Newbie - how do I wear a long hose for primary regulator?

[RayfromTX]

On the boat if you fail to clip the reg to your rig and coil the hose then you simply aren't doing the simply housekeeping needed to manage your gear. It is just one of several things we do to take care of our investment. If you use a console it is also a good idea to secure it on the boat along with all your other gear. The seven foot hose takes an extra step that becomes second nature. The upside is you don't have a big loop extending away from you and your alternate isn't prone to becoming dislodged and hanging loose as we often see with the standard setup. That setup can also work perfectly well if the proper care is taken and if it is monitored.

 

[Lorenzoid]

On the boat if you fail to clip the reg to your rig and coil the hose then you simply aren't doing the simply housekeeping needed to manage your gear. It is just one of several things we do to take care of our investment. If you use a console it is also a good idea to secure it on the boat along with all your other gear. The seven foot hose takes an extra step that becomes second nature. The upside is you don't have a big loop extending away from you and your alternate isn't prone to becoming dislodged and hanging loose as we often see with the standard setup. That setup can also work perfectly well if the proper care is taken and if it is monitored.

That had been my experience, too. However, an exception that I recently dealt with was a liveaboard where the crew loaded everyone's gear onto a Zodiac for the ride out and, as each diver exited the water and handed their rig up, stowed it for the ride back. After setting up your rig on the first day, you basically never handle your own rig again--it just isn't feasible for an individual to mind his own rig. Divers' rigs were stowed on the Zodiac in a rack with just inches between them. Sometimes the long hose would flop around or, if the crew member tried to coil it a bit, would get pinched between my rig and someone else's. No doubt in my mind that the crew disliked having to deal with it, and maybe even thought we were weird, though of course they kept it to themselves. I have been using a 7-ft hose for about five years now, and this was the first time I really had second thoughts about the long hose configuration for plain old OW diving. My wife's and mine were the only ones on the liveaboard. Everyone else, including people with many liveaboards logged, had the time-honored short-hose-and-octo configuration. Okay, one guy from California who has been diving since the '50s had a bungeed alternate (and, I might mention, a BP/W). Other than that, everyone had the kind of rig most of us did before we started reading SB.

Also, on the issue of tucking the excess under a light canister or PLB canister, having at last decided to get all safety conscious, I had brought my PLB canister, which I secured with a buckle the same way I usually secure my light canister. Wouldn't you know it--the buckle came open due to inattentive handling by the crew.

 

[rongoodman]

I have been using a 7-ft hose for about five years now, and this was the first time I really had second thoughts about the long hose configuration for plain old OW diving

This is why I use a 5' hose for OW dives. You get the benefits of the long hose without having to deal with tucking it in or having the extra hose get in the way(no issues experienced when diving off Zodiacs).

 

[rongoodman]

The 5ft hose still has the benefits of easy air sharing and great comfort. The only thing is that some larger divers are going to find that 5ft is a little too short, I'm an average size person and it works fine for me.

UltraFlex Low Pressure Hose 72

 

[Lorenzoid]

This is why I use a 5' hose for OW dives. You get the benefits of the long hose without having to deal with tucking it in or having the extra hose get in the way(no issues when diving off Zodiacs).

I tried 5 ft initially and switched to 7 ft for reasons mentioned in this thread: felt more comfortable (and I don't like the idea of an additional swivel/angle fitting) and made it easy to do a little tank equalization with my buddy mid-dive on occasion. I think if I were to adopt a second configuration for Zodiac/liveaboard diving, I might try a 40-in hose. I'm really ambivalent. A 7 ft. hose feels comfortable and donating it, including releasing the excess from under a canister, is just so ingrained in my muscle memory. I don't currently do much liveaboard/Zodiac diving because a lot of my time and money are focused on tech training, but I sure wish I did have the time and money for it. If I ever gravitate toward that kind of diving, I will retire the 7 ft hose.

 

[lowflyer]

I added the 7 feet hose before i did 20 dives, and i must say it had never been any problem.
Is there anything you can do with a short hose you cannot do with a long?
.

Personally speaking, there is nothing I can do with a 7' hose that I can't do with a 40" or even 36" (in recreational diving). And routed under the arm, a 40" isn't any more likely to get snagged on anything than any other properly routed hose of any length.

 

[KenGordon]

Hi, I bought my first regulator set and got the LDS to put the primary on a long hose and secondary on short hose as recommended by many posters here so I can donate in an OOA situation. My question is how do you wear the long hose? I've read people say you use a bungee. How exactly do you do that? And for the secondary as well. Any help would be gratefully received. Thanks

I suggest you dive as you have been trained. If you believe the SB people and want a 7ft hose then get trained to use it. TDI intro to tec covers it and a bunch of other useful things. Trying to learn physical diving skills via the Internet is a poor plan.

 

[admikar]

@Lochard , try different configurations and decide what is best for you. Even with best of will, we can't do that for you.
I switched to primary donate immediately after OW, with 40" hose and 70° elbow. One poster here said that long hose needs to be clipped to avoid dragging etc. So does 40" hose. I dive BP&W, no canister. I switched to 7 ft hose, and just tuck it under my strap, had no issues so far. On a boat I would wrap hose around valves and just clip secondary on chest D ring. That said.....

3. When you're sharing air while leisurely swimming side by side you really appreciate the seven foot hose.

^^^ ^This.
Night NDL dive, we're back in 5 m of water and my buddy signals OOA (he wasn't, he was LOA). Since it's a shore dive and I still have over 100 bars in my tanks, I had an option of donating my primary, surfacing and swimming to shore or donate and continue to follow rising bottom side by side. We had a pleasant 10 minute dive to the exit. With 40" hose, options would be somewhat limited, I don't like him enough to rub my body against him.
Oh, and that donate motion went really smooth. Grab hose, upward motion, it uncoils from my back, tucked portion deployed smoothly. With 40" hose, when I donate, I need to lift my elbow over the hose to release it fully.

 

[halocline]

I suggest you dive as you have been trained. If you believe the SB people and want a 7ft hose then get trained to use it. TDI intro to tec covers it and a bunch of other useful things. Trying to learn physical diving skills via the Internet is a poor plan.

Oh for crying out loud you don't need to take a freakin class to use a long hose.

 

[KenGordon]

Oh for crying out loud you don't need to take a freakin class to use a long hose.

How do you know? Have you met this person? Which skills can be learned by reading t(e Internet? Mask clearing? Nitrox? Trimix? They are all individually simple enough, so who needs a course?

This is a person (probably) asking how to reverse the system used to donate gas in the rare event of a buddy needing some. That really requires practice and an objective view of whether it is being doine effectively.