Ridiculous question about inflator

[tbone1004]

to emphasize

you want to reposition your hand depending on what you're doing with it. At or near the surface *within 10ft on ascent and descent* when you are vertical, you will grab the inflator in a manner where your hand is on "top" of the inflator with your thumb on the inflate button and index finger on the deflate button. This is the most ideal position for bringing the inflator to your mouth for oral inflation as well as the easiest way to dump.
If you are using oral inflation as your primary means of

During the dive, where you are using the power inflator, you reposition your hand so the inflator is as described above with your fingers "over" and your thumb "under" using your middle or index finger for inflation and then going slightly head down and right shoulder down to dump. Dumping this way is much more efficient and precise because you don't have to purge water out of the corrugated hose first and you have to move your body less *remember that the inflator mechanism itself has to be brought above the elbow to dump, and when you do that the hose fills with water so it has to burp out. Not good.
I normally dive in OW with my arms crossed since I don't have a light, so thumbs are hooked to my shoulder d-rings and I will use my right hand thumb to inflate, but

Now regarding inflator position. In sidemount we typically swap the inflator with the dump valve for location which has the corrugated hose going from left hip to right shoulder. It is in fact much easier to use the inflator this way, however you essentially can't dump from it and it also doesn't work well on backmount wings because the corrugated hose gets exposed and becomes a serious entanglement hazard. Not ideal.

No worries on asking questions about this, but there is no "one" hand position for the inflator, it is dynamic based on body position and which mechanism of the device you are using. Of all of the inflators I have used, which is most of them, I find the K inflator to be the most ergonomic and the ones that I have on all of my wings
The Scubapros to be the most useless for oral inflation because the button has to be fully depressed otherwise it comes out of a vent in the bottom *stupid design*
This T design to be slightly less annoying to use, but harder to orally inflate than the K inflator

 

[Aloha Joe]

Thanks guys.

My hose is definitely too long. I have a shorter one but wanted to figure this out before installing it.

I also haven’t been pulling the dump valve “up” initially. Lots going on in a new diver’s head underwater - obviously it make sure sense but I hadn’t thought about it until now.

I think shorter hose and “2 hand positions” will work for me on the inflator though I may Try the 90 degree one.

PPB is in my very near future....

 

[tbone1004]

I'd just start with your shorter hose and go from there. I really like @cool_hardware52 's solution to keeping the inflator tamed which is a piece of innertube above the d-ring that the LPI hose goes through and then plugs into the corrugated hose. I find this to be a much better solution than the bungee loop that the DIR crowd sorted out 20+ years ago

 

[Aloha Joe]

Geez my first wing had a plastic inflator, and with the bungee and long hose it was all over the place! What a PITA always having to look for it, usually up not far from my dangling snorkel, lol. When Inwas sent the ‘right’ wing it came with metal inflator which is like a pound or more, so at least it’s been consistently hanging in front of me. I’ll try the inner tube and short hose.

I think I’m going to like using fingers to inflate as having to change hand position might make me more consciously use the dump valve when horizontal.

I still think an inflator at the hip and deflating from the shoulder makes more sense but that’s another topic which I’m sure there’s reason against (probably entanglement or need for extra oral inflate hose).

 

[tbone1004]

@Aloha Joe hopefully it helps to use the dump valve when diving for the reasons mentioned above.

Inflator at the hip is normal in sidemount, but the wing has to be tied to the hip for it to work properly. You also have to route a pull dump cord from the top shoulder which is a bit annoying.

You can see below a "normal" inflator configuration in sidemount. Some preference to inflator on the right or left, but you can see how the top dump has to be tied along the shoulder strap with the pull knob above the d-ring. Works well for that design and would work fine on a jacket bc or another rig where the wing is tied to the hips, but the simplicity of the bp/w is lost when you start doing that as the wing can't really be removed from the plate without some serious PITA factor for that top pull dump. The wings are largely integrated into the sidemount rigs so it isn't an issue

 

[guruboy]

You can add a dump valve anywhere you want on your wing.

People will probably give you crap for having a "non-standard" setup, but it really doesn't matter that much for recreational OW diving.

 

[Aloha Joe]

Thanks, it’s all making more sense to me. I felt like the inflator (at least the K style) was designed for thumb/index finger grip (one position) so it was bugging me. But maybe it was designed for side mount or some other configuration and is now a compromise....

Or maybe 2 hand positions is the intent - maybe when ascending it’s meant to be in your “break the surface” hand?!

Using it for horizontal deflating is probably most of my problem and confusion. But not any more

Thanks for putting up with this ridiculousness. Its Been bothering me underwater that It’s required any thought or attention, it should just be second nature.

 

[Aloha Joe]

Woah my wing does attach at my hip! Maybe that’s why I’ve had issues releasing enough air. There are bungee loops where the webbing meets the plate.

Here are stock photos:

 

[tbone1004]

@Aloha Joe it is meant for 2 hand positions and predates sidemount by several decades.
For ascent, the corrugated hose should not be over your head, it should be straight forward as there is no need to bend it to the surface. The air will come out so long as it is above the elbow.

You shouldn't have issues releasing air with that wing, probably just have to roll a bit farther over.

 

[Aloha Joe]

The configuration shown above has waist belt through elastic loops on the wing which looks like it would keep it from taco-ing. So I should use those loops?