How long of hose on Primary and why?

[redacted]

I went with 5'4" to 5'6". I tried 5' but found it sometimes restricted my turning my head to the left. I'm about 230 with an 18" neck. The couple extra inches reduced the frequency of the restriction but did not eliminate it completely. I rarely have any problem now so I'm really not sure whether my original problem was actually hose length or technique. My buddy started with a 7 footer but with no can light seemed to be frequently wrestling with that tail. He now uses a 5 footer. We don't do restricted environments.

 

[Rainer]

I went with 5'4" to 5'6". I tried 5' but found it sometimes restricted my turning my head to the left. I'm about 230 with an 18" neck. The couple extra inches reduced the frequency of the restriction but did not eliminate it completely. I rarely have any problem now so I'm really not sure whether my original problem was actually hose length or technique. My buddy started with a 7 footer but with no can light seemed to be frequently wrestling with that tail. He now uses a 5 footer. We don't do restricted environments.

Did your buddy wth the 7' hose have a BP/W? If so, what I did before getting a can light is route the 7' hose under my shears (attached to the 2" webbing in a sheath). Worked great.

 

[BabyDuck]

i put the 7' hose under a pocket on my waist strap when i didn't have a can light. tucking it in the waist strap works, too, just slightly not as well.

but i haven't seen many folks unhappy with a 5footer, either. so do what you'd like! except the air2 thing. those'll kill you. (they have tiny but very strong wrists & hands and strangle people. really.)

 

[Nemrod]

Or, you could go with a 40inch hose, swivel, route under your arms for streamlining and necklace your octapus on a standard length hose. Works great for everything but cavers. Nothing wrapped around your neck or head or chest or dangling below you banging the reef. No need to carry a can light to tuck extra hose or any of that complication. The Zen approach, simple and direct. N

 

[redacted]

Did your buddy wth the 7' hose have a BP/W? If so, what I did before getting a can light is route the 7' hose under my shears (attached to the 2" webbing in a sheath). Worked great.

Yes. He tried just tucking it in but it seemed to get away from him every once in a while, in the water and on the boat.

 

[Rainer]

Or, you could go with a 40inch hose, swivel, route under your arms for streamlining and necklace your octapus on a standard length hose. Works great for everything but cavers. Nothing wrapped around your neck or head or chest or dangling below you banging the reef. No need to carry a can light to tuck extra hose or any of that complication. The Zen approach, simple and direct. N

Before going to a long hose, I had my primary on a 40" hose (with Kirby Morgan swivel; I believe there have been no reported failures on this swivel, unlike those connected with a screw) and by secondary on a 22" hose bungeed around my neck. Worked quite well. Gets you many benefits, but lacks the length that make air shares on longer hoses a bit easier.

 

[JessH]

I use a 7' hose with a bp/w and no can light. I was a bit worried when I realized that the hose was too long to tuck under my knife as I had planned (I am 5'8) but I quickly realized that tucking it into my waist strap works extremely well. While a 5' hose might work just fine for a rec configuration I personally don't see it as having any advantages over the 7' hose. IMHO since there is no negative to the 2 extra feet I feel that it is the better option. I have also heard people complain that a 5' hose tends to float around a bit more since it is not tucked in.

~Jess

 

[Rainer]

I use a 7' hose with a bp/w and no can light. I was a bit worried when I realized that the hose was too long to tuck under my knife as I had planned (I am 5'8) but I quickly realized that tucking it into my waist strap works extremely well. While a 5' hose might work just fine for a rec configuration I personally don't see it as having any advantages over the 7' hose. IMHO since there is no negative to the 2 extra feet I feel that it is the better option. I have also heard people complain that a 5' hose tends to float around a bit more since it is not tucked in.

~Jess

Jess, try putting a pair of shears on your right waist strap and tucking the hose under that. I found it to work quite well.

 

[Hawkwood]

Also, looking at his sig line. He doesn't have a BP, which makes it harder to have a can light (to tuck the excess hose)

5' hose will work with anything, it would be a better choice.

My son and I are ice diving at Minnewanka in February and 7' hoses were recommended, but I was wondering how to deal with all that length (both of us with BCDs). I think I just disovered that we should do okay with 5' hoses.

Thanks!

 

[all4scuba05]

I should've included certain info. I'm 5'4" tall and weigh 138. Drysuit with jacket style BC which fits me to the "T". Shocking but it's size XS. Point is I'm a small diver. My reg is th Delta 4 so the hose will have a swivel at the secondary. Hope this helps.

Another question is that in a dive with no penetration going on, is a 7' necessary or is a 5' enough for the advantage I'm looking for. I understand the advantage is that the buddy doesn't have to be hugging me in order to be using it.