necklace not annoying?

[PfcAJ]

The reg is on the necklace for a few reasons.

We've established that donating to a diver most likely needs to happen in a hurry, and that the reg needs to work. Donating your primary ensures that it can be done quickly (no need to find an 'octo' that may or may not be where you think it is) and that it works since you were just breathing off it. This is good and is relevant to both rec and tech divers.

Since you've donated, now YOU need gas. Once again, it needs to be easy/quick to find and work. Under your chin on a necklace rigged the way Evad showed means its going to be in the same place every single time. Its placement also helps ensure that it works by keeping it out of the dirt/sand/coral/mud/sticks/whatever.

I think understanding the reasoning behind the configuration is important and can help guide you in making a decision on if its the best option for you.

The reg can interfere a bit with looking down, especially if you keep the necklace short (which I'm a proponent of). If it gets in the way, just move it over with your hand. Problem solved. I don't find myself needing to look down at my gear a whole lot, but when I do I don't find the reg to really be an issue.

 

[Crush]

Yeah, most of our instructors were doing that, and one explained that, on a dive boat, wearing your mask on your forehead (not backwards) is a signal that there is a problem.

I don't like the statement "wearing your mask on your forehead (not backwards) is a signal that there is a problem" even though I have read it often enough on SB. I think it is more accurate to say that equipment rejection (taking off mask, spitting out reg., etc) is a sign that someone might be having a panic attack or be in distress. If I was diving with a buddy that put their mask up on their forehead but was otherwise calm I would have no issue with it.

 

[TSandM]

I read the thread, and I sat down and tried to think if my backup regulator had ever annoyed me. I have one where the necklace is a little long, because the bungee has stretched out, and the reg tends to block my access to my dry suit inflator button sometimes, but it's not a big deal, when once I remember to fix the necklace, it will no longer happen.

I have taken my gear off at the surface countless times -- a lot of dive charters in the tropics just plan for you to do it that way. But the number of times I've had to put my gear ON in the water, I can count on my fingers (other than demonstrating the skill in the pool).

One of the lovely things about the Hogarthian harness setup, which often accompanies the use of a long hose/bungied backup system, is that you have ONE buckle. One big, metal buckle at your waist, and no other fasteners that need to be fiddled with. So being able to see down your front isn't that big a deal. And with a heavy hood and a dry suit, I can't see down my front at the surface very well, anyway.

 

[tursiops]

"mask on the forehead is a sign of distress" is right up there as one of the top scuba myths, along with "back the valve off 1/4 turn so the valve doesn't get stuck" and "ascend with your bubbles" and "face your SPG away from you in case it explodes" and "you can't get bent on an AL80 because it does not hold enough gas to keep you down long enough."

There is (or was, a long time ago) a gain of truth in these myths, but not with modern equipment and modern diving.

(I can hardly wait for all the negative responses.....)

 

[CptTightPants21]

I don't like the statement "wearing your mask on your forehead (not backwards) is a signal that there is a problem" even though I have read it often enough on SB. I think it is more accurate to say that equipment rejection (taking off mask, spitting out reg., etc) is a sign that someone might be having a panic attack or be in distress. If I was diving with a buddy that put their mask up on their forehead but was otherwise calm I would have no issue with it.

I know man, I also love to wave at boats when I am on the surface; for some reason they always stop and ask me if I am ok.

 

[stuartv]

"mask on the forehead is a sign of distress" is right up there as one of the top scuba myths, along with "back the valve off 1/4 turn so the valve doesn't get stuck" and "ascend with your bubbles" and "face your SPG away from you in case it explodes" and "you can't get bent on an AL80 because it does not hold enough gas to keep you down long enough."

There is (or was, a long time ago) a gain of truth in these myths, but not with modern equipment and modern diving.

(I can hardly wait for all the negative responses.....)

They told us all of the first 4 on your list... Number 4 was actually "put your pressure gauge inside your BC with the gauge face against the back when turning your gas on."

 

[halocline]

I have also been wondering why the preferred setup for the alternate is a short hose instead of the same length hose as the primary, with both going under the right arm and the alternate still on a necklace.

The alternate does not go under your right shoulder, it goes over. In the standard long hose configuration, the primary hose goes across your torso and over the left shoulder, then around behind your head. One of the many advantages of this routing is that it keeps the 2nd stage hoses well away from each other. This is one reason I would be a bit cautious about using a 40" hose under the right should with an elbow connector.

With regards to your original question about fastening the alternate to a keeper on the right shoulder strap, it might work but would likely require a longer alternate hose and be a little more difficult to fasten. The bungee necklace is amazingly simple to put on/take off and leaves the regulator itself hanging comfortably underneath your neck.

Someone used the term "suicide strap" but I've always heard that term refers to an old-school arrangement in which the primary 2nd stage is fastened around the neck....something completely different than the long hose/bungeed alternate.

Personally I think you are doing exactly the right thing asking these questions and experimenting with regulator hose routing and length. Make sure you try a 5ft long primary hose, routed in the hogarthian way, minus the loop down to the waist. This to me is ideal and what I settled on after trying several other arrangements.

There was a recent lengthy thread about this, you've probably already seen it.

 

[stuartv]

The alternate does not go under your right shoulder, it goes over.

I understand that that's the normal arrangement. I was looking at reg sets on Dive Gear Express and I saw that one of their standard Rec setups is 2 identical 2nd stages, alternate on a 22" hose over the right shoulder to a necklace, and primary on a 40" (? I think?) hose under the right arm.

With all the talk here about wanting identical 2nds for primary and alternate, and the desire for redundancy, what I was wondering was why that setup instead of identical 2nds, both on 40" (or whatever) hoses, both under the right arm, one into a necklace and one into the diver's mouth? Then the 2nds could be used interchangeably and if a panicked OOA diver just grabbed one of your regs, it wouldn't matter which one they grabbed.

 

[CptTightPants21]

I understand that that's the normal arrangement. I was looking at reg sets on Dive Gear Express and I saw that one of their standard Rec setups is 2 identical 2nd stages, alternate on a 22" hose over the right shoulder to a necklace, and primary on a 40" (? I think?) hose under the right arm.

With all the talk here about wanting identical 2nds for primary and alternate, and the desire for redundancy, what I was wondering was why that setup instead of identical 2nds, both on 40" (or whatever) hoses, both under the right arm, one into a necklace and one into the diver's mouth? Then the 2nds could be used interchangeably and if a panicked OOA diver just grabbed one of your regs, it wouldn't matter which one they grabbed.

The longer hose is for air sharing. Tech divers have a 7 ft hose so that divers can swim through a restriction that forces them to go single file. Two super long hoses is more than you need and can start getting in the way of things, especially when you start carrying more tanks and gear.

 

[tbone1004]

[video=youtube;2OrTXi-hjv4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OrTXi-hjv4&list=UUVCYEickXcRonYDFqvvZ4hw[/video]

not the best video, but this is how I run my regulators when I am in open water with tanks on the back. Only difference is it is usually in doubles so hose lengths are slightly different. That is for the second diver in the video not the first. The first one isn't bad and how I run them in single tanks, but that is almost never.