What's the point of a long hose?

[RedCash02]

And that's the main reason why I wear a snorkel. ;]
Although if you had no other option, a long hose would be waaaaay more ideal.

I keep mine around for that too. But since you're from NorCal... I don't think I'd want to be using a snorkel if Monastery got rough. Last thing I want is to choke on some water trying to crawl out of that surf.

 

[g1138]

I keep mine around for that too. But since you're from NorCal... I don't think I'd want to be using a snorkel if Monastery got rough. Last thing I want is to choke on some water trying to crawl out of that surf.

I'd take water over Monster berries anyday.
I still have to clean those suckers out of my car.

I guess it depends on the person you're sharing air with. If your trusting enough to have him/her keep up with you on the exit. Or the other way around.
Or I guess if the person is even able to exit monastery on a snorkel.
But going into that is a whole another can of worms I'd rather not open.

 

[Peter_C]

And that's the main reason why I wear a snorkel. ;]
Although if you had no other option, a long hose would be waaaaay more ideal.

I hear more negative snorkel stories than I do happy ones. Plus a snorkel doesn't work underwater which is a big possibility in our local surf conditions. Been there done that, thank goodness for a reg in my mouth. Not one of my regular dive buddies uses a snorkel and they all use long hoses.

One really nice benefit I rarely see mentioned with a long hose is it wraps tightly to your body not protruding out far from your head. This keeps the kelp monster from pushing the reg around in your mouth and even worse your buddy using their special fins (AKA hands) when swimming and accidentally pulling the reg out of your mouth.

It is a proven fact many panicked divers will grab the reg from your mouth. With a long hose it already is the one you are trained to donate and your back up is bungeed close to your chin for easy delivery into your mouth. You will always know right were your backup reg is. Too many times I see people with their octos dragging in the sand. The chances of them finding it quickly are slim.

We often scooter dive and need to be able to perform air shares so a long hose is mandatory in my book.

I have now had two instances where I have had to share air. Both times I was glad to have a long hose. If you want to be close, grab hold of them. If you want a little distance then you can separate a little and the person OOA hangs onto the hose so it doesn't get pulled out of their mouth. The long hose gives you that option. The short hose does not.

Plus you can easily share air when someone is low on air before they run out. We have done that to lengthen safety stop times when someone was low on air. We have also shared air when one of my buddies was low just to extend the dive and not have to surface. He still had over 500 psi in his own tank to safely ascend, should the need have arisen.

 

[g1138]

I hear more negative snorkel stories than I do happy ones. Plus a snorkel doesn't work underwater which is a big possibility in our local surf conditions. Been there done that, thank goodness for a reg in my mouth. Not one of my regular dive buddies uses a snorkel and they all use long hoses.
More reason to practice. We were required to do a 50yd duck and swim on snorkel for my scientific class. UCSD came up with the test I believe, to simulate a surf entry with scuba (although we didn't test suited with scuba).
I also did a heavy surf entry at Big Creek fully suited in scuba, using my snorkel to save air; so I know it's possible. You won't believe how much air you use just to count 60m of kelp
There are pros and cons for everything I guess. I'm learning that with this long hose thread

One really nice benefit I rarely see mentioned with a long hose is it wraps tightly to your body not protruding out far from your head. This keeps the kelp monster from pushing the reg around in your mouth and even worse your buddy using their special fins (AKA hands) when swimming and accidentally pulling the reg out of your mouth.
I would say that a 90 degree or 360 swivel would work just the same

It is a proven fact many panicked divers will grab the reg from your mouth. With a long hose it already is the one you are trained to donate and your back up is bungeed close to your chin for easy delivery into your mouth. You will always know right were your backup reg is. Too many times I see people with their octos dragging in the sand. The chances of them finding it quickly are slim.
This was one thing that I forgot to mention. Using a config where your would wrap the hose around your head, I just imagine an OOA grabbing your reg and pulling your head towards them.

We often scooter dive and need to be able to perform air shares so a long hose is mandatory in my book.
Something I never thought of =]

I have now had two instances where I have had to share air. Both times I was glad to have a long hose. If you want to be close, grab hold of them. If you want a little distance then you can separate a little and the person OOA hangs onto the hose so it doesn't get pulled out of their mouth. The long hose gives you that option. The short hose does not.

Plus you can easily share air when someone is low on air before they run out. We have done that to lengthen safety stop times when someone was low on air. We have also shared air when one of my buddies was low just to extend the dive and not have to surface. He still had over 500 psi in his own tank to safely ascend, should the need have arisen.

I really appreciate all the examples and info everyone has given me. There are definitely some things I've not thought of.
Thanks all.
Feel free to keep the examples coming for others to look at.

 

[RedCash02]

Snorkels also require you to be able to clear them. If the big one comes along and body slams you, you might not have any breath left. In terms of exiting, my snorkel is for when I can't get any out of my own reg and I don't trust my buddy enough to do a team exit.

 

[g1138]

Snorkels also require you to be able to clear them. If the big one comes along and body slams you, you might not have any breath left. In terms of exiting, my snorkel is for when I can't get any out of my own reg and I don't trust my buddy enough to do a team exit.

Not to be nit picky, but unless you're emptying your lungs like a spirometry test, you'll always have enough to breath a little bit more.
Admittedly though I find it harder to clear a purge valve snorkel on a low breath compared to a standard solid tube.
I guess I just love my snorkel more than my reg. Sometimes when I'm having too much fun I put the snorkel in my mouth instead of my reg.
Not my most glamorous moment. 9-9

 

[Peter_C]

I really appreciate all the examples and info everyone has given me. There are definitely some things I've not thought of.
Thanks all.
Feel free to keep the examples coming for others to look at.

Most of the 360 degree swivels are known for being high in failures. Search this board, as I did, and you will see there is a scary amount of failures. Not something I would want on my hose.

Plus if you want to donate the hose it is much harder to grab with a 90 degree or swivel fitting vs grabbing the hose right by the regulator.

As to snorkels, if you need more air bring a bigger tank More times than not having the clunky thing attached to the mask causes leaking issues along with other issues. I have seen and heard of many people putting their snorkels in their mouths instead of their regs, then jumping off a boat or also when switching regs underwater. Some of those people were highly experienced divers. So far I have never needed a snorkel. Surf entries are something I would avoid, and exits in BIG surf are never in the dive plan. It is way to easy to fall in full scuba gear and very hard to get back up.

 

[g1138]

As to snorkels, if you need more air bring a bigger tank More times than not having the clunky thing attached to the mask causes leaking issues along with other issues. Plus I have seen and heard of many people putting their snorkels in their mouths instead of their regs, then jumping off a boat or switching regs. Some of those people were highly experienced divers. So far I have never needed a snorkel. Surf entries are something I would avoid, and exits in BIG surf are never in the dive plan. It is way to easy to fall in full scuba gear and very hard to get back up.

Touche on 360 swivel.

You may not always have the luxury of choosing your size tank though.
For the most part you may be able to choose your beach.

The Big Creek entry was done as a checkout dive for scientific. We had the DSO as our instructor and apparently our last day was still better than last years class.
Don't get me wrong we weren't forced to dive, we chose to.
But the job entailed collecting data for the university's data base.
All we had were St80's and two 30m transects to perform, each 10m apart over various terrain.

So in a sense yes I could have avoided the surf entry. But given those exact circumstances, I had fun doing it anyhow. =D

Also you should always plan for exits in heavy surf, you never know. ;D

 

[vladimir]

The diagram below explains

Dziękuję za wyjaśnienie, że, Andy.

 

[DevonDiver]

eh? waasup?