Long hose for a new diver

[DevonDiver]

At a slight tangent....

I think instructors should be expected to be familiar with all 'recognized' equipment configuration options.

The fact that X% of intructors would not be familiar with how to use a long-hose is disgraceful. We instructors are supposed to be dive industry professionals. We should be able to teach people to use the kit they intend to dive in.

Cramming all of your students into 'standardized', bottom-of-the-range rental BCDs and regulator configurations is not doing a favor to the student.... it is only to make the instructor's job easier and cover their embarassment at being unfamiliar or unable to effectively teach in anything outside of their limited scope and experience.

 

[jtpwils]

Thanks again all, I've made up my mind. A spare reg on a yellow hose in the "normal" position. Experimenting and maybe changing over to a long hose after OW.

 

[DevonDiver]

ias for the octo, as long as it is where your buddy expects to find it, the color doesn't matter

...and, in reality, how many instructors actually train students that primary donation is acceptable. If they don't know that.... then they won't know where to look for the octo....

 

[Cave Bum]

...and, in reality, how many instructors actually train students that primary donation is acceptable. If they don't know that.... then they won't know where to look for the octo....

Unfortunate, but true!

I teach with Dive Rite's 'Rite Source' inflator/alt air combination (similar to SP's Air2) in part because it has the student donating the reg that's in their mouth, the 'known working reg' as we say in tech diving. Whether that is done thru inflator/alt air combo or by positioning the alt regulator on a bungie around the divers neck, I think it is a better method then the brightly colored octo fastened at the waist belt with the OOA diver supose to find it and grab it themselves.

Be safe and have fun in the water! Bruce

 

[paddler3d]

After OW, I very quickly switched to the long hose method. Frankly I wish they would teach OW with this method.

I've come across very few single tank long hose divers I've come accross.

There are a lot of UW skills out there that are easier to preform UW if a long hose is involved. They include the simple act of sharing air, doffing and doning your gear UW at depth, doing a gear exchange UW with another diver, duddy breathing while swimming.

Some skills are not so simple, like regulator recovery. Whatever, your backup is under chin.

I tried something last weekend that I really liked and I'm gong to order one. I put a swivel connector between my primary hose and primary reg. One negative aspect of the long hose is I feel as if I get some pull on the reg when I'm turning my head to the left. This swivel made that disappear.

If you switch to this method, you need to coach your dive buddies that in an OOA situation, to take the reg from your mouth. Most divers aren't trained in this. Instinctively they will take any reg, but tell them that you donate your primary on the long hose.

Good luck with your OW cert and happy diving.

My questions are these:
1.) will deploying the long hose be confusing for me as a new diver?

It is actually very easy to deploy the long hose. I wouldn't worry about that. You just need to make sure that you're long hose (go with a 5' for single tank config.) Is properlly routed before you submerge. Counter to your training, you are going to give the OOA diver your primary and you are going to switch to your secondary, which is bungeed under your chin.


2.) if I wear a long hose, will the fact that my config is different from the instructor or other nearby divers likely be confusing to my daughter if she get into an OOG situaltion?

For your cert and class, go with the config that the rest of the students are using.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[H2Andy]

...and, in reality, how many instructors actually train students that primary donation is acceptable. If they don't know that.... then they won't know where to look for the octo....

your statement seems to make no sense. if a student is not taught primary donation then they are taught to find and use their buddy's octo ... in which case they better know how to find it

 

[Peter_C]

Times are changing and it is becoming more and more accepted that you donate the reg you are breathing from, even with a couple of different gear configurations. The octo inflators, although heavily debated most experienced divers do not like them, require donating the reg in your mouth. Of course a long hose with a bungee backup you would also donate the reg in your mouth.

I notice more and more people all over using long hoses. Even warm water divers. There are many benefits with few negatives.

When my last G/F got certified she started in a long hose (5') and never looked back. Now she dives a 7' hose with no issues. I sent her through PADI just to get it done, so we could continue her training during real world diving experiences.

I would recommend buying good quality regs for both sets, not a cheaper octo. Otherwise in the future you WILL be replacing them. They just do not breathe as good. Something with adjustable second stages that breathe easy no matter how deep you go are preferable. If you want to go with yellow, you might consider purchasing a yellow cover and that way you can take them back to black. Of course there is nothing wrong with a long hoser having a yellow reg in their mouth ready for donation. I figure it is worth repeating...Good quality regs are very important.

PADI requires a snorkel and I believe NAUI does too, and I am not sure about other agencies. Snorkels get in the way of deploying the long hose, so they are not used. A folding one in a pocket should satisfy an instructor though.

Why not also start in a back plate and wing that can easily grow with your daughter and you as your diving progresses? The benefits outweigh the negatives. Of course most dive shops don't want you to buy them since they do not sell them

 

[ccso434]

I or one, dive with both setups. I do find the long hose is best when diving from a boat and the standard hose when diving from the beach. I will make the change when I do my equipment check before I leave the house and carry the tolls needed to switch back if needed. I have also had to give my standard hose to a student on a trip when theirs failed. They wanted to learn the equipment they bought and did not follow the LDS recommendation to replace this hose. Luckly for them, I had my spare.

 

[Dive1Dennis]

Since I started my technical training I have converted to the 7' hose setup. There is no doubt that for the kind of diving I do it is the way to go.

Last winter I was planning a vacation diving trip to Bonaire. I debated whether to convert my regulator hoses back to the original set up but decided against it. I saw few if any other divers using the long hose setup. Not a problem, I just made sure that my buddies knew my setup and all was good.

I love the way the long hose configuration hugs my body, nothing sticking out. Some of the reasons that exist for using the long hose set-up are not really important in the topical reef diving stuff, but the tight configuration has advantages any where you go.

 

[Slonda828]

I agree with most of what has been said. Our business teaches anyone OOA in any configuration in which they choose to come, be that long hose, air2, or what have you. Still, the fact remains that outside of this board very few people dive with a long hose. It's nice if that's how you want to dive, but unless your dive buddy is configured the same way, then it really does not matter. Furthermore, everyone is taught to abort the dive immediately upon entering into an out of air emergency. For open water diving, you simply do not need a long hose as there are no restrictions to swim through, and no overheads to negotiate. Still, if you want to dive open water with a tech setup, more power to you. There are no SCUBA police.

My NTEC rig is long hose, and every time I use it someone will ask me why I dive that way. It's really not that big of a deal. If you only want one regulator, and you know the day that you start diving that you want to be a tech diver someday (if you even know what that is at that point), then buy a long hose setup. If not, it's easy and relatively inexpensive to convert later.

The one qualm I have with half the tech divers out there is that many of them automatically assume (and you know what happens when you assume) that just because a dive professional uses a standard setup that they are ignorant or untrained in how to instruct someone in its use. I DM in a regular setup, so that Johnny the diver who dives twice a year and his wife recognize my setup. When I do tech type dives, then I use a long hose. The mission dictates the equipment, not the other way around.