long longhose question

[shugar]

i've had the good fortune of having to suck air out of a longhose rig when i went OOA recently...

when i do get my reg setup i would not mind at all being able to be of the same service to another diver in need

so my questions are:

1. if i dive solely on singles and have absolutely no intention of wearing a can light should i go for a 7' or 5'? what's the REAL diff?
2. is the bungeed octo the only alternative to a longhose rig? are there other options?(excluding air2-type BC regs)
3. how much will a longhose affect the price of a reg kit?
4. does the faceplate of the primary reg have to be yellow? (not all manufacturers have good regs in octo-yellow)
5. what are the pitfalls of a longhose regulator rig? (please be comprehensive but not epic - you may cite noob pitfalls and/or long term pitfalls)
6. do i have to be aware of anything special? i dive in a country that treats divers like a king? (carry all equip, load onto boat after dive, carry onto boat, etc.)

I'm not DIR nor looking to take the course, nitrox is the furthest i plan to go tech-wise... i prefer to use a bp/w (thanks SB!) but may have to use jackets when i travel (non-dive purpose) or rental BPs run out...

thanks!

Jag

 

[The Chairman]

1) It's YOUR personal preference. Me? I like the 7 ft in all situations.

2) There are no laws about long hose configuration. However, I prefer to keep as standard as possible which means that with a long hose, I will bungee my secondary around my neck.

3) Few kits come with them as standard. Larry from ScubaToys carrys them and you might check with him.

4) Colors are optional.

5) Routing of the long hose takes a bit of practice/skill. Being sure to explain to each and every buddy that they need to grab the long hose and that grabbing the second is usually painful

6) Don't forget to put a bolt snap on the reg so you can clip it off while it is not in use. I see too many of thesedangling in traffic areas or in the sand by careless divers.

 

[Ben_ca]

The trick with any piece of new gear is practice.... Have Spoon demo/dry run you thru S-drills....

Colored pace plate isn't needed....

7 ft all the time with or without can- tuck it in your belt


We'll dive together in July...maybe you'll re consider DIR-F

 

[herman]

I agree with the rest. I am not DIR but did keep the long hose from my DIR training. I prefer the 5ft myself, it's a little easier to handle IMO. The extra cost is nothing, around $35. As for special treatment, you can do what I do when at places that move you gear. I keep my reg in my possession and don't allow anyone to attach it to my BC. That keeps an unknowing or careless DM's or boat crew from distroying my regs and I know it's installed correctly.

 

[espenskogen]

i've had the good fortune of having to suck air out of a longhose rig when i went OOA recently...

when i do get my reg setup i would not mind at all being able to be of the same service to another diver in need

so my questions are:

1. if i dive solely on singles and have absolutely no intention of wearing a can light should i go for a 7' or 5'? what's the REAL diff?
   

1. 
   
   Real difference? about 2'
   
   (Sorry, temptation got too great...)
   

   [*]is the bungeed octo the only alternative to a longhose rig? are there other options?(excluding air2-type BC regs)

   The bungeed octo is not an alternative to a longhose rig - Maybe you mean alternate...
   In a DIR config, you should have the long hose in a hog tie (i.e wrapped around your neck) and the alternate bungeed to your neck. If you're not diving dir, there are no hard and fast rules. Only thing to remember is that since you are donating the long hose, you might want to stick the alternate somewhere you can get to quickly and easily. (Rather than somewhere your buddy can get to...)
   
   

   [*]how much will a longhose affect the price of a reg kit?

   I paid about £50 for a long hose - So recon that's about $100
   

   [*]does the faceplate of the primary reg have to be yellow? (not all manufacturers have good regs in octo-yellow)

   No
   

   [*]what are the pitfalls of a longhose regulator rig? (please be comprehensive but not epic - you may cite noob pitfalls and/or long term pitfalls)

   Like anything, unfamiliarity kills - Get used to the kit - Practice donating air.
   

   [*]do i have to be aware of anything special? i dive in a country that treats divers like a king? (carry all equip, load onto boat after dive, carry onto boat, etc.)

   Not really any rocket science involved - It's just a hose that's a bit longer than usual, that's all.

I'm not DIR nor looking to take the course, nitrox is the furthest i plan to go tech-wise... i prefer to use a bp/w (thanks SB!) but may have to use jackets when i travel (non-dive purpose) or rental BPs run out...

 

[*Floater*]

The longhoses cost $30-$40 so add that to the reg price, unless you can find a reg that is sold with longhose installed. For example, dive-rite sells their regs with different hose lengths as optional and all the packages cost the same regardless of which option you choose.

You have to learn how to stow the longhose (just stuff the extra under you belt), once you learn how to do it, the hose won't get in the way regardless of whether it's 5' or 7', except maybe vrey short people might find 5' more comfortable.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I agree with most of what's been said above, but not all of it and some of it needs adapted to diving with a BC rather than a BP/wing.

I'll add that I use independent doubles and a long hose primary, but do not use a bungeed octo. Instead the short hose octo goes over the right shoulder and is clipped to a D ring on the waist strap. The hose lenght is just enough to get it there but not enough to allow any slack, dangle etc. It's very clean, very visible and very accessible. It is not DIR but it also does not cause problems if a diver grabs the backup second stage instead. DIR procedures usually assume ther DIR divers, so they can do things that may not make the most sense in a recreational situation with a non-DIR or semi-panicked diver.

Clipping the octo in a traditional manner and location would work as well and is probably not a bad place to start - as long as it does not interfere with long hose deployment.

I also use a bolt snap on each second stage. I use hardware store variety o-rings that are large enough to loop through the bolt snap and then fit snugly around the second stage at the base of the mouthpiece. You want enough tension to keep the second stage attached even on a "hard" entry into the water but light enough to allow the second stage to pull out of the loop if a buddy grabs it. Zip ties and cave line are very secure but they don't let you or someone else access the reg "right now".

In my experience most seriously out of air recreational divers go for your primary (2 out of 3 times in 20 years) since they can see it, know exactly where it is and know that it works. They see bubbles and they want some of their own the quickest way possible. Since the long hose concept means donating the primary, it's very ammenable to the real world - much more so than the training precscribed by very optimistic divers and agencies that advocate donating the octo.

Most long hose divers also dive with a BP/wing. If you dive with a BC, you want to be sure you have enough lenght to be able to breathe through the reg on the surface with a fully inflated BC. 7' is the standard lenght for a BP/wing equipped technical diver but it means that you need to tuck the extra lenght in the waist strap if you are not carrying a can light on the dive. If you don't the extra hose can rise up in a big loop over your head. It's no big deal to do that with a BP/wing

Similarly a recreational diver needs to tuck the extra hose under a waist strap on every dive as they don't carry can lights. That is however not an option with most BC's as their waist straps are inside the bladder and routing that way is messy and fraught with potential deployment issues, so a shorter 5 or 6 ft hose that does not need to be tucked makes much more sense.

5' or 6' depends. A 5' hose works well for most rec divers as it is long enough to route under the arm and up around the neck. If you are a big person with larger than average chest dimensions, 6 ft will work better for you, especially if you are a cold water 7mm wetsuit or dry suit diver.

Cost of a long hose is pretty cheap by scuba standards at around $25-$35.00 dollars. And as you have discovered, once you use a long hose in a real OOA situation, you do not want to go back.

 

[Halthron]

1) I went with the five foot because I wasn't doing any cave or wreck diving at the time. Seven feet of hose allows for two divers to be one in front of the other and still share air. My opinion is that for basic rec diving, five feet is enough.

2) The buungeed octo works in conjuunction with, not as an alternative to the long hose. You can use either, both or neither.

3) It shouldn't raise the cost by more than a few hundred pesos, if that. Call Gordon, Ellen or Tom and ask

4) The face plate can be whatever color you want. Except pink, pink is just wrong

5) Taking off your rig without unwinding the hose from around your neck

 

[Ben_ca]

1) I went with the five foot because I wasn't doing any cave or wreck diving at the time. Seven feet of hose allows for two divers to be one in front of the other and still share air. My opinion is that for basic rec diving, five feet is enough.


4) The face plate can be whatever color you want. Except pink, pink is just wrong

I started out with the 5 and when I tried the 7 there was no going back... It was so much easier doing S-Drills and OOA Ascents.


What was that about pink?

 

[midwestdvr]

I started out with the 5 and when I tried the 7 there was no going back... It was so much easier doing S-Drills and OOA Ascents.


What was that about pink?

Holy cow! A pink reg :lol:

PS: How hard is it to change the hoses on the regs?