to expect from each other. The only thing that could make changing something (anything) dangerous is if you don't tell your buddy what you have in mind. Pre-dive chats are really important with instabuddies, not matter how you're configured.

b) independently of whether or not your gear is hogarthian or trad it's really really important that you know where your ocotpus is and that it will still be there if murphy jumps you from behind. The strength of the hogarthian way is that the octopus is very difficult to dislodge. It would take breaking a tie-wrap for it to not be where you thought, which you probably couldn't do without noticing it. A traditional octopus is a lot easier to dislodge from most octopus keepers. This--regarless of air-share protocols--in and of itself makes the hogarthian config somewhat "safer" in my estimation because the "chance" that your octopus will become dislodged is lower.

R..

 

[Teamcasa]

I;ve been lurking here for a while and it;s kinda scary to post in this forum. But I believe I have a legitimate question. Hopefully you guys will be gentle with a DIR curious newbie ;-).

I am trained up to rescue on the rec hose/octo config & soon will be diving for 2.5 months with various rec partners in fringe SE Asia locations. I;m upgrading some gear to DIR now, love your DIR hose configuration and have ordered a dark plate for my
R295 SP Octo.

But before I convert the hoses & octo config, I;m wondering if you think is safer to continue through this trip with the rec hose/octo configuration that is familiar to me and is consistent with my various dive partners training (I probably will be doing mellow diving with partners where English is not the first language). Or is it safer to switch now to the DIR hose configuration?

I'm not DIR trained yet, but fully enamored, busy absorbing and slowly heading towards GUE-F ;-).

Thank you.

Kathy, for this upcoming trip I'd say stay with the gear you know.
Switching to any new gear configuration will take some getting used to.

Unless you are plan on doing the practise and proper training on the trip, wait until you return to get the training on your new setup.

 

[lamont]

But before I convert the hoses & octo config, I;m wondering if you think is safer to continue through this trip with the rec hose/octo configuration that is familiar to me and is consistent with my various dive partners training (I probably will be doing mellow diving with partners where English is not the first language). Or is it safer to switch now to the DIR hose configuration?

The only real question is if you are comfortable donating the long hose, and if you've had some mentoring or instruction in how to do an s-drill.

There are ways that a long hose can go very wrong (e.g. put on the long hose, then put on the necklace reg, then try to donate the long hose), which a little training/mentoring can help.

 

[kathydee]

Thanks for all the advice and for not being intimidating ;-).

Just one clarification?

The idea of a back-up reg readily available around the neck sounds excellent! Switching regs is comfortable for me.

But I’m questioning the practicality/advantages of using a 7’ hose before GUE if I’m staying within rec limits and will not be diving confined spaces, overhead environments or using a scooter. I have shared my air with a very low air diver from 60 ft on a 5’ hose with no problem.

I understand the concept of standardized equipment as part of the DIR system. However, I’m not trained or using the whole system yet.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

As long as you can properly stow and control the extra 2', the difference between a 5' and 7' hose is minimal and there is no real reason not to use the longer hose. Again it may depend on whether you are currently in a BP wing or in a recreational type BC where there may not be any easy way to tuck the extra hose under the waist strap. If the latter is the case, go with the 5' hose.

 

[nadwidny]

But IÃÎ questioning the practicality/advantages of using a 7 hose before GUE if IÃÎ staying within rec limits and will not be diving confined spaces, overhead environments or using a scooter. I have shared my air with a very low air diver from 60 ft on a 5 hose with no problem.

Then use a 5' hose.

If you're interested, the 5'vs.7' discussion comes up about once a month here so if you're looking for different viewpoints on that subject there is lots to read. I use a 5' when diving single tank open water.

 

[Fishpie]

Those new to the Hog set-up generally have several of the issues below when they first convert:
1. Forget to secure bungied back-up around neck before securing the long hose.
2. Forget to "un-kink" long hose before securing....most common problem.
3. Not having waist buckle tight enough.
4. Forgetting that the bungie is still around their neck when removing their kit at the end of the dive.
5. Not securing the long hose out of the way when kit is set-up but not in use.

 

[DaleC]

There are ways that a long hose can go very wrong (e.g. put on the long hose, then put on the necklace reg, then try to donate the long hose), which a little training/mentoring can help.

Or by trapping the long hose under the drysuit inflator hose.

 

[Thalassamania]

If you think about it carefully I believe that you will resolve that donating the primary is the only sensible approach to a situation that is, otherwise, fraught with so many possible combinations and permutations so as to be highly unpredictable ... the last thing you want in a time-critical emergency procedure. As far as a necklaced secondary, if that's what you like and you see the advantages as outweighing the drawbacks, fine ... if you want do something else, fine ... it's not DIR unless its necklaced, but as I see the secondary is just for you, so it's really nobody else's business, as long as you are sufficiently practiced.