Primary Donate - Hose Length

[Gone for diving]

I have seen short hose divers with hoses dangling all over,

and 5-7ft hose diver with hoses tucked away properly.

Most of the stupid mouthpiece clip to stow your secondary are really dumb.

I prefer primary donate,
But it you don't, consider putting a bungee necklace on your primary...
It is very handy and always keeps it under your chin.

 

[James79]

I don't do tech stuff, but do primary donate with a 48 inch that goes under my right arm and up to a 110° fitting on the second stage. 22 inch alternate on a necklace. Keeps everything close and controlled (if I did short hose primary, the long hose alternate is more prone to come unstowed or become a snag hazard).

Most importantly, make sure your dive buddies know what your gear config is.

Respectfully,

James

 

[Lorenzoid]

I'm late to the party here, and it looks like the question has been answered. I vote for the solution that some others have described, sometimes referred to as a "streamlined open water" configuration: (1) the primary reg that you breathe during the dive and would donate to an out-of-gas diver on a 40-in hose (with angle fitting) that you route under your arm, and (2) the backup reg that you would switch to after donating on a 22-in "necklace."

If you never have any intention of diving in restricted environments or in other situations where you might want to swim single-file with an out-of-gas (or low-on-gas) diver, then the above-described configuration may suit you well.

As for longer hoses:

As you are apparently aware, in cave diving an 84-in (7-ft) primary hose is pretty much standard because it allows donor and donee to swim single-file, which the narrow passages of caves (or inside wrecks) might necessitate. A long primary hose may also have some advantages in open water. Some would argue that a longer hose is always more comfortable for donor and donee than a shorter hose. If the donee is calm and in control (that may be a big IF if you're diving with unknown buddies), there is no reason for the donee and donor to stick together like glue, and the extra space may make the end of the dive more comfortable for both. This may be especially true in tech diving, where the remainder of the dive after a donation may actually take quite a long time to wrap up. But on a plain ol' open water recreational dive, a 40-in hose should provide enough space for the divers to comfortably end the dive and surface together. I might as well also add that I have seen divemasters in Cozumel donating a long hose to a low-on-gas diver in the group they are leading so as to avoid forcing the entire group to surface early due to a single diver running low on gas.

Some open-water divers opt for the primary reg on a 60-in (5-ft) hose, instead of the cave-diving standard 7-ft hose. I have found a 5-ft hose to be just slightly too short to be comfortable; it tugs at my mouth. Sure, an angle fitting might help, but at that point why bother--just use the "streamlined open water" configuration with its 40-in hose. As for the 7-ft hose, it may be hard to believe, but the 7-ft hose routes snugly yet comfortably; it's just right for most divers. If you're curious, you just have to try it to believe it.

If you want to explore the primary-donate method, where the donor switches from their long hose (be it 40, 60, 84 or whatever inches) to their backup, I suggest taking an "intro-to-tech" type class. With the help of an instructor, you can develop the muscle memory to act as donor or donee. What is taught is how to route the long hose, how to donate (or receive) the reg calmly and without flailing about, how donor and donee can communicate, what to do next after donation, etc. You should learn the procedure and practice it enough that it becomes second nature. Of course, that is true of all out-of-gas reg donation methods. Yet many of us never practice it again after our open water class.

 

[Gone for diving]

I might as well also add that I have seen divemasters in Cozumel donating a long hose to a low-on-gas diver in the group they are leading so as to avoid forcing the entire group to surface early due to a single diver running low on gas.

Done this many times, (not anywhere warm... ) with less experienced diver that used more air then they should in the first part of the fast drift dive, with boat traffic.
If running low , halfway through, switch to my long hose, to save air so they have enough for swimming sideways in the current to shore...

 

[MaxBottomtime]

The hose I always have a problem with snagging (and it happened again entering a wreck last Sunday) is my SPG.

I now clip my spg to my left chest D-Ring. It's out of the way, streamlined, and all I have to do is glance down to read it.

 

[Oldmanmatt]

I now clip my spg to my left chest D-Ring. It's out of the way, streamlined, and all I have to do is glance down to read it.

Oddly enough, that’s exactly what I had done.
It makes a bit of a loop, down below your armpit (as opposed to the slightly more streamlined shape it makes clipped at the waist). Squeezing through a very narrow hatch on a inverted tug wreck, one that meant putting arms through first, where the deck was only 500-600mm off the sand, the loop caught on rough edge of the coaming and the length of the coaming meant getting a hand down again to free it was difficult. Of course, I should have taken the kit off and passed it through first, using the long hose for what I was meant to. But, that usually means disturbing the silt inside and I thought I’d get through and I was following a very petite young lady and forgot I’m 6’1” and built like the back end of a bus and…

 

[Litefoot]

For me, the 7' primary donate hose isn't an issue in the water. As others have mentioned, it routes nicely around the body with plenty of slack to keep stage 2 comfortably in the mouth. The only downside is managing the longer hose out of the water or if I shed my harness in the water before climbing out. But that's something I'm sure I'll get better at over time.

 

[inquis]

The only downside is managing the longer hose out of the water or if I shed my harness in the water before climbing out.

2 tips:

1. Clip the 2nd stage to the chest D-ring before putting the 1st stage on the tank. (SPG, too, if you use one.)
2. Switch to the short hose at the safety stop then coil/clip the LH.

 

[Gone for diving]

then coil/clip the LH.

Any pictures on how you coil?

 

[stuartv]

I find the 7ft long hose more streamlined than any other configuration.

How is a 7 ft hose ever more streamlined than a 40" hose that is running from a bottom LP port on a 1st down, down, angled slightly to the diver's right, and then looping up, either to the diver's mouth or to an octo holder on the right shoulder strap? (A: It is not, ever.) A 7 ft hose offers advantages, but being more streamlined than a properly setup rig with a 40" hose is not one of them.

Not sure why are you wording it like this, when I know that you know how the hose is routed. It's not a hanging rope. If OOA diver pulls my reg from my mouth, chances are that hose will just slide over my head. Even if it doesn't, I just have to look down and it will go. And I never tuck it under the canister, always tuck it under waist belt, so it will slide on its own when pulled.
I prefer 7ft for a freedom of movement. I have donated few times, only once it was true OOA, most times was as a precaution to LOA diver. We finished following the bottom up instead of going straight up.

Imagine a diver surprising you, coming from your left. (because you are all telling me that this often happens by surprise, so you don't get to prepare or know when your reg will be yanked, or in which direction) When they pull that reg to them (on your left), and the hose goes under your chin, how's that "slide over your head" part going to work?

The OP asked about hose lengths for a single tank rig. I am completely ambivalent on primary donate or not. But, I absolutely maintain that a single tank rig with a long hose that is NOT hog looped is better than one with a 7' hose. I.e. a 40" hose is better, for single tank diving, than a 7'. 7' is a necessity for technical diving. It is not for single tank diving.

The benefit is that in every single out of air emergency I saw as a boat captain in the keys, the ooa diver TOOK (didn’t ask, didn’t signal, didn’t communicate, TOOK) the reg out of the donating diver’s mouth. And why was that? Because the panicking diver thinks he’s about to die. And he KNOWS that the reg you are breathing off of works.

So, the benefit? Time, Speed and having a panicking diver 40” away from me and controllable instead of 28” and not at arms length

Fair enough. I have never been involved in an OOA situation or even seen one happen in real life. I'll count my blessings in that regard, and continue to avoid cattle boats in touristy places...

People can dive in the way they want and with the gear they want, but I really have no respect for this sentiment. Just like sailors help other sailors out at sea, in my opinion, scuba divers should help out other scuba divers in need of assistance. And I'm not even just talking about life-or-death situations. Because it is the right thing to do, a code of honor if you will. Especially when you're talking about leaving OOA divers on the bottom, possibly to die, when you could have saved them. I don't understand this point of view, and don't think I ever will. I don't know if it's just talking tough or if it's a sincere viewpoint, but to me it reeks of cowardice and/or misanthropy.

To be clear, I'm not saying anyone should sacrifice their life or health to save someone underwater, or that you should be responsible for another diver's safety, but that offering whatever assistance you possibly can, in the safest way possible, is the only right thing to do.

He didn't say he wouldn't help someone if he saw them in trouble. He was saying that he would just avoid being anywhere around them in the first place. I.e. not dive from boats with those kind of divers, or, if doing so, splash and then go the other way. Surely you don't think everyone diving from the same boat is morally obligated to all stay together during the dive, so that anyone in the group could render assistance to anyone else in the group if needed?

Oddly enough, that’s exactly what I had done.
It makes a bit of a loop, down below your armpit (as opposed to the slightly more streamlined shape it makes clipped at the waist).

During the brief period where I was using an analog SPG (in addition to my AI), because my first tech instructor required it, I ended up putting my SPG on a shorter hose and running it directly over my left shoulder and down to my left shoulder strap, through an elastic loop. That let me also see it by just glancing down. No hose looped under my arm at all. I much preferred it like that over having it clipped to my left waist or looped up under my left arm.

2 tips:

1. Clip the 2nd stage to the chest D-ring before putting the 1st stage on the tank. (SPG, too, if you use one.)
2. Switch to the short hose at the safety stop then coil/clip the LH.

I teach all my tech students: Your primary 2nd stage should ALWAYS be one of two places: In your mouth, or clipped off to your right chest D-ring. That is from the time you take the reg out of your bag to assemble it with your rig, until you take the reg off your rig.

When I'm getting out of the water, my primary stays in my mouth until I'm fully back on the boat, or on shore. Once I'm fully on the boat, I take it out of my mouth and clip it (still looped around my neck) to my right chest D-ring. Once I've undone my waist belt/crotchstrap and sat down on my bench seat, all I have to do is take the loop that is around my neck over my head and then take the bungee necklace from my secondary over my head and I can then shrug out of the shoulder straps and be out of my rig.

If you're going to use a 7' hose and hog loop it, you should really develop the muscle memory for clipping it off whenever you take it out of your mouth, so you can do it quickly and easily, with one hand.