UCFKnightDiver
Contributor
To the OP another option is to use a 22 " hose with necklace as your backup and use the hose that was originally for the octo as your primary. I use a swivel (at least it's well made but a 90 degree fitting would work as well) for my primary and route it under the arm.
It keeps the hoses streamlined, retains the advantage of the necklace vs octo approach and I don't have 7 ' of hose to deal with.
I'm not in caves nor am I an instructor and I don't do s-drills at the start of every dive so if someone is really low or out of air we will be a little closer than with the 7 ' setup but I can live with that.
In my opinion anything is better than the octo setup.
Do you dive wrecks?