hose routing in doubles...

[Icarusflies]

Hello All;

Here I am trying to route the house of my new set of doubles and I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!

This is what I am doing:

I am using an Explorer wing 40 lb
Double AL 80's
Two dive rite first stages

I am trying to follow DIR since I am about to take fundies.

RIGHT POST: 7' long house and Power inflator for the wing
LEFT POST: Back up (bungeed) 22'' routed by my right shoulder and SPG 24'' that goes behind the wing

The back up is way too short so I have to use a longer hose and the SPG is tight too. I am afraid that I am going to create a lot of tension on the hose connection when I inflate the wing.

Does this sound right to you?

Thanks

 

[DIR-Atlanta]

RIGHT POST: 7' long house and Power inflator for the wing
LEFT POST: Back up (bungeed) 22'' routed by my right shoulder and SPG 24'' that goes behind the wing

The back up is way too short so I have to use a longer hose and the SPG is tight too. I am afraid that I am going to create a lot of tension on the hose connection when I inflate the wing.

Your hose lengths and placement sound right, except that the HP hose goes in front of the wing. it should go pretty much straight from the first stage to the left hip D-ring, with no slack. Using a 22" hose for the backup may be too short, depending on how the first stage is positioned. That length works well for Scubapro and Atomic firsts (which have an end port), but may not be optimal for turreted regs like the DiveRites.

Your comment about hoses being "too short" is common among folks who dive a DIR config for the first time. People become accustomed to the excessive slack of the hoses in their traditional setup, and then when the switch to a tighter setup, everything seems too short. I suggest that you do several dives on the rig in familiar surroundings (shallow water, at a site you know well) to get the "feel" of everything. You may find after a few dives that the hoses feel about right.

However, it is possible that with you particular reg setup, some different length hoses may be required. I'm not personally familiar with th DR regs, but I think they are probably similar to the Apeks turreted regs. Also, you may have to cant the first stages slightly to one side or the other to get optimal routing of the hoses.

Play around a little with first stage position, and get some dives on the rig before making any changes to hose length, though. FYI on a DIR setup - the SPG is usually unclipped and brought over the top of the left arm for proper viewing. Some people assume the hose is too short because they are not using the proper motion to look at the SPG.

Good luck with your setup, and don't hesitate to ask for advice here on the board. You might also try to seek out some other DIR divers in your area to give you some help. Sometimes it works better if you can actually "see" what it is supposed to look like.

 

[Vie]

Dive Rite regs would route similar to Apeks. The older Dive Rite RG1208 would route similar to Apeks DST, the new Hurricane would route like Apeks FST/FSR, the orientation would be more like FSR, although the LP and HP ports aren't angled away from each other on the Hurricane.

Here are some good pics of Apeks FSTs on AL80 doubles with Explorer wing.

http://www.gue.com/Expeditions/WKPP/Equipment/equipmentimages.htm

 

[Icarusflies]

Thank you very much guys for the info.

OK, I have passed HP hose on top of the wing now and I have changed the position of the first stages up side down so the turret is up and the HP port down all in line with the tanks perpendicular to the floor. So now I have the HP hose going out of the port from the side and then make a 90 degree turn to the D ring in front of the wing. Same thing for the right post with the first stage of the primary. The hoses stick out a little but no more than the perimeter of the wing.

 

[SparticleBrane]

I have found that a 22" backup just isn't long enough on my double Al80 setup (DS4 1st stages). No matter how I route it, if I have my backup in my mouth I can't even move my head to the center--I'm stuck looking to the right and I can barely get it in my mouth there. I think another 2ish inches might help...

 

[ianr33]

Agree with sparticle. With a DS4 horizontal the hose for the backup reg comes out of the bottom of the first stage and then takes a hard bend. I use a 24 inch hose for doubles. With a 22 inch I could look straight ahead but could not turn my head to the left.

 

[The Kraken]

Good advice so far.

Yep, you're losing a good 4" of hose and are throwing in a bend on top of that; so you could lose, effectively, about 5" of hose.

My doubles set up alternate hose is longer than my singles for that very reason.

the K-inked Hose Hater

 

[kidspot]

same here - I use a 24" reg hose for my backup on my doubles rig (DiveRite regs) but a 22" on my singles.

 

[riguerin]

Me too. I find that a 22" hose for the backup reg is too short on the Apeks DS4's (can't turn head all the way left) ... where as a 24" hose is just right.

As far as a 24" HP hose goes - I find it works well for doubles. However, I find it too short for a singles rig, so I use a 26" hose instead (for singles setup).

 

[ianr33]

Wow! seems everybody is in agreement here.

Is this a first for Scubaboard?