Too much gear? Or standardized setup?

[eelnoraa]

The different between 7ft, 5ft, 40"+ angle adaptor is not one is the additional of the other. You don't dive with a 40"+angle adaptor and bring a long a long hose. It is a choice, it is an "either or" situation. Choice comes down to training and personal preference. I have used 40"+adaptor and hated it, hose bow out everywhere. I am OK with both 7ft and 5ft. But let's be real, the handling between 5 and 7 are really the same. Or I would say the 5 doesn't gain me anything meaningful. I don't even bother to swap the hose. In fact, I don't even own anymore. When choosing dive gear, you should also looking potential cost vs gain. If gain=0, the cost of swaping hose is not worth it.

As to light, you know that for a light to be useful at all, you need a brighter light for day time than night, right?

 

[eelnoraa]

Nobody will ever grab the reg from your mouth and pull a hose tight around your neck if you don't have the hose around your neck at all to start with, right? I dive with a 7' hose on my doubles. I dive that way from boats full of OW divers. I do sometimes have a twinge of worry that someone from my boat (that is not my buddy, whom I am keeping close tabs on) will go OOA and approach me from my left, catch me unaware, yank the reg from my mouth and pull it directly to them, which would result in it being completely wrapped around my neck and being pulled tight. No, I don't lose sleep over it. It's just something I have thought about that *could* happen. The extra complexity/liability of the 7' hose is why I probably would not use one on my single tank reg set. I wouldn't be doing dives in a single tank rig where I'd need a 7' hose - so I wouldn't have one. Which is sort of the theme of this thread, right?

I can not believe this. You have a very vivid imagination. If you think 7ft is such a dangerous item, why would you even remotely consider using it in your tech double setup, which you will use in a much more demanding tech diving.

And before you talk about GUE training, please genuinely go take one their class. Then come back and share your thought

 

[RandomGuy1]

I'm one who carries the same thing on every dive. I carry my primary light, and a backup light is always clipped off. Hose is always a 7' on singles or doubles. The benefits are everything is always the same. If stuff gets squirrely, I know exactly what I have with me and where it is.

**edit** My primary light is not a can light but a handheld on a soft goodman.

 

[Diving Dubai]

I can not believe this. You have a very vivid imagination. If you think 7ft is such a dangerous item, why would you even remotely consider using it in your tech double setup, which you will use in a much more demanding tech diving.

While I'm not a fan of 7' hose, and don't dive one, nor see the need in MY diving environment.

BUT I don't see the problem with keeping your standard set up. If that what you dive with, are comfortable with, then better to use it all the time, rather than swapping between configs. If 7' is someone's preference then use it all the time.

My rig of 2 x 40" one from the left and one from the right on a single tank, works for me. I've used it in anger (on an exercise) Do I need it on a vacation reef dive to 30'? No. Is it a problem taking it on such a dive? No.

I'd personally rather have too much hose than wishing I had more

 

[stuartv]

I can not believe this. You have a very vivid imagination. If you think 7ft is such a dangerous item, why would you even remotely consider using it in your tech double setup, which you will use in a much more demanding tech diving.

Yes. Yes, I do. I also note that there are plenty of people who are dead because they "couldn't imagine" whatever killed them.

Anyway, I definitely worry less about diving with a 7' hose when I'm doing tech dives with other trained tech divers. With random OW divers...? Well, maybe I've just read too many "stupid diver" stories here and in other places.... So, with tech divers, I worry about it for maybe 2 milliseconds per month, and with random OW divers, I worry about it easily 100 times as much. ;-)

 

[stuartv]

While I'm not a fan of 7' hose, and don't dive one, nor see the need in MY diving environment.

BUT I don't see the problem with keeping your standard set up. If that what you dive with, are comfortable with, then better to use it all the time, rather than swapping between configs. If 7' is someone's preference then use it all the time.

I agree. I have a 7' hose because it is necessary on some of my dives - so I use it on all my dives (where I dive with doubles). It's like the other debate about people diving a CCR. "No, I don't need it on this dive. But, I will need it on other dives, so I'm diving it now to maintain or improve my skill level with it."

 

[Lorenzoid]

Well, I was being sarcastic with the first part. I mean, a can light and a 7' hose seems a bit much (as in, unnecessary and added complexity) to adopt as a standard configuration for use on 40' reef dives in warm, clear, well-lit water. That last part was just poking fun, because with normal length hoses and a regular light, there would be not even a question when it came to donating air. Meaning, no worries of hoses and cords becoming intertwined. No worries of the diver donating the air having to give any thought to moving a light around, etc.. it seems to me that those things are (minor) liabilities that technical divers put up with because the benefits are worth it in the types of dives they are doing. But, there is a reason you have to demonstrate proficiency with light handling to get a GUE Tech pass, right? Because it's not so simple, easy, and obvious that the skill can just be assumed, right?

I get it that you're being sarcastic and poking a little fun at the GUE/UTD crowd, and to some extent it's deserved. It DOES all look a little odd on a 40' tropical reef. But it also comes down to standardization. Having become completely accustomed to it, the 7' hose just feels right in any environment, and I think I would find it unsettling to switch hose lengths depending on what kind of diving I'm doing. The idea of using the same hose, and donating gas the same way, whether I'm doing a real tech dive or a rec dive on a tropical reef, appeals to me. That whole muscle memory thing. My rig has basically the same "feel" regardless of the dive. I could extend the argument to include having a primary light on daylight dives, too. I personally draw the line there, and I do not take a can light or other primary light on a tropical reef dive--just a bungeed-up small light in case I might want to look at something. But I would be glad to argue in favor of doing so, as I can totally appreciate why some people might want to do that so that their rig has the same "feel" regardless of what kind of dive they are doing.

Yeah, that an OOG diver might strangle me with my own hose is a possible negative to the long-hose system that has been discussed to death over the years. Apparently there are many of us who believe the benefits outweigh that risk.

In another post, you mentioned something along the lines of standardization promoting laziness. I am TOTALLY lazy. The idea that I would not have to give a lot of thought to what gear to bring on any given dive was a major attraction to me of the sort of "system" diving that GUE advocates. To whatever extent is practical, I bring the same gear on every dive. I do use a checklist and am not lazy about checking off each item on that. You seem to be a tinkerer, constantly adjusting your gear, but I'm not. To each his own. I'd be more than happy to leave my gear in a certain configuration indefinitely if it were practical to use exactly the same gear on every dive.

 

[eelnoraa]

Yes. Yes, I do. I also note that there are plenty of people who are dead because they "couldn't imagine" whatever killed them.

So you are saying that 7ft can and will kill in rec diving with unknown rec diver? so you are avoiding using one?? Have you ever had anyone rid a reg out of your mouth, unplanned?

 

[stuartv]

So you are saying that 7ft can and will kill in rec diving with unknown rec diver? so you are avoiding using one?? Have you ever had anyone rid a reg out of your mouth, unplanned?

I said can, not will. I use one anyway, when I dive doubles on rec dives. Because, as I also said, I think the risk is extremely low. And no, I have never had anyone pull a reg from my mouth, nor even seen it happen to anyone. Thus, part of the reason I evaluate the risk to be so low. Recognizing a risk does not automatically mean that one has to avoid it completely.

But, you can be sure that, if I'm on a rec dive and I've been down long enough to think the single tank divers in the water may be starting to get low on air, I do try to pay a little extra attention, above and beyond normal, to my surroundings, in case anyone does actually go OOA.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

So you are saying that 7ft can and will kill in rec diving with unknown rec diver? so you are avoiding using one?? Have you ever had anyone rid a reg out of your mouth, unplanned?

It's just perpetuating a myth created by people who don't know any better. I've done a few donations over the years using a 7-foot hose, in some cases to complete strangers. Never once had anyone attempt to rip a reg away from me. But maybe it's because if you're reasonably aware, you'll see them coming and have that reg out there at arm's length where they can take it without getting that close to you. I've also not once encountered any hesitance or confusion on the part of the person receiving the reg. That, too, seems to be more based on supposition than reality.

And as with all equipment choices, the longer hose comes with both drawbacks and benefits. One of the benefits is that now that you're sharing air with someone, you don't have to be face to face holding them in a death grip ... you can surface in as close to a normal ascent as you're used to doing. If conditions call for physical assistance, you can still render it ... but unlike a standard reg setup, you aren't forced to. You have more choice, and can base your choice on the circumstances, rather than the limitations of your equipment.

Back when I used to do tropical dive trips with my ex-wife, we would routinely share air off my tank ... I go through it a lot less quickly than she does, and the 7-foot hose allowed us to swim side-by-side while taking pictures and enjoying the dive while we "equalized" our air tanks. It usually had the benefit of extending our dive by 10 minutes or so, which adds up on that tropical liveaboard vacation where you're doing several dives a day. If you're going to do this, it's a good idea to mention it to the dive guide beforehand ... so they don't get the impression there's any sort of emergency. But it was pretty standard fare for us, and they got used to it by the end of the first day.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)