Question about regulator hose

[yagua]

Hello everybody:
I have a question about the length in my regulator hose, the configuration of our equipment ( me & my wife ) is with the Genesis Sidekick octopus conected to the low presure inflator of the BCD, that mean in case of a sharing air situation with my buddy I have to give her or him my primary regulator.
I was thinking in replace the actual hose of the regulators for a longer to be more easy or comfortable in that case.
I'm not thinking in a "hogarthian" style 7 feet long.
The actual length is 31' what about a 40'
I will apreciate your opinion
Thanks
Yagua
PD: Attached there is a pic of my octo/inflator

 

[teknitroxdiver]

On paper, a 40" or so hose sounds good, but in practice it doesn't really work. Think about it. Unless you put a swivel on the reg and first stage and route it under your arm, you're going to have a 20" loop of hose sticking out to the side of your head--major drag and entanglement hazard.

I would either put it under the arm like Sherwood does on one of their regs, or do the thing you're not thinking of, a 7' hose. Remember, the 7' hose will lay flat against your body, and won't stick out at all, which reduces drag and entanglement hazard.

hope that helps.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

A lot of people sing the praises of lightweight second stages and all the benefits of reduced jaw fatigue etc, and then screw it all up by putting it on a hose of the wrong lenght.

Hose lenght has a much bigger impact on comfort and jaw fatigue than regulator weight. If the hose is too short, it pulls the reg to the right. If the hose is to long it pushes it to the left. Neither are comfortable and they require more force on the mouthpiece to keep the reg where it is supposed to be.

Primary reg hoses normally run 26 to 30 inches from the factory and 40 inches is going to be too long to be comfortable when used as a primary and too short to accomplish what you want to accomplish when donated to an OOA buddy.

7' hoses tend to be standard for tech divers with cannister lights as the hose is looped under the waist mounted light. But if you are not carrying a cannister light, the extra hose is not needed and can cause problems. In many recreational situations a 5' or 6' hose will work much better. Whether a 5' or 6' hose works better depends on body size.

The long hose avoids most of the comfort problem caused by excessive lenght by routing the hose under the right arm, up across the chest and around the back of the neck which prevents the big loop from sticking out and pushing the reg to the right. Comfort wise a 5'-7' long hose is not quite as comfortable as a suitably sized short hose but is more comfortable than a poorly sized short hose and is in any case lower drag when properly routed.

So even though you are not thinking long hose, it is something to maybe consider.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Or you could get the 7' hose and tuck it into your waist belt or under a knife on your hip. The 5' can be really, shall we say, rough, to get it to stay in the right spot. The 7' will stay tight against your body everywhere.

 

[pt40fathoms]

Not much to add, DA Aquamaster covered it nicely. But I will stress the point that a 40 inch hose will most likely end up being very uncomfortable.

If you take a moment and consider useing a 5 or 6 foot hose, routing it under your right arm, across your chest, over your left shoulder, behind your head and then back to your mouth. You will find that it will lay flat and offer next to no resistance when turning your head from side to side. It will deploy quickly and allow your OOA buddy to route the donated hose over their left shoulder and back into a comfortable breathing position for ascent durring bailout.

If you consider all options, I am confident you will find this one to be at least near the top of the list for the reasons listed above. What ever you choose, please be sure to do several shallow dives with your buddy, to work out the new configuration and get comfortable with it.

 

[Scubakevdm]

The long hose avoids most of the comfort problem caused by excessive lenght by routing the hose under the right arm, up across the chest and around the back of the neck which prevents the big loop from sticking out and pushing the reg to the right. Comfort wise a 5'-7' long hose is not quite as comfortable as a suitably sized short hose but is more comfortable than a poorly sized short hose and is in any case lower drag when properly routed.

So, it's not the length of your hose... it's how you route it.

 

[perpet1]

Only thing to add is regardless of the hose configuration, practice doing ascents using your alternate air source.

A lot of posts in here, some good and some bad regarding the use of intergrated LP inflators and alternate air sources. The truth is when you need to one (the regulator)you will probably need to use the other (the LP inflator dump) at the same time like when you are doing an ascent. Remember, if you are using this regulator you will probably already have an elevated stress level because something has already gone wrong.

Now you have to do an ascent with a buddy that most likely has a deathgrip on you. To make matters worse, you are breathing off this regulator with a short uncomfortable hose while trying to dump air from your BC at the very same time as you ascend. I am not saying all is doom and gloom you just need to condition yourself to use it so that when you need it you will be able to use it without thinking.

My thaughts,
Pete

 

[northcoast_diver]

Hello everybody:
I have a question about the length in my regulator hose, the configuration of our equipment ( me & my wife ) is with the Genesis Sidekick octopus conected to the low presure inflator of the BCD, that mean in case of a sharing air situation with my buddy I have to give her or him my primary regulator.
I was thinking in replace the actual hose of the regulators for a longer to be more easy or comfortable in that case.
I'm not thinking in a "hogarthian" style 7 feet long.
The actual length is 31' what about a 40'
I will apreciate your opinion
Thanks
Yagua
PD: Attached there is a pic of my octo/inflator

You have discovered the dilemma of the air-2 configuration.

If your 1st stage reg does not swivel, then you are going to have less flexibility on hose length, in terms of a comfortable hose.

I suggest you opt for a comfortable hose length, for yourself, whatever that is. If and when you need to share air, the issue will not be comfort for your buddy, it will be ability to breathe.

Whatever hose length you choose, make sure it is comfortable for you, and fits you.

If your 1st stage reg does have a swivel, then you will have more flexibility, and 40 inches should work fine for you. You need to play with the various lengths to see for yourself.

 

[yknot]

Hello everybody:
I have a question about the length in my regulator hose, the configuration of our equipment ( me & my wife ) is with the Genesis Sidekick octopus conected to the low presure inflator of the BCD, that mean in case of a sharing air situation with my buddy I have to give her or him my primary regulator.

Looking at the picture, is the octo really connected to the BC inflator or is it just running under the velcro strap that keeps the inflator from flapping around?

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Hmm, you're right. It's either one of those that has a Y splitter, or it's just stuck under the velcro.