Which length long hose 5ft or 7ft?

[RTodd]

No can light, stuff the excess hose under your waistband. Problem sovled.

Can light and short torso, go under the light and then tuck excess hose under the waistband further forward. Problem solved.

This allows everyone to use a "standard" 7' hose. I have 3 sets of double back gas regs and three sets of open water regs. If I tried to use a 6' hose for my wife who is only 5', we would have to carefully make sure she always had "her" stuff. No need for that. She knows how to use a 7' with her frame allowing her to pick up anyone's DIR regs and dive.

 

[rjack321]

Why not just hook the hose on the can light and pull the excess behind her? That should keep the torso clean. It's what I do anyway...

She used to do that (based on my training/suggestions), but the extra loop was pretty long (~16" of hose) and it liked to come loose.

Chris recommended the extra hook on the knife sheath to avoid having hose flopping around during blind exits and such. It does make s-drills a tiny bit slower and less smooth (esp. if as the doanee you don't klnow about the double hook on can + knife)

When she used a 6ft hose in OW it negated the extra knife hook and made s-drills faster and smoother. And there was no loopie to push its way out from under the can light.

 

[rjack321]

Can light and short torso, go under the light and then tuck excess hose under the waistband further forward. Problem solved.

CALM did not like this approach, I forget why. He preferred the knife hook.

 

[PfcAJ]

And the GUE's position as outlined in the DIRF book too. Although that may have changed I wouldn't know.

Indeed. And I also disagree with Mr. Irvine's 40 inch hose on his "open water" rig on the GUE website.

Hook it under the knife, pull some of the slack behind you, tuck in in a waist strap, do whatever. But let's THINK about why we are doing things and look to the future.

It's so easy to get caught up in what he book says and if it works for a class that we often forget that we do these things so that we can have a dive system that works in most all environments, is simple, concise, interchangable, and allows us to maintain the same configuration between all levels of diving.

 

[rjack321]

Indeed. And I also disagree with Mr. Irvine's 40 inch hose on his "open water" rig on the GUE website.

Hook it under the knife, pull some of the slack behind you, tuck in in a waist strap, do whatever. But let's THINK about why we are doing things and look to the future.

It's so easy to get caught up in what he book says and if it works for a class that we often forget that we do these things so that we can have a dive system that works in most all environments, is simple, concise, interchangable, and allows us to maintain the same configuration between all levels of diving.

Yeah but do you really need to configure yourself for Cave2 level restrictions in a single tank OW rig? I am all for having a universal config and planning ahead. But I just don't see a 6ft hose on a stubby person (who may have zero interest in caves) as all that big of a compromise. By the time some folks are ready or interested in overheads it may very well be time to replace hoses anyway! And they are cheap enough that if you make a mistake (like when the wify thought she wanted a 5ft hose...) its not the end of the world. I sold that hose used no problem after she tried it for ~6 dives.

 

[lamont]

Indeed. And I also disagree with Mr. Irvine's 40 inch hose on his "open water" rig on the GUE website.

I believe that GUE disagrees with Mr. Irvine's 40 inch hose on his OW rig these days...

If that's on the GUE site somewhere it probably just hasn't been cleaned up...

 

[jeckyll]

I don't think that Mr. Irvine is still recommending different hose lengths...

From a posting of his from Apr this year

"... While you should not be doing anything that requires a 7 foot hose on open water gear, the 7 is a lot more versatile and the concept of continuity between gear setups is a plus."

There was more but this is the gist of it.

B.

 

[MBH]

I'm a towering 5'11" and the 5' hose is way too short for me. I immediately switched to a 7' hose and I think it was rjack that got me to stow the hose under my knife (I didn't have a can light). It worked perfectly for me. When I did begin using a can light I had already developed the correct muscle memory for deploying the balance of the hose after donating. I'm just not that wild about tucking the hose inside the waist strap.

 

[Zinc]

And they are cheap enough that if you make a mistake (like when the wify thought she wanted a 5ft hose...) its not the end of the world. I sold that hose used no problem after she tried it for ~6 dives.

I've got a 5' for sale, just PM me. I'm but serious on the sale

 

[RTodd]

CALM did not like this approach, I forget why. He preferred the knife hook.

They may have come up with a reason of why it is a bad idea, but I got the idea of tucking the excess in the belt when already using a can light from Danny.