Yellow hoses and Yellow regulator Question

[Stoo]

The last thing I want is him or her 5 or 6 feet above me ringing my bell with every kick as he's dragging me like a dog on a leash. But to each his own.

Yup. Surely a test of the zip tie on that mouthpiece!

 

[GF99/99]

Working on my set up. I am leaning toward a primary reg on a 5 foot hose, coupled with a necklaced secondary. I am favoring the "primary donate" method for sharing air, where I donate my primary and then switch to the necklaced secondary.

Is it general practice to have the "donate" regulator that you would donate to your buddy in an out of air situation either be yellow or to have a yellow hose? If a person sees a yellow regulator, will they rightly assume that that's the one they're going to receive if they need to share air?

I've noticed that octos are generally yellow and often have a yellow hose.

I've also noticed that in the videos I've seen of folks who have a long hose primary, short hose alternate, very few of them have yellow hoses or regulators. Most just have black. These folks, I assume, are all practicing the primary donate method for sharing air. (I have seen a few examples of folks with yellow hoses for their long hose primaries, but it's rare.)

Right now, my primary regulator is grey, but my alternate is yellow. If I am going to use a long hose primary, with a necklaced alternate, will it be a problem if the alternate regulator is yellow? I'm a bit worried about having a yellow regulator as an alternate if I'm planning on sharing my primary.

If I want to go with a long hose primary, necklaced short hose alternate, and I am planning on the primary donate method for sharing air, should I get a different secondary reg that is not yellow?

Hope these questions are intelligible. (I'm still learning the nomenclature for the equipment.)

Despite what others have said the color of your hose and reg is irrelevant. I don't know of any agency that has a specific criteria requiring specific colors for your hoses and regulators. They can be whatever you want. Yes some recommend yellow for a donation color but this is not universal, for example I personally like colored hoses and I use yellow for intermediate non hypoxic trimix gases but this is purely a personal preference thing. The only color codding that I can think of that is someone universal is green for high o2 deco mixes, but even this is not set is stone or universal I think this just more comes from and US industry standard with industrial/medical gases.

 

[Marie13]

FWIW a 60" hose sucks. If you insist on buying a long hose despite not being an overhead single file exit diver then get a 72" hose so you can comfortably stow the excess under something on your waist harness.

My first setup had a 60" hose. It now sits in a bin and I dive a 40" under my arm, nice and streamlined because I'm not doing single file exits out of caves or wrecks.

For short people, a 60” hose does NOT suck. When I was diving backmount (single or doubles), it wrapped around my torso without having any annoying extra to deal with. I tried a 60” SM but it doesn’t work so back to 7ft. At least I don’t have to worry about tucking any extra into my belt. It’s tucked in hose retainers on right tank.

 

[MichaelMc]

Yellow hose and cover on the primary donate might simplify explanations topside. And cause fewer 'but your necklace is yellow, I don't understand..." comments. Plus colored hoses and webbing helps if you get hoses or webbing tangled up, underwater or on the surface.

All my hoses are black because that was what was available, not because it is the best choice. My webbing is migrating to bright colors.

If you can't find long yellow, Deep6 has long orange as orange is their color: Individual LP Hoses - Parts and Tools - Regulators

 

[ssssnake529]

Just going back to my comment that there are probably internal differences between your grey and yellow regulators, often the manufacturers make the work of breathing higher with the octo(yellow) versions of their regulators so that they dont free flow as easily. You may or may not notice. I change an internal spring in mine between normal and octo depending on what set up I'm using.

I'll second the comment above from @graham p
There is a good chance (almost guaranteed) that your grey reg is a better reg and breathes better than your yellow reg. If I were you, I'd continue to use the grey as a primary.

Depending on the model, the reg may have a pre-dive/dive selector knob as well as a fine adjustment. The alternative may not have the adjustment, and also may be detuned to stop it from free flowing when not in use - this also gives it some breathing resistance.

According to the manufacturer, the only difference between my octo and my primary is the yellow color.

 

[Centrals]

According to the manufacturer, the only difference between my octo and my primary is the yellow color.

Of course they are the same.
No body care about the colour except yourself!

 

[David Novo]

I don’t know why, but it seems that somewhere in scuba training something has been lost or just not taught or not been brought up for so long that it’s just not important.

Here’s what I mean. Yellow color can be seen as yellow or white under water. A fellow diver who has ran out of air and needs to buddy breathe can see that color and reach for it in a controlled (non panicked) situation. Black hoses tc cannot be readily seen.

There is a reason why our hoses are black and yellow and it’s not to please the masses. Normally above surface emergency egress is in red. Red cannot be seen below the water especially the deeper you go.

Yes it is our responsibility as divers to try to be proactive when we see a fellow diver in distress. At that time and place you can give either regulator to your buddy, and that is what we train to do. A panicked diver is going to be trying to get air either passively or aggressively as soon as possible.

A yellow hose can be seen. A black hose gets camouflaged with all your other gear. Also most if not all yellow hoses unless ordered different are longer that your primary black hoses.

I believe during training regardless of entity should emphasize that the yellow hose is there for your fellow diver in cases of emergency.

I use both regulators during diving to ensure they both work etc. I have a full face mask on a quick disconnect. In my circumstance a distressed diver will only have access to the yellow hose and attached regulator.

I may not have explained this eloquently enough but bottom line the colors are there for a reason.

Glenn

I guess this is more in favour of primary donate than a yellow secondary. If the diver is going to aggressively grab a regulator, chances are it is the one in your mouth (between bubbles and yellow, my brain tends to associate breathable gas with the former).

 

[Wibble]

Nobody cares about colours when using primary donate where you give the regulator to the diver without gas.

The reason for the yellow is for the "take it from me" alternate where you wait for the out of gas diver to find your regulator, untangle it and breathe (or drown trying).

You will see an out of gas diver way before they come over and say "hello old chap, would you mind awfully if I could borrow some gas as I seem to have lost mine…". A drowning diver really won’t mind what colour the reg and hose is,

Question for the panel: has ANYONE EVER had a diver unexpectedly TAKEN the reg from their mouth?

I postulate this is an ultra-rare event

 

[hedonist222]

Isn't it generally understood that an OOA diver should reach for the yellow regulator?
Whether they actually do that during an OOA is something else but they are aware they should.

When I dive with a partner, I point out that my secondary second stage yellow regulator on a clip is theirs.
My primary is mine and won't be going far anyways - because it is on a necklace around my neck.

If someone other than my partner reached for the necklaced regulator, it would inevitably ricochet back to me. The plan is to put it back into my mouth while giving them my spare second stage.

"the plan"

 

[David Novo]

Question for the panel: has ANYONE EVER had a diver unexpectedly TAKEN the reg from their mouth?

I postulate this is an ultra-rare event

Probably true. But this is a case of conditional probability "What is the probability that a diver takes the reg from your mouth, if he is OOA and is grabbing one of your regs?". The answer to this question is what is relevant for this argument not the unconditional probability you stated.

Isn't it generally understood that an OOA diver should reach for the yellow regulator?

Depends on your protocols. Primary donate usually does not include a yellow regulator (or the colour is not relevant).