ScubaPro BPW issue?

[TheQuintessentialMan]

The hose on my BPW BCD oral inflator is too short resulting in having to reach higher up on my shoulder to reach the inflator.deflator buttons than I like. I thought maybe I had the donut configured too high (and lower would be better) but when I tried to move it, I didn't find any more holes that lined up where I could move the donut (bladder) lower on my back. I double checked the straps just in case I laced it wrong but nothing there. This is not a new problem, it's been like this since I got it roughly 10 years ago, I just decided to see if I could fix it. I checked to see if ScubaPro has a longer hose but not finding one. Gonna' let it rest then check it again; maybe take it to the scuba shop for their advice, but was wondering if anyone else here encountered this issue.

 

[happy-diver]

Shorter is good, level with your shoulder dring ish does it reach your mouth comfortably, advanced enough

Didn't know scubpor made a backplate and wing is that legitimate
or, did they grab hold of the line, as the ferry was leaving the dock

 

[astr0b0y]

I have the opposite problem as I find the Hydros Pro inflator hose too long.
Scubapro do make different lengths available, but they don't seem to be available from many outlets:

Scubapro BCD Corrugated Hose – Standard Length 40cm (part number 01.030.121)
Scubapro BCD Corrugated Hose – Short Length 35cm (part number 01.030.115)

Listed compatibility is:

Scubapro Bella
Scubapro Equalizer
Scubapro Equator
Scubapro Glide
Scubapro GO
Scubapro Hydros Pro – Men and Women
Scubapro Hydros X – Men and Women
Scubapro Level
Scubapro Seahawk
Scubapro X-Force
Scubapro X-Black
Scubapro Litehawk

 

[happy-diver]

Is that two inches in the wrong direction or am I going insane more

OMS Corrugated Hoses

OMS Replacement Corrugated Hoses.

www.divegearexpress.com

 

[TheQuintessentialMan]

Shorter is good, level with your shoulder dring ish does it reach your mouth comfortably, advanced enough

Didn't know scubpor made a backplate and wing is that legitimate
or, did they grab hold of the line, as the ferry was leaving the dock

It reaches my mouth, I just often get it confused with my snorkel when feeling around for it. Over teh weekend, I took out my old jacket style BC and discovered its hose is several inches longer. Since that was my first BC, the "expectation" was set. It's not a game changer, it would just be a little more ergonomic if it was not so far up on my shoulder.

 

[Db144]

I’m absolutely with you….. dived Scubapro for over 25 years now, both BCD and S-Tek.

I find the inflator hose on the S-Tek about 2” too short to be comfortable. That’s a 16” hose, the hose on their BCDs seems to be 19”.

Muscle memory!!

Would love to know if the 19” hose (which you can buy in the U.K. from one or two places) would fit the S-Tek wing.

Not obvious….. both corrugated but one is round and the other oval.

 

[crofrog]

The corrugated hose on wings are shorter to

• Not get in the way of stages
• Not drag on the ground when moving through low passages
• Generally be streamlined and not dangly

Recreational bc have excessively long corrugated hoses. So instead of replacing it I’d retrain

 

[iliketopetsharks]

Put the snorkel in your pocket...

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

What Crofrog said.
Shorter inflator hoses droop forward and down less when you are flat. You should be using your butt dump on the lower left side of the wing to dump air anyway. If you wear a snorkel, place your hand on the side of your mask then run your hand down to the mouthpiece so you don’t confuse the two.
During my rescue class we were doing drills and my buddy grabbed his snorkel instead of his Air2 during an air share and he bolted to the top ripping the donated second stage out of my mouth. We were only in 20’ of water and it was only a drill but if it was real life it could have been bad. That was the instructors advice, to first determine which one is the snorkel then don’t pick that one.
I don’t have anything against snorkels but do you really need a snorkel for the dives you’re doing?IDK, that’s for you to determine, but if you don’t really need it then less is more.
Longer inflator hoses are out of style, they were more for using an Air2. If you look at what is the standard now with almost all donut wings for plates they will all come with shorter inflator hoses.

 

[Badger7]

The hose on my BPW BCD oral inflator is too short resulting in having to reach higher up on my shoulder to reach the inflator.deflator buttons than I like. I thought maybe I had the donut configured too high (and lower would be better) but when I tried to move it, I didn't find any more holes that lined up where I could move the donut (bladder) lower on my back. I double checked the straps just in case I laced it wrong but nothing there. This is not a new problem, it's been like this since I got it roughly 10 years ago, I just decided to see if I could fix it. I checked to see if ScubaPro has a longer hose but not finding one. Gonna' let it rest then check it again; maybe take it to the scuba shop for their advice, but was wondering if anyone else here encountered this issue.

Does your harness have the scubapro monoprene padding over the shoulders like this?

I wonder whether the issue is not so much that the corrugated hose is too short, but the D-ring (the rubber ring the inflator passes through more specifically) just awkwardly placed too low or two high for ideal, and maybe not as adjustable with scubapro padding?

Even if you don't change anything else, another thing that might give you some more flexibility with your inflator for manual inflation or button inflation/deflation is to only pass the low pressure inflator hose through the rubber ring, and not the corrugated inflation hose itself, similar to this image below. I run mine this way as it provides a little more flexibility in where i can position the hose and doesn't as easily get in the way when clipping off to the left chest ring.