Not understanding the long hose thing

[Reg Braithwaite]

Sixteen pages into a post by an OP who wanted to do a shallow dive in the Keys we learn that in order to "Do It Right" he must have:

A long hose
...

I am under the impression that many posts on the thread are explaining that a long hose isn't wrong should he choose to switch. Big difference.

 

[StreetDoctor]

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

and Nemrod... nice edit.

 

[fishoutawater]

Yep, that's pretty much what Kind of diving I plan on doing. Not going on a staged saturation dive twenty miles into the Mexican cenotes. Just using air, not even a computer. Just your basic two tank dives on yer basic NDL charts. And Pina Coladas. And Jimmy Buffet. Maybe even play with the dolphins. But to me, showing up on a shallow reef in tech gear is like bass fishing from a yacht. What's the point?
It's just funny how things have changes so much over the years. Far cry from a double or single hose reg, no octo, no bc, and buddy breathing, which has worked for hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of divers since Cousteau got us all doing this stuff. And I've always had this thing for minimalist kind of stuff anyway. I much prefer the notion of keeping myself out of bad situations in the first place, and not have to depend on a bunch of redundancies and expensive equipment. I especially like when a young guy pulls up next to me with his $40k badass hotrodded Harley clone, and I blow him away with my thirty year old 1200 buck Mad Max special (Git er done!).
Don't get me wrong. If I ever get into cave diving or serious tech diving, yeah, I'll do all of that long hose, BP/W, mixed gas, SS snap and D-ring stuff. But not this time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzcLQRXW6B0

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

If I ever get into cave diving or serious tech diving, yeah, I'll do all of that long hose, BP/W, mixed gas, SS snap and D-ring stuff. But not this time.

First things first: Your call on what to use and why to use it. Rock on!

But I can't resist humbly suggesting that a long hose is one thing, a BP/W is another, and technical things like mixed gasses or double tanks with manifolds another again.

I honestly believe a long hose setup is not more complicated or only suitable for extracting divers in single file from an overhead environment. I personally found a BP/W to be easier to trim, although it's pretty obvious that a good diver can trim level with a horse collar BCD.

Things like doubles or trimix add significant complexity to a dive and are in another class of decision.

I'm not suggesting you change your mind. The thread exists to give you the information you need to make your decision. But I do encourage you to resist the temptation to lump long hoses in with the more technical gear. It's just a different way to configure the exact same gear you already have for the dives you are already making.

 

[PfcAJ]

You know... you don't HAVE to deploy the full 7 feet. If the situation requires it, don't pull the extra out from behind the can/pocket/waist band/ whatever.

Having 7 ft doesn't mean that it must be used. That being said, if the OOG diver is calm, the extra space is real nice.

 

[timle]

In the Keys, where the OP is going to dive, depths rarely exceed 60 feet, people get sunburned in 15 feet of water. A can light would be ridiculous.

Sixteen pages into a post by an OP who wanted to do a shallow dive in the Keys we learn that in order to "Do It Right" he must have:

A long hose
A dry suit
A can light
Doubles
Have a "team"
The proper bolt snaps with cave string
"Gas" instead of air
A BP/wing
Fungies

We have been through all of this before, this thread is typical of why the vocal minority on scubaboard represent only about 2% of the larger diving population.

The question was not about doing shallow dives. The question was SPECIFICALLY about using the long hose. So its surprising there are comments from long hose users???

DIR did not invent the long hose or the hog configuration. I haven't seen in over the top you must be DIR in this thread at all.

Searching this thread the only mention of fundies was in reference to someone training for it - not a recommendation to take it, the only mention of the word team was in your posts. You are reading things into this thread that are simply not there.

I enjoyed my dive yesterday at Ginnie Springs - long hose and all.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I'm willing to bet that you did not do that successfully the first time. Through repetition it became second nature, exactly the thing that practising skills is intended to do. When your buddy needs it is not the time to find out that things don't work as smooth in real life as they do in your mind.

Actually, I did. You tilt you head forward and hand off the reg. I guess a better analogy would be practicing turning a door knob. Some things require practice, some can be mastered the first time you see it.

 

[Nemrod]

I am under the impression that many posts on the thread are explaining that a long hose isn't wrong should he choose to switch. Big difference. Are you carrying baggage from other threads?

We are not in the DIR forum. The baggage is 16 pages of this. I am sorry that DIR proponents cannot leave room in their zealotry to allow for the FACT that SCUBA can be accomplished efficiently and safely without full technical gear for a shallow reef dive and that knowledgeable and skilled divers might choose to do so.

I am sorry that I disagree with the hard sell on DIR for sport diving, I do not believe that the long hose is necessarily a better concept for most open water sport diving. Yes it works, is it better than other methods for open water sport diving (which is what this thread is about)--NO.

Streetdoc, you are providing an excellent example of why I prefer solo. :mooner:

Over and out.

N

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

SCUBA can be accomplished efficiently and safely without full technical gear for a shallow reef dive and that knowledgeable and skilled divers might choose to do so.

No disagreement from me. Although, the statement comes close to conflating a long hose with "full technical gear." I dived in Cozumel this Spring with a SBer who was using along hose, Air2, and BCD. Clearly he was not using full technical gear. He seemed efficient and safe to my inexperienced eyes.

I conclude that one can politely discuss the use of a long hose without assuming that a back plate, doubles, manifold, dry suit, and low-volume black mask must come along. My observation of this thread is that there is no hard sell on one particular flavour of diving that happens to include the use of a long hose, just a bunch of people pointing out why they think it's a good idea for sport diving.

Or in my case, humbly suggesting that it isn't a bad idea for sport diving.

p.s.:

The baggage is 16 pages of this

I believe the problem here is that the forum software keeps conversations like this alive as long as people continue to post. Therefore, threads that begin with some healthy debate get the most visibility. This attracts more people who want to have their say, and the signal-to-noise ratio degrades significantly.

I don't think it's a problem specific to this subject. If SB wants to "fix" this, they either need to be very aggressive about moderating threads like this or change the forum software so that new replies to a thread don't bump it back up to the top. Some forums only allow bumps in the first 24 hours or in the first so many posts, after that the thread falls off the front page no matter how many posts it gets. Subscribers continue to debate away, but the rest of the forum gets a break.

 

[StreetDoctor]

We are not in the DIR forum. The baggage is 16 pages of this. I am sorry that DIR proponents cannot leave room in their zealotry to allow for the FACT that SCUBA can be accomplished efficiently and safely without full technical gear for a shallow reef dive and that knowledgeable and skilled divers might choose to do so.

I am sorry that I disagree with the hard sell on DIR for sport diving, I do not believe that the long hose is necessarily a better concept for most open water sport diving. Yes it works, is it better than other methods for open water sport diving (which is what this thread is about)--NO.

Streetdoc, you are providing an excellent example of why I prefer solo. :mooner:

Over and out.

N

whatever floats your boat :laughing: