Question re long hose.

[Jim Lapenta]

I'm in the process of converting to long hose and bungeed octo. My question is regarding marking and color. Dumb I know but the reason I ask is that we have two 7 ft hoses in stock. I have all the other hoses and parts to reconfigure my regs. The hoses we have are yellow. If I have to order a black one it could take a few days and delay my getting things set up for this weekend. Also since we just got an order in this would be a one shot order. This translates into the hose plus shipping which would not be much but seeing as we have stock on hand and I've been taught that in recreational diving the octo is conspicuously marked and I'll be working with newbies in this rig would the yellow hose be ok? Normally I'd be willing to wait and even pay extra for gear but since I started this I've dropped better than 2 grand in the last month or so. Also the price on the hose has gone up for a new one and since it looks like they will not be used unless I take one(very few long hose configuration around here) the owner is willing to make me a very good deal on one.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Stick with black. Yellow is a rule #6 violation.

(Which is why the owner is willing to make you a very good deal on one. They may have been in stock for awhile.........)

Given what you're going to be dropping in gear over the next couple years, the difference in the cost of a hose is relatively insignificant (Trust me on this one.)

If you must have one this weekend then do what you must do but, as you asked, I recommend you order a black one.

FWIW. YMMV.

 

[Tamas]

....or stick with the yellow, a hose is a hose.

 

[MikeFerrara]

IMO, color doesn't matter. I have an orange hose because that's what was in stock and the thing seems to be lasting forever. Oh, I now have black ones too but I'm still using the orange.

I understand your concern about diving with new divers but I used to teach that color didn't matter. It's the first thing to disappear at depth or in bad vis anyway. It's completely unreliable. You find an alternate air source by location and the procedures employed. Besides, how are color blind people supposed to dive? On the good side, is the fact that your primary will the the reg that you donate. I think the yellow hose is fine if you are willing to take the teasing...I know because I've gotten plenty with my orange hose. Just enjoy the attention. LOL

 

[Cave Diver]

....or stick with the yellow, a hose is a hose.

That isn't entirely accurate. There are a few hoses out there that tend to be "floaty" and don't lie right even when properly stowed. I can't recall the brand, but all the ones I've heard of with this problem have been yellow.

That's not to say that all yellow hoses are floaty, but it's something I would keep under consideration.

 

[Tamas]

That isn't entirely accurate. There are a few hoses out there that tend to be "floaty" and don't lie right even when properly stowed. I can't recall the brand, but all the ones I've heard of with this problem have been yellow.

That's not to say that all yellow hoses are floaty, but it's something I would keep under consideration.

thanks, I was not aware of that....never got a "floaty" hose before so never thought it to be an issue!

 

[Doc Intrepid]

You keep saying it's orange, but it looks pink in your avatar (or the avatar that you used to have!)

If you want to continue to use Brokeback Mountain hosery I suspect that little sucker will indeed last forever, (and will work just fine,) but now that you're getting to be a pre-geezer like me we're going to have to work on that dignification upgrade and jettison that pink hose bozonity!

By the way, whatever happened to your avatar anyway?

 

[Tamas]

You keep saying it's orange, but it looks pink in your avatar (or the avatar that you used to have!)

If you want to continue to use Brokeback Mountain hosery I suspect that little sucker will indeed last forever, (and will work just fine,) but now that you're getting to be a pre-geezer like me we're going to have to work on that dignification upgrade and jettison that pink hose bozonity!

By the way, whatever happened to your avatar anyway?

LOL! Speaking of which.....I dove with an instructor (male) who sported an entire selection of PINK gear....ping webbing, pink wing and even a pink powder coated b/p.....and of course the pink hoses and pink reg covers.....and finally the pink mask!

When I asked "WHY???" he's only comment was "at least this way my students know where I am under water at all time"

 

[Michael Schlink]

not to hijack the thread BUT I got on a boat in Coz once and a guy had all pink gear, so curiosity got the best of me and I asked "what's with the pink gear?" He got kind of all defensive and retorted "you got a problem with pink?" I went and found another place to sit-sorry I asked-must have hit a nerve.-

 

[TSandM]

I had an odd experience during my Rescue class that might pertain to this. (Note that I took Rescue through my original PADI shop, and I was the only BP/W/long hose diver in the class.) We were given a scenario where my group of three encountered an injured diver and her buddy, and the buddy was then going to go OOA. I was the one to donate, and I deployed my primary reg quickly and then sat and sat and sat there while the other diver didn't take it. She told me on the surface that she couldn't see the reg -- black hose, black glove, black regulator, and she wasn't expecting the reg to be deployed the way I did it. We talked at length about this problem, because it was so strange. It was suggested that I put a yellow face plate on my primary reg, but if you think about it, when the reg is deployed, the face plate is toward ME, not the OOA diver. A yellow hose would definitely make the reg more visible -- so did changing to bright green dry gloves.

If you are diving with and around a lot of non-long-hose divers, it's something to think about.

It is a rule 6 violation, though . . .