Routing a 5ft Octo Hose

[lishen]

I've been reading here a bunch and have come across one method for routing a 5ft octo hose on a bp/w setup (tucked into the waist belt), does anyone else have any suggestions as to how I could route my hose?

PS-don't want to get into the whole 5ft/7ft long hose/necklaced octo discussion because its not really an option now. I'm working as a DM in classes and my LDS wants me to be able to demonstrate OOA scenarios as if I were a student.

Any ideas?

 

[Rainer]

For most people with a long hose, it's the primary that's long (not the "octo"). For now, I route my 7' under shears I keep on my right hip. My can light arrives next week, at which point I'll route it under that. You could always tuck it.

 

[TSandM]

The 5' hose routes under the right arm, around the back of the neck to the mouth. There's not enough hose to tuck into the waistband.

 

[Mike Veitch]

couple of rubberized bands around the tank... hold it in place on the tank...

maybe not good for class though as its not in "the triangle.."

why not just use a regular octo for class sessions and the 5 footer when you are diving for pleasure?

 

[Ben_ca]

I'm confused... Do you want it as an octo? (stowed inthe triangle?) or are you breathing it? (tucked under arm and around neck to mouth)

 

[lishen]

It's going to be used as an octo, preferably clipped off in the triangle but if you have ideas that involve it being stowed somewhere else I'd love to hear them.

Mike Veitch-I'd like to start using a 5' hose with students because I think that the extra room is really helpful so that the hose isn't being yanked out of their mouthes. this goes double for when we practice OOA buddy swims.
When I'm diving for pleasure, I will be switching my hoses and using the 5ft as my primary w/octo bungeed around my neck.

 

[Drewski]

Hi lishen:

The 5' hose is an excellent choice for student teaching. It gives enough length for having the student face you and, if need be, you can rotate the student in an emergency without jerking the octo from his or her mouth.

Depending on your BCD, there are several ways you can secure it. When I used the older "jacket" style of BCD I ran it from the tank valve down, under my right arm, up to the front of my BCD. I took a loop of the hose, tucked it into the jacket from the FRONT, under my armpit. This generally stayed in place and wouldn't snag.

Another method I used involved making a 2" diameter loop of latex tubing, tied at the end, secured to where the tank strap came into the backpack or plate. Again, I ran the hose down from the tank valve, under my arm and then made a loop in the hose and ran it up into the loop of latex. The hose will pull free ONLY if it runs UP into the loop, otherwise the loop will catch and jam it.

Eventually, I switched to just a loop of tubing on the tank, with the hose ran the same way as described above.

For securing the octopus, I'd suggest this product by DiveRite:

They work very well in teaching situations, are cheap and do the job.

Post questions or discussion if you need to and GOOD LUCK!

 

[Bismark]

HI,

This ones easy. I do the same thing for the exact same reason except I have a 7' octo hose. Get an old innertube and cut it into giant elastic bands about 1 1/2" wide. put two of the elastic bands around the tank between the tank bands. It makes sliding the tank bands on a bit of a pain but it works. Then make two "s" bends in the Octo hose and tuck those under the two elastic bands. You shold leave enough hose on the regulator end to either route the hose under your arm or over your shoulder to it's regular position in the triangle. I dive a harness when I am diving for pleasure so I bring the reg end of the hose over my shoulder and bungie it in place right about at the right d-ring. When I am helping teach, I wear a vest and just bring the hose under my shoulder and clip it to my regular Octo holder. When you need the Octo, if you made your "s" bends correctly, it will easily slide out from under the tank rubber bands and you can fully extend your 5' or 7' hose. I learned this from a non-dir tec diver and I find it works great. You always have your octo in a familiar place and you still have that much extra "play" in your octo hose for working with students. I also like it for cold water diving where we have so damn much gear, those short octo hoses make it difficult to do pretty much anything but stay glued together. Hope this helps. If not, pm me and I will send you a photo of what the "s" bends look like on the tank.

Cheers,

 

[lishen]

Bismark, Drewski--
Thanks for the advise. I'm gonna have to make a run to Kmart to pick up some inner tubing. I'm gonna try using the s-bend and storing it on the tank itself. Sounds like a pain to set up but seems like the most secure way to stow it. Any recommendations as to the size of inner tube needed to fit around the tank? I'll be diving either AL80s or AL50s in classes.

 

[Cheekymonkey]

Nice idea for the 5ft with teaching, think I'm going to check that out, maybe that and one of those rotatable balls where the reg attaches to the hose would make life super easy.