Octopus and long hoses questions???

[Ob1Stogie]

OOA situations and "vacation" divers is why I avoid commercial boat dives. It may be selfish, but I don't want to be in a situation with a "once every five year" vacation diver. I just got back from Kauai and all my dives were on the beach and by myself. Lugging my 13ft pony, BP and all my gear in my luggage was a PIA, but it was not an option to leave it at home. Could I have seen more on a boat, sure, but I also know I would have been paired with someone who, in a bad situation, could kill me.

 

[grazie42]

For me it is about how much hose-switching I want to do...

I switch regularly between doubles and singles (right tool for the job and all that). It still entails switching 2 hoses. For me, having an extra reg on a solo-dive is my preference, having made that decision I´d rather stay with the longhose (that I use for everything else) than carry a separate hose just for solodiving...

Having done low on air and OOA-sharing with strangers (who weren´t part of my team, solo or otherwise), I`m firmly convinced of the utility of the longhose. I just don´t want to airshare any other way.

It may be more "minimalist" with a shorter hose but since diving is not a fashion show and one of the reasons I solo is that my opinion is the only one that matters, I´ll keep my unminimalist longhose, can light and backups for all my diving...