Long hose set up

[JayWong]

Hi,

Would like some advise on the long hose set up.
I currently have a standard set up (reg and octopus) and am thinking of converting it to the DIR set up of long hose + bungee.
I just bought the regs about 2 months ago and it seems abit of a waste to have them hose changed so early.
Do you think I should fork out the money to change them and what would be the best way to do it....or just stick with my current configuration.
FYI, I'm only an open water diver.

THanks.

 

[Trixxie]

If that is the configuration you want then yes, change them out. I wouldn't necessarily say it's DIR exclusively, but rather what most technical divers use. I am not DIR and that is the configuration I use for Cavern.

I have a recreational reg and then 2 DIN regs that are for Cavern.
Brand new out of the box and I put the 7' hose on one and a bungee on the other....

are you looking to get into technical diving?

 

[SlowRain]

This is really a matter of available money and personal choice on your part. I have a 7' hose on my primary and the secondary is bungeed, however I do tech diving and it is pretty much a necessity. As you stated you are new to diving, invoking this change would be, at least at this point, a personal choice on your part. Should you elect to go into something like tech diving or cavern/cave, you will need to perform the change at that point.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

GUE is based on DIR and is more or less the commercial/certification agency outgrowth of DIR. But DIR is not the same as GUE as you can come to be a DIR diver through a lot of paths other than GUE fundies and other GUE courses.

The point being that the long hose started in the same general cave communitythat devleloped the DIR approach to diving but is not exclusive to DIR, but rather is common to most areas of technical diving as a whole. And despite its roots, a long hose makes sense for recreational divers as well.

 

[JayWong]

Thanks for the prompt advice!
Well, im still new in diving and am not thinking about tech diving at the moment.
However, I do like the idea of having a short secondary so it wont be dangling at the sides and a long primary will enable me to keep the hoses neat and tight by routing it under the right arm and around the neck. Currently my primary sticks out to the sides and it makes it difficult sometimes to look to the right due to the "stiff" hose.

 

[b1gcountry]

Do a search for either K2 Scuba, or the "Hose pimp" He sells hoses very economically. Also realize that the long hose precludes the use of a snorkel. When I first switched, I went with a short hose on my backup, and a medium length hose on my primary routed under my right arm. You could use this setup if money is really tight by using your octo hose as your primary, and just getting a short 24" hose.

And, BTW, if you are worried about the price of hoses, technical diving is probably not for you.

Tom

 

[Rick Inman]

I just bought the regs about 2 months ago and it seems abit of a waste to have them hose changed so early.

I really love the long hose/bungeed 2nd for recreational diving - more streamlined, easier for air shares, promotes the primary hand off (real world), and if a diver moves to more advanced hog-type diving, makes the transition easier due to consistency in configuration.

As to re-buying gear, welcome to the dive industry. Scuba shops have a tendency to "tell" you what the "best" gear is, which, but the way, happens to be exactly what they carry. You trust them, buy the stuff, and then over time discover that there are other options that you might prefer. I replaced hoses, brick console for wrist mounted gages, jacket BC for BP/W, a bunch of junk that hung off my body like Christmas ornaments, split fins, high volume multi-window-with-purge mask, pony bottle bracket-ed to my tank, pig-sticker $75.00 knife and more. At the time it seemed like the more stuff the better.

I bought my gear twice. Replacing hoses was the least of it.

 

[Ben_ca]

Jay,
I would move to the long hose sooner versus later... It is a much easier system than having a dangling octo that may or may not work...

Since you are in the Philippines hit up Gordon at Scuba Stop in Makati... He'll know what you are talking about when you mention long hose, DIR ect...


GORDON S. CANCIO
Scuba Stop Dive Shop
1047 Metropolitan Ave.
Makati City
email: gordon@*scubas*toponline.com (TAKE OUT THE ASTERISKS TO MAKE EMAIL WORK)
web: www.scuba*stoponline.com
tel: 895 4531 fax: 890 4544
Shop Hours: 11 am to 7 pm Mons. to Fridays
11 am to 3pm Saturdays
Closed on Sundays

 

[TSandM]

I bought my gear twice. Replacing hoses was the least of it.

What he said.

And then I bought MORE gear

Really, Ben and Rick are right. Replacing the hoses is a small thing. If you are using a traditional BC, you may want to go to a 5' hose, routing it under your right arm, across your chest, around the back of your neck and into your mouth. It's a little easier than the 7' hose to control the slack in a BC, and if you are only doing open water diving, you don't need the full 7' length (which is designed to permit air-sharing in single file).

Of all the changes I made in my equipment and configuration, the one that has actually bailed me out (prevented an accident, or a really bad scare) on multiple occasions is my bungied backup. I've fallen in the water, or gotten rolled in the surf, and there is enormous comfort in the fact that that backup reg is RIGHT THERE, under your chin, where you can't lose it and it takes less than a second to put in your mouth.

 

[b1gcountry]

RE: Bungied backup

It does take quite a bit to get used to setting it up though. You have to remember to put it around your neck first or else you will trap the long hose. It's not hard, it's just different, and it takes a few dives to get used to. I still forget, and I've been using mine for 100+ dives.

BTW, don't take my suggestion about using the octo hose for your long hose as a recommendation to go that route, its just another option to let you "try before you buy"...

Tom