what's the current feeling on Miflex hoses - some years on from the recall, etc.

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

divedrewsf

Registered
Messages
51
Reaction score
28
Location
Makati, Metro Manila
# of dives
5000 - ∞
Hello - just did a thorough search on Miflex hoses and see the last time any discussion here about them was > 5yrs ago.

I've been using Miflex hoses for well over 10 years now, including two of the post-recall (grey) HP hoses. They've always performed flawlessly for me (and I average 150-200 dives/year). I just bought another reg and am kitting it out and was ready to order my usual set of Miflex hoses for it. I asked a LDS owner here in the Philippines about inventory, and he profusely suggested I not use them because they are "Totally unsuitable for our environment." (emphasis mine to point out my location)

I asked him to expand and he said "Liner degrades in contact with high humidity and oil. Flakes off and blocks hose." He claims to know of "several" cases of this, but neither have I ever heard of it, read of it (here/elsewhere) nor experienced any such issues...and some of my Miflex hoses are going on 8+ years!

So, to the group...are we still using Miflex hoses or are we back to rubber again?

Thanks for any feedback!

(sorry for the long post...and slightly overly general question...this just put me on alert as I trust this LDS owner here and am surprised to hear this from him)
 
I tried a Miflex hose on a left sided SideMount tank, the one that goes around your neck. The outer fibres kept grabbing my neck seal and I hated it, so I binned the hose, put my trusty rubber hose back on and never touched another Miflex.
 
I tried a Miflex hose on a left sided SideMount tank, the one that goes around your neck. The outer fibres kept grabbing my neck seal and I hated it, so I binned the hose, put my trusty rubber hose back on and never touched another Miflex.
I can see this being a thing, my necklace mounted regulator came with a miflex hose.. however it was a bit too long so I swapped it with a shorter one. I don't think I would want to have miflex around my neck unless it was the XT-Tech one from miflex due to how abrasive they feel. However, I am not spending cash to buy a XT-Tech hose to see if I like it when the rubber works just fine for now. If it were to fail, I might upgrade to it.
 
Practically all my hoses are Miflex or Mares equivalent, and several must be coming up to 10 years old now.

I dive mainly here in the UAE where in the summer the humidity is very high. My other dive destinations are usually in the Philippines, Indonesia or Malaysia.

I've not had any issues yet!

The outer fibres kept grabbing my neck seal and I hated it,

I don't like the Miflex hose rubbing on my bare neck, but I usually wear a hood so it doesn't bother me too much.
 
although I appreciate the first two above replies, the intention of my thread was based more on the reliability and addressing of the specific issue I mentioned in the OP.

experiences with specialized/tech *applications* are more appropriate for another thread.

thank you.
 
I am no expert, but I avoided braided hoses until a couple years ago when the rubber hose I wanted to buy was itself subject to a recall, and then I got a couple braided hoses. My understanding is that the Miflex are no longer using the brittle material that caused their recall.
 
It seems like unless someone actually has some recent, degraded MiFlex hoses as proof, it'll likely be reports of problems prior to the original recall that keeps circulating and related.

Your LDS may be trying to be helpful, but without knowing the details, it's just word of caution from something heard before.

For myself, I only have one MiFlex and I'm not convinced it's a better choice than rubber, except for maybe weight. The braids snag. The rubber hoses I got with my DeepSix regs are super flexible and don't snag. Maybe rubber technology has caught up?
 
My safe second is on a miflex hose. Seems ok except for some very slight fraying of the outer threads. Eventually, I will probably replace it with a rubber hose.
 
My entire rig now is Miflex (reg., octo, inflator and spg). I like it and I've had no issues over about 200 dives. I don't dive w/ a long-hose so neck chafing isn't relevant.
 
IMG-20210329-WA0012.jpeg

The last Problem i had with one of my hoses. Maybe 100 dives in two years.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom