long hose + bungeed octo for rec diving

[verybaddiver]

i can't see why 'increased breathing resistance' could be of any significance at all. If the config is fine for expedition type cave/wreck diving, it is clearly fine for rec. diving...

 

[Buoyant1]

My opinion is that the 7' hose is obviously appropriate in an overhead environment such as caves but an unnecessary additional piece of gear in recreational open water . You will be diving with buddies that are not trained in its use or its deployment and I could see more of a potential hazard than a benefit to say nothing of the 7'hose's increased breathing resistance.

Hmmm...I just swapped out to a 7' hose and I didn't feel any breathing resistance???

In fact, Wednesday night while I was diving below 80ffw, I was thinking 'this thing breathes rather nice'.

No qualms with a long hose, I think it's a good logical way to go. the only learning curve is in your pre-dive. Tell your buddy that in an emergency, you wil be donating your primary...you should be checking that option regardless of the set up!

 

[tstormdiver]

I agree, I've noticed no difference in the breathing of a 7ft hose, 5ft hose or a regular length hose. How would the 7ft hose be more of a hazard in OW? The only thing I see is what was mentioned above about being sure your buddy knows which regulator you will donate (which should be done regardless) & maybe a little practice with deployment.

 

[ucfdiver]

I could see more of a potential hazard than a benefit to say nothing of the 7'hose's increased breathing resistance.

Do you really believe this?

 

[Rick Inman]

My opinion is that the 7' hose is obviously appropriate in an overhead environment such as caves but an unnecessary additional piece of gear in recreational open water . You will be diving with buddies that are not trained in its use or its deployment and I could see more of a potential hazard than a benefit to say nothing of the 7'hose's increased breathing resistance.

Yeah, sorry, but it doesn't increase breathing resistance. Not where a human can notice.

The only real OOG I've had was some years back while diving recreational with a long hose and bungeed backup. A guy who I'd never dived with (wasn't even my buddy) came over giving me the OOA signal. I gave him my long hose and we easily swam side by side slowly up the shoreline and over to our exit point. That long hose made it almost a non-event. The guy had never been briefed or trained on the long hose and had absolutely no problem with it.

I'd bet my HID light that people who say the long hose needs some kind of special training for an insta-buddy to receive in an OOG situation has never had it happen and is just guessing.

And guessing wrong.

 

[String]

ITs been done to death lately here but there is no reason you cant use that setup on a normal rig. Just about every diver routes and clips their octopus a different way anyway so this is just another method.

The only thing i would say is the 2.1m long hose maybe hard to hog loop without a belt or light to tuck it into so a 5ft hose under the arm maybe preferable.

 

[Sas]

My opinion is that the 7' hose is obviously appropriate in an overhead environment such as caves but an unnecessary additional piece of gear in recreational open water . You will be diving with buddies that are not trained in its use or its deployment and I could see more of a potential hazard than a benefit to say nothing of the 7'hose's increased breathing resistance.

Have you ever had to share air in a recreational open water dive? I have had to share air twice and with a standard rec hose it is can be quite difficult. You lose alot of your maneuverability as your buddy pretty much has to hug you to be able to keep the occy in their mouth comfortably. I have been lucky that neither diver was panicked but I would be more comfortable to be able to shove away a panicked diver if they had to share my gas. Which is much more easily accomplished with a longer hose. Anyway, this is why I am switching my setup to a longer hose this weekend

And as far as people not being trained in its deployment, well it is hardly rocket science. You tell your buddy in an OOG situation to grab the reg out of your mouth and then you switch to your occy. I fail to see the difficulty in conveying this procedure to a buddy I've dived with many people with this setup and they have always explained it to me unprompted.

 

[rollerboi]

I was discussing our OW checkout dives last night with my buddy, and she felt that the OOA drill was clumsy and awkward. I started telling her about the theoretical benefits of the long hose, and it made perfect sense to her. She and I both want to try it at some point.

Doesn't seem like there's much training. Pre-dive, you explain that you will give them the regulator from your mouth. During the dive, you practice situational awareness and buddy skills and already have the primary in your hand ready to donate. The OOA diver simply has to grab reg and breathe.

What other specialized training is there? And shhh, certain agencies might decide to turn Long Hose into a Specialty card.

 

[String]

You will be diving with buddies that are not trained in its use or its deployment

How many recreational setups have you seen where everyone routes their octopus in the same way and how many use an identical octopus holder or clip and keep it in the same place on their jacket?
I struggle to see ANY setup thats identical to another on a standard boat here. Given that due to this you always need to check where the octopus is, how its released from its clip and so on there is no difference to doing that than just saying "my octopus is in my mouth". That's what a buddy check is for.
Anyone incapable of doing that shouldn't be diving.

and I could see more of a potential hazard than a benefit to say nothing of the 7'hose's increased breathing resistance.

Common myth that has been comprehensively disproven by proper testing. Unless you get to 30ft+ hose lengths you aren't going to notice any difference at all. In fact the hose has to be a minimum length for the reservoir effect needed to deliver a smooth breath from the second stage.

 

[FishOutUvH2O]

My opinion is that the 7' hose is obviously appropriate in an overhead environment such as caves but an unnecessary additional piece of gear in recreational open water . You will be diving with buddies that are not trained in its use or its deployment and I could see more of a potential hazard than a benefit to say nothing of the 7'hose's increased breathing resistance.

I can see people are beating this statement up, but it would seem, to a newbie like me at least, that 7' is excessive for the average rec. diver. As one of "those" people that use an integrated octo/inflator I really like the idea of a primary hose that's longer than the standard 32"-36" lengths. And 5' seems like it would fulfill the need of giving some room to maneuver while keeping the entanglement hazards to a minimum. So what would the advantage of a 7' hose over a 5' hose be for the average non-tech diver?