Using A Long Hose Isn't Just For Tech Divers

[OE2X]

I'll bring two just in case Uncle Pug forgot his.

 

[novadiver]

One perception that seems to be prevalent here is that if you are going to use a long hose that you must be wreck or cave diving or you want to look like a tech wannabee.

Most of the divers I see out here that use a 7' hose seem to be doing a lot of recreational dives. I know that is particularly true for many of my buddies. Some of them even dive doubles for their rec. dives. The next time I go warm water diving, I will use a long hose...

Here are some of the reasons why I like using a 7' hose:

Air shares are much easier!
Ascents and holding stops are much easier when sharing air.
Swimming into a current is much easier when sharing air.

Back on topic, If the only reason there is, is to shair air, then you could go solo and not worry about a long hose and avoid the potential hazard.

 

[OE2X]

Back on topic, If the only reason there is, is to shair air, then you could go solo and not worry about a long hose and avoid the potential hazard.

Well... Probably only three of my 200+ dives were solo last year. I enjoy diving with others, so having a long hose is necessary.

I don't see any hazards to diving with a long hose. In fact just the opposite.

If I did dive solo, I would have one primary and one reg on a slung 40 cf bottle.

 

[jonnythan]

Back on topic, If the only reason there is, is to shair air, then you could go solo and not worry about a long hose and avoid the potential hazard.

I have to admit, I love this logic.

"OK, so using a long hose is better for air sharing... so just avoid sharing air to begin with by diving by yourself, and you can avoid the non-specified dangers of the long hose. Oh, no, wait, the danger is looking like a poser! So, to sum up, don't look like a poser. Dive a short hose solo."

 

[ScubaTwo]

You don't HAVE to give all 7' to the diver. You can still grab the OOA diver's harness if you wish, but with the 7' you have a choice. No one said it is impossible to make a safe ascent while sharing air with the short hose. It's just that the long hose gives you more options, and with a non-paniced diver, safety stops are much easier and safer when you're not trying to do a slow-dance with your buddy the whole time.

Im a new diver. my buddy and I did decided to go with a longer hose but not for any reasons stated. If my budy was OOA I would rather have him close. I dunno. Just a newbies thought Guess we are still in that very cautious stage. I hope we dont leave it any time soon lol. We also have our secondarys on the inflater hose. Its not easy but with a good buddy and good diving planning it works out. Like I said Im a newbie. Just thought I would share. We are still working thru all the diff equipment configs seeing what is right for us. Good to meet you all

 

[jonnythan]

Im a new diver. my buddy and I did decided to go with a longer hose but not for any reasons stated.

Out of curiosity, what reasons?

 

[MASS-Diver]

Im a new diver. my buddy and I did decided to go with a longer hose but not for any reasons stated. If my budy was OOA I would rather have him close. I dunno. Just a newbies thought Guess we are still in that very cautious stage. I hope we dont leave it any time soon lol. We also have our secondarys on the inflater hose. Its not easy but with a good buddy and good diving planning it works out. Like I said Im a newbie. Just thought I would share. We are still working thru all the diff equipment configs seeing what is right for us. Good to meet you all

The key is to actually practice. Signal OOA at 20 or 30' and try to do a controlled ascent (with a saftey stop) while sharing gas. It won't take long for you see why people like the long hose even for rec diving.

I'm not sure what dive planning has to do with having those integrated air source regs? Or why it's OK for it not to be "easy." A OOA can arise even with perfect planning - so you don't want to count on that to get away with not being able to share air well. And, sharing air should be easy - it needs to be second nature. If you struggle to share air in a training situation - do you really think you'll be able to pull it off in an emergency?

When I started diving my dive shop sold me one of those intergrated systems too (sherwood minimus) - I wound up in a real-life OOA and it wasn't any fun. The OOA diver simple reached over (rather casually) and yanked my reg out my mouth - my reg was on a standard lenght hose and the OOA diver was on my left side - he was so close he pinned my LP hose (with my backup reg) against my side. I held my breath for a bit and he repostioned himself. We were in a bad area to surface (shipping lane) so we had to swim a while underwater (against a current) - that integrated reg breathed so bad - it made a scary situation even more stressful.

You don't want to wait for an emergency to find out your rig can't cut it.

 

[Snowbear]

We also have our secondarys on the inflater hose. Its not easy but with a good buddy and good diving planning it works out.

Sure it can "work out," but why make it more difficult? What about if you don't have a good buddy and your good planning goes sideways?

If my budy was OOA I would rather have him close. I dunno. Just a newbies thought

That's probably because that's how you were taught and that's how you practice. You may actually find yourself pleasantly surprised to try an airshare from someone who uses a long hose.

I was ~ in practice of course

 

[ScubaTwo]

Sure it can "work out," but why make it more difficult? What about if you don't have a good buddy and your good planning goes sideways?
That's probably because that's how you were taught and that's how you practice. You may actually find yourself pleasantly surprised to try an airshare from someone who uses a long hose.

I was ~ in practice of course

You are my the very first person to talk to me on here!!! w00t. I totally agree. We are kinda just seeing how things work now but on the bright side we are learning with not so easy to use stuff so mabe that will help us someday down the road. At the time we were thinking streamline. Since we finally did a deep dive and such it kinda (very much ) crossed our minds that the way we chose wasnt the easiest. So we just keep practicing (with other ppl also). Im all for the long hoses. When we practic our OOA the inflater hose with the secondary is too short to have good communication with your buddy and its very constricting. Its sufficiant but not comfortable I guess Im trying to say? Like I said we are still learning and trying to figure out what works the best. Ty so much for your input. I Guess im rambling pls forgive me Im just excited to be here

 

[ScubaTwo]

oh I forgot sumfin. We did get sorta long hoses on our primary with swivals so we can put them under our arms. Kinda defeats the purpose when the othe one on the inflater is so dang short. Live and learn lol