Long hose for recreational diving?

[Atticus]

Hopefully this won't stir the pot too much.

I dive an Apeks reg setup DS4/ATX50/ATX40 and do "normal" recreational diving (130', non-penetration) and occasionally help with an open water class.

The primary hose is a little short for me and I feel like the reg is getting tugged from my mouth when I turn my head to the left. I've been reading the DIR posts and gear configuration suggestions and have been toying with the notion of 'as long as I'm buying a new hose maybe I should go for a really long hose'.

I like some of the advantages I've read about using a long hose, especially in an emergency. On the negative side, I think it might cause some confusion in the context of a PADI OW class, or at least a bunch of questions that will distract students from getting their basic training with the gear that they rented from the shop.

My reality is that I'm not going to run out and buy a whole DIR rig this month, and I'm not going stop working with OW students.

Also, it's been suggested that it would be hard to find (or have made?) a hose with the proper (non-standard) sized connector for the Apeks DS4 first stage.

What do you guys think?

[Uncle Pug]

If you go with the long hose then you will be donating that in an OOA situation... so you will also need to go with a bungeed backup second stage.

I find the 7' hose ideal for everything... it is much more streamlined than regular length hoses.

Get an adapter for the 1/2" port ... they're cheap... or put your backup on that hose (thought IMO the standard hose is really too long for that) and put your long hose on one of the standard sized ports.

[Scubaroo]

Doesn't the DS4 have 4 x 3/8" LP ports?

[jonnythan]

I use the long hose for rec diving, I encourage you to do so also..

But I think it's a bad idea for helping with an OW class. Ask the instructor.

And yeah, the DS4 has all 3/8" LP ports.

[SM Diver]

I just had this exact conversation this past Friday. I was trying out some new gear, and my second stage was hung up a little in the back, and eveytime I would turn my head to the left, it felt like it was going to rip out of my mouth. I had to put a major jaw clamp on the reg to keep it from coming lose. It was probably not so much an issue of the hose being to short, as it would have been all right had it not hung up.

At the surface, I talked with my buddy about the concept of using a 7' hose in a recreational setting. He has a 7' primary, but then again, he cave dives and has to potentially pass it to someone sliding through a small opening.

Our (my) conclusion was that for a strictly non-penetration, open water application the 7' hose would NOT be needed. If you donate air, why do you need 7', or to even donate your primary? Regardless, if someone grabbed my primary out of my mouth, you could simply take the octo. I would have the air recipient grab on to my BC and start the ascent. I don't want them drifting seven feet from me. We're not having to pass through small openings. They're probably stressed anyway and will be just as happy to clamp on to me and let me "drive."

By all means, if your hose is really too short, then have it lengthened some. But, I would suspect it's probably a way you have it configured coming off your first stage.

I just can't think of a single advantage of having to wrap a long hose around me every dive in open water.

[herman]

Atticus once bubbled...

The primary hose is a little short for me and I feel like the reg is getting tugged from my mouth when I turn my head to the left. I've been reading the DIR posts and gear configuration suggestions and have been toying with the notion of 'as long as I'm buying a new hose maybe I should go for a really long hose'.

How about a compromise, a 5 ft hose. I had the same problems with my Zeagle (aka Apex)reg. I had to rearrange the ports I was using but otherwise it was an easy replacement. It takes only a minute to replace so if diving it with students is a problem, just switch between the 2. I have found it's a lot easier on the jaws, the tugging from the hose was completely eliminated.

[Wendy]

Just get the 5' hose.

[Uncle Pug]

I didn't notice the DS4... no problem with the ports.

However... to answer Scott... once you practice OW ascents air sharing with a 7' hose you see the benefit. The extra length allows each diver to adjust and control their ascent without pulling the other one out of whack.

You might want to watch the longhose air sharing video on the 5thD site to see what I mean.

While a 5' hose might work for a gal or a smaller fella... most guys will be better off with the 7'... we have had several OW divers on the board try 5' 6' 7' hoses and settle on the 7'.

But as has been said if you are helping with an OW class it might not be appreciated.

[Genesis]

I find that the 7' hose is MUCH more comfortable to breathe. It doesn't pull in my mouth at all, no matter which way I turn.

My backup, on a 22" hose, similarly lays nice and also doesn't pull. Neither gets in the way or has any hose hanging out where it can get caught on things either.

Unless you're going to go to a REAL short primary, I doubt you can get anything close to the comfort of a 7' primary and bungied backup with a "traditional" OW setup. I tried and couldn't.

As for the "donate the octo" stuff, that's all nice and well when someone swims up to you, calmly motions that they are out of air, and waits for you to fumble around and find your octo to give to them. In the real world I suspect that what will really happen is that you'll be mugged; the diver who is truly out of air and in trouble will go for anything that bubbles without giving you any warning at all.

For me, anyway, its not about being able to swim out single-file, since I don't do caves or the inside of wrecks. It IS about comfort, and both the long hose and bungied backup are simply WAY more comfortable for me to dive with. Out of water the bungied backup is a non-event, and the primary gets clipped off. I find that on the boat the long hose rig is actually LESS likely to dangle and get banged around than a "regular" setup.

[Rick Murchison]

Having tried 'em all over the years, I only rig my 7' hose for penetration dives. The rest of the time I prefer a short hose for my primary. Frankly this has more to do with topside handling than in-water, but I find zero advantage to the long hose where tandem (single-file) swimming isn't required, so I prefer not to mess with it.
Rick