Why use a double hose

[formernuke]

I'm just curious as to what the advantages/disadvantages of double hose configurations.

I've never used one but I am aware that they exist and some like them.

Just a curiosity for some light discussion while on partial lockdown.

 

[dogbone]

I think one of the main advantages is if you do photography... On single hose, you have the bubbles coming out next to your head, sometimes in front of your face... Can get in the way of the shot... On double hose, the bubbles come out behind your head...

It also looks way cooler...

 

[hammet]

Boomers be all like Mike Nelson.

 

[rhwestfall]

My reasons:

I've had numerous wildlife interactions that happened because the explosive exit of scary bubbles is behind my head.

I also really like my DH for ice diving as the large thermal mass and a dry second stage handles the cold extremely well.

I consider the performance on par with my modern equipment.

Drives the folks at my LDS crazy....

And, it is just simply cool!

YMMV

 

[dogbone]

How hard are double hoses to service? Do they require any special tools? Specifically looking at kraken...

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

Because they be uber-retro cool.

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

How hard are double hoses to service? Do they require any special tools? Specifically looking at kraken...

If you can service a Conshelf XIV you can service pretty much any 2-stage DH, including the Kraken. The single stage DH only have like 3 moving parts and an o-ring. Very Simple. my. 2psi.

 

[dogbone]

If you can service a Conshelf XIV you can service pretty much any 2-stage DH, including the Kraken. The single stage DH only have like 3 moving parts and an o-ring. Very Simple. my. 2psi.

But what if your have never serviced a reg... But would like to get into it, and really want a kraken... And realize you have an impulse buying problem, so you probably gonna end up with one sooner or later, so should probably know how to make it work... Asking for a friend...

 

[tbone1004]

I'm just curious as to what the advantages/disadvantages of double hose configurations.

I've never used one but I am aware that they exist and some like them.

Just a curiosity for some light discussion while on partial lockdown.

I dive one because it's unique. Don't see many of them anymore, so it's fun.
Bubbles behind your head is really nice for photography/videography, it also cuts down a little bit on the exhaust bubble noise if you are doing video without an added audio track.
Rebreathers are obviously better for all of that, but they're big, expensive, and can be finicky, so there's that.

as @Scuba Lawyer said, while they may look really different, the guts of the regulators are really standard parts, so servicing them is pretty simple. The few tools that make servicing them much easier are made by @herman and are quite affordable.
If you don't want to service it yourself, guys like @Bryan@Vintage Double Hose provide that service and do it amazingly well. Yes you have to ship it, but it's not that bad. The service intervals are generally quite long since everything is sealed in there.

 

[rhwestfall]

They are really not much different from a modern regulator, just joined at the hip...