Rubber vs Braided Hoses

[Vegan Shark]

I'm ordering new hoses for regs and wing/drysuit, and noticed on divegearexpress's site that they don't even offer 84" lp rubber hoses--only braided and miflex. The site also says repeatedly that braided hoses are superior to rubber in durability, flexibility, and lightness.

So, are rubber LP hoses outdated now?

I've heard that braided reg hoses can be problematic for deployment, and that they can damage neck seals/drysuits, but not sure how true this is.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Rubber hoses are not outdated. I still prefer them.over braided for many applications. I don't even sell.braided over 40 inches and don't use them on seconds I will.be having around the back of my neck. They catch the little hairs back there and feel like.sandpaper on bare wet skin after a bit of time in the water. In addition they tend to take a set when coiled for storage. Their lightness also makes them very floaty. Ok for a 22-28 inch primary for some. Not for me and certainly not for a 5-7 ft hose. I have replaced a few of those with rubber ones for those who thought a braided 7 was a good idea and found out otherwise.
I also have some rubber hoses that are almost ten years old and are just fine on my pool regs.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[needmynitrogenfix]

braided hose cost three times the price and last three times as long. no difference.

 

[waterpirate]

I put miflex hoses on my stages, and promptly removed them and went back to rubber. I found them to be like " wrestling a wet noodle when it came time to re-stow on tank after usage. Purely a personal opinion.
Eric

 

[Randy g]

I had them on both of our rigs and removed them after a season of usage. The scratched the back of our necks anytime we turned our head. My ds neck seal looked like someone had taken sand paper to it as well. Rubber works better for our use.

 

[Subcooled]

I used a 15cm/6 inch HP Miflex. It was so thin and easy to bend that it eventually failed at its root. All three failed, actually. One after another. One dive team lost several of these in the course of one single dive Nothing wrong with the hose, but it should not be turned and twisted when pressurized. The thin HP hose is not nice to handle either. A friend of mine tried Miflex for his backmounted doubles. The SPG was attached to his waist D-ring. Result: not comfortable. SPG hoses should be stiff.

I have Miflex LP hoses. They are especially nice as drysuit hose or wing hose or short regulator hose (in my sidemount rig the hose comes from under my arm, not around my neck), but if you take them through some (dry) cave then soon the hose looks like a toothbrush If it takes a hit, it does not bounce like rubber. My longhose is also a Miflex hose. It does have a life of its own and I would prefer a stiffer longhose in the future.

 

[KeithG]

Use the right tool for the right problem. Braided hoses are not really applicable to scuba.

The braid provides the following advantages
- prevents hose expansion
- serves as an armor layer

The braid provides the following disadvantages
- is less flexible
- kinking it will lead to failure
- the braid prevents direct visual inspection of the underlying hose
- costs more

I have 30 year old hoses that have been taken care of and are still in great shape.

 

[Drin]

I tried a braided 7' hose and promptly got rid of it after one dive. The coil of hose floating around my head may have given me a nice halo but it wasn't conducive to a good dive. WAY too floaty.

-Adrian

 

[Freewillow]

rubber. I have a braided long hose and I HATE it.

 

[Vegan Shark]

Great, ordered all rubber hoses. 24" for SPG, 24" for backup reg, and 84" for long hose. Buying tech gear slowly over the months has made it feel a lot less daunting than just slapping $4000 down at once.

How do you guys store long hose when not using a cannister light? I have a fairly large knife sheath, but the strap is meant to go around legs, and I'm not sure how I'd attach the sheath to a crotch strap.