Keep your hoses to yourself!

[RJP]

Do we have one on this forum who prcatices the dangling method I would love to hear from them?

Not exactly "practicing the dangling method" but I and other instructors/DM's I know (who dive 7ft config) will sometime switch to our backup and keep the reg end of our primary hose draped over our left forearm when we have students doing mask removal/flood/clear, reg removal/replacement, air shares with other students, etc. Pretty much any time there's a student that we think might end up losing/spitting a reg. I like being able to immediately offer a reg with one hand while controlling the student's buoyancy with the other if needed. This is hovering over a platform doing skills however, not during any actual "diving" portion of the dives.

 

[Progen]

... This is hovering over a platform doing skills however, not during any actual "diving" portion of the dives.

Then stop complicating the discussion!

 

[261311]

Instructors lead by example, having your octo stowed in the "appropriate place" even when that's not where you keep it while you dive it's important when teaching basic classes that advocate putting your gear there. You're teaching others. Others who need to know that this is where an octo on most divers is kept, within the stereotypical "triangle". That's the same reason if you see a tech diver who dives with doubles and sides doesn't hop in the pool dressed for the occasion. They gear for an open water class, or whichever they're appropriately teaching. Octos shouldn't be kept with some gimmicky hook or keeper that makes it a difficult task to pull off when you're in an emergency situation for either the donor or the receiver. If by chance it is dangling there that means you might have to take a moment to yank it back up to you if you need to assist a paniced diver and shove it in their mouth. Frankly if you as an instructor need to keep your octo off for anyone to just grab during the lesson always, you're doing it wrong. Fill the tanks with air, instill some confidence in your divers so they want to stay under water and breathe from their own units like the independent divers you're always preaching of.

-1 Patience and faith in humanity.

Before you rebuke with what RJP said just above, that is an example of a proactive instructor ready to use their reg for a predicted purpose, not just letting it bang into whatever they want while they teach.

 

[fnfalman]

If it knocks into coral, it interferes with my diving. And yours. And everyone else's.

What does a dangling octo/SPG has to do with knocking into the coral reef? That sounds like a depth control problem than danglies problem. If your danglies are, say, on a 36" hose (or whatever length), and you stay 5-ft above the reef, what are these things going to hit?

 

[jewelofnile69]

I appreciate the OP for posting this topic. I know that I struggled with seeing this yet again on my most recent trip (just got back about a week and a half ago)...although most of the ones that I saw I'm pretty sure were very novice divers (not that I'm an "experienced" diver by ANY means).

I do remember my OW instructor doing what RJP describes above. I noticed him doing this while I took his class and specifically with 2 divers that were in my class (there were 5 of us total). But as I only took OW once, I've never seen another instructor do this and definitely have never seen one doing the "dangling" method that some have described.

I, like a few other responders, feel that maybe this is just a good reminder to us all to, in general, check our gear.

 

[fnfalman]

Do we have one on this forum who prcatices the dangling method I would love to hear from them?

They're probably too busy diving, teaching diving and saving lives than posting on the intrawebz.

 

[DevonDiver]

From my perspective, dangling hoses is indicative of a sloppy approach. A sloppy approach indicates a sloppy mindset. A sloppy mindset has negative implications for all aspects of the persons' diving, including safety-related issues. That's based on 22 years experience, 10 of which are as a dive leader/instructor. I wouldn't take a sloppy diver on a deep or wreck penetration dive, or advise anyone else to do the same.

In respect of a dive professional with dangling hoses, a sloppy attitude is indicative of very low training quality standards. I wouldn't advise taking any training from an instructor who exhibits evidence of low training quality standards.

 

[Progen]

Instructors lead by example, having your octo stowed in the "appropriate place" even when that's not where you keep it while you dive it's important when teaching basic classes that advocate putting your gear there. You're teaching others. Others who need to know that this is where an octo on most divers is kept, within the stereotypical "triangle". That's the same reason if you see a tech diver who dives with doubles and sides doesn't hop in the pool dressed for the occasion. They gear for an open water class, or whichever they're appropriately teaching. Octos shouldn't be kept with some gimmicky hook or keeper that makes it a difficult task to pull off when you're in an emergency situation for either the donor or the receiver. If by chance it is dangling there that means you might have to take a moment to yank it back up to you if you need to assist a paniced diver and shove it in their mouth. Frankly if you as an instructor need to keep your octo off for anyone to just grab during the lesson always, you're doing it wrong. Fill the tanks with air, instill some confidence in your divers so they want to stay under water and breathe from their own units like the independent divers you're always preaching of.

-1 Patience and faith in humanity.

Before you rebuke with what RJP said just above, that is an example of a proactive instructor ready to use their reg for a predicted purpose, not just letting it bang into whatever they want while they teach.

I'm a bit lost as to who you were addressing but I suppose the last part's should be me in which case my original post was about unnecessarily long hoses being a nuisance to other divers especially if you're talking about buddies who don't watch where they're going and always seem to be rubbing against you with their hoses adding to the irritation when it snags against part of your kit. No offense RJP, but your example wasn't relevant to the topic at all since it was not clipped to you for a reason.

And of course being the animal freak that I am, I'm concerned about them posing a danger to marine life too since most of us know that corals take ages to grow and corals damaged by scuba kit usually do not end up with wounds but die off.

 

[TMHeimer]

Not exactly "practicing the dangling method" but I and other instructors/DM's I know (who dive 7ft config) will sometime switch to our backup and keep the reg end of our primary hose draped over our left forearm when we have students doing mask removal/flood/clear, reg removal/replacement, air shares with other students, etc. Pretty much any time there's a student that we think might end up losing/spitting a reg. I like being able to immediately offer a reg with one hand while controlling the student's buoyancy with the other if needed. This is hovering over a platform doing skills however, not during any actual "diving" portion of the dives.

Yes. I believe the instructor I was thinking of did at times also have it draped over the shoulder. I'm not the most experienced DM around, but I probably disagree with Progen and others who say that an instructor must always have the octo secured or a bad example is set. "Common sense" may be that you could show and TELL the student where to secure the octo and just explain that "as an instructor I may not at times because........" That wouldn't seem too hard for a student to grasp.

 

[261311]

I'm a bit lost as to who you were addressing but I suppose the last part's should be me

Nope, fnfalman and his brigade. Appropriate hose lengths and routing just help get you into a routine of self-contained diving. You don't bump into others as easy, you're more aware of that around you because you have a smaller area to "watch" for snags, you're not bonking your buddy or marine life with your SPG/ Computer, whole myriad of things. I agree. Really you shouldn't be so close to your buddy (everyone needs their personal space) but in events such as an emergency where a buddy is needed, the less line they need to fight through- the better.

@TMHeimer, agreed. If a drill is being performed where you can predict an alternate source is needed, that's more than fine and might embolden some anxious students to confidently try the drill knowing that someone will be there for them even sooner than if it were secured. A lot of the time in some pool sessions I'll see my instructor or DM grab the shoulder strap of a BCD or have their alternate standing by like that just to let some of the anxious divers know that they're with them. They've since slowly been weened off because their confidence has grown which is cool to see. I just don't think that the instructor swimming around, as described with it dangling is "smart". That sounds just as sloppy as it does any OW graduate on his own. There should be a purpose if you're letting it go for usage, even draping it over a shoulder neatly keeping it in the area as I've seen the DM do because you're going to need it is better than letting it hang. Repeated knocking can damage the reg, why waste money when another process keeps it all squared away safe?