Regulator Necklace as it relates to Sidemount

[tomcatbubba]

After reading a few really good threads discussing hose lengths and routine for sidemount, I have a question regarding whether or not a regulator necklace makes it safer and easier to retrieve your second stage than, say, clipping to an upper d-ring?

The reason I ask is that in backmount, the long-hose is breathed, while the short hose is necklaced, so that in an OOA situation the long hose can be passed and the donating diver switches to the necklaced reg. In sidemount, you have a 50/50 chance of being on the short hose vs long hose if you are balancing properly, so this is why I run two 7 foot hoses that are neatly tucked into tank bungees for easy deployment, and I keep the non-used regulator clipped to my upper d-ring. That way, I am guaranteed 100% that I will be on a long hose for working portions of the dive - and am thus able to always pass my working regulator that is a long hose. The only fundamental argument or flaw in this logic is, does it make it less likely I can grab the second stage from the d-ring as opposed to a necklace? I think the system works OK, but I would love to hear reasons why necklacing would be better or safer. Thanks!

 

[Dhboner]

I use a necklaced regulator on a shorter hose on the left side and a 7' hose on the right side (as in backmount). For immediate deployment I connect the boltsnap on my longhose with a rubber o-ring so it can "tear away" in an emergency.

 

[boulderjohn]

I was taught to necklace the secondary on a relatively short hose and attach the clip for the long hose with a small, flimsy zip tie so that if I need to donate while breathing the necklaced hose, yanking the regulator will break it free very easily. In a recent discussion, some friends indicated that they had seen a connected with an omega shape that comes apart well without breaking. An advantage to this is that it will allow for multiple practice sessions without having to put on a new zip tie every time.

 

[tbone1004]

you will find most sidemount instructors don't advocate donating two long hoses and this topic has been beat to death. If someone I'm diving with has 5 footers instead of 7 footers, well their skull is SoL if I have to breathe off of their tanks..... It's not possible with my height.

Anyway, danger of diving non reversed second stages on the left is the hose crosses under the diver during air sharing which creates extra torque on the second stage in the OOA divers mouth which leads to discomfort and potentially higher CO2 retention. They also float quite a bit, so it's generally uncomfortable to kick and have the hose flapping around in the donating divers face. All sorts of bad, don't do it. You will almost always have time to grab the long hose, take a breath or two off of it to make sure it works and pass it off, or you can do what I do and hand off the reg in your mouth, once everything is calmed down, you switch second stages and go on your merry way. You will be facing each other during the "oh sh!t" moment, so being on a short hose isn't going to kill you. FWIW I don't bungee either of my regs.

If you donate your bungeed reg, again not recommended don't know of a single instructor that teaches double long hoses, but it's the question at hand. You MUST have it on a suicide strap that can be easily removed. I.e. the manta silicone necklaces or a tied suicide strap like this one.

[video=youtube;X0aS6kRYkeQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0aS6kRYkeQ[/video]

This way you can pluck the reg out of the suicide strap and donate it.

Now, the much bigger problem with this type of donation is that you can only run one reg behind your neck. If you are running a non reversed second stage on the right tank, then it is very awkward to have in front of you. It really just doesn't work unless you have reversible second stages and neither one is crossing behind your neck. If you run them the way Edd teaches which is short hose on left, around neck into suicide strap, right long hose around body GUE style then clipped to right shoulder, you can't safely donate the left because it will get caught up in the long hose. Reversed regs make it easier because with angle adapters you can usually breathe them while they are clipped onto their respective D-rings if you can't get them out easier.

Another big point, you should never actually have to share air with another diver, it's not common, and almost unheard of in sidemount. 99.99999% of the time you have fair warning, diver signals out of air, it's not like they are on top of you trying to steal your regulator before giving you fair warning. If you aren't in environments that require you to make single file exits, you don't need 7' hoses period, sure they're nice if you're diving with qualified buddies, but at the same time those are the ones you are so unlikely to be sharing air with, especially in an open environment, it's not worth the hassle.


Summary: Two long hoses, unnecessary. If you dive non reversed regs, run the hose setup that Edd teaches, it's the best way to do it with non reversible regs. I believe this is identical to the Razor style of teaching. If you have reversible regs and want to use them, you have a few options, but neither involve the potential for both hoses to be donated. Sorry for being an ass, but the double long hose thing is just not necessary and adds a whole lot of problems during OOA situations because of the ability to get the hoses tangled. It is 100% not feasible with non reversed regs, and the only way it does work is if neither are crossed behind your neck and left bottle has reversed reg and clips to left shoulder, and vice versa.

 

[tomcatbubba]

TBone very good points thanks, and I appreciate the dialogue so no worries on being an ass. I do run them as neither crosses my neck, left bottle has a reversed reg (Hog switchback) and clips to left shoulder, right reg clips to right shoulder. When both hoses are tucked into the tank bungees they are actually quite neat and give me plenty of maneuver room to turn my head without pulling my reg.

 

[Scott]

I use a necklaced regulator on a shorter hose on the left side and a 7' hose on the right side (as in backmount). For immediate deployment I connect the boltsnap on my longhose with a rubber o-ring so it can "tear away" in an emergency.

Ditto

 

[Sidemount_Stu]

I think the key is to think about what your intentions for each hose is.

By this i mean, for me, like backmount, I have a single long hose (on my R side) which is for both me and in an emergency is for my buddy. And i have a short hose ( on my L side) that is solely for me, which is bungeed around my neck.

As others have said.... my long hose reg is clipped off with a small rubber o ring, so it breaks away in an emergency with ease.

For this reason, "my" hose is bungeed around my neck, so that I always know where it is without having to think about it. After all, in a stressful OOG situation, i don't want to have to think very hard at all about my own gas supply, and like it or not, my 1st priority, is myself!

If i'm breathing my backup, no problem, i continue, breakaway the clipped off long hose and donate..... if i'm breathing the longhose, i donate as usual and switch instinctively to my very easy to reach and retrieve backup.

If the backup was clipped off and i was breathing the long hose.... when i donate the long hose to the OOG diver, and it's all a bit stressful, almost panicked potentially.... i don't want to have to fumble around with no reg in my mouth trying to unclip my backup before i can breathe again.... that to my mind is a disaster waiting to happen and totally avoidable.

To my thinking, clipping off the backup is about mitigating a risk for your OOG buddy, but by doing so you've drastically increased the risk to yourself. Using a breakaway clip on the longhose mitigates the same risk for your OOG buddy, whilst allowing you to maintain your dedicated necklaced reg.

Just my opinion of course.

 

[tbone1004]

If you're doing that then it's your call. I run jetstreams and run them like that but there is a 9 foot hose on the right because hose routing is better with the 9 than it is with the 7 on my 120's, and the left has a 44" that goes down then comes back up. The Jetstreams are nice because you can put bungee loops in the shoulder strap and that goes over the showerhead which keeps them where they need to be, they can also be stored in the epaulets but that is limited to the Jetstreams and that's about it. Cyklons can almost do it but they don't slide out of the bungee like the jetstream does.

With the normal looking ones you do have to get a big creative, but you should be able to adjust the shoulder d-rings to where you can breathe off of that reg while it is clipped in

 

[decompression]

Ooo.....ooo......I'll say it.......if only there was a way to stay on the long hose on sidemount?.......I'll go duck under cover now.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Razorista]

Main reason for not putting a regulator meant for donation in a necklace:

When forcefully ripping the regulator from the necklace it snaps back onto your mouth.
In cold water that can feel like the lower part of your face being ripped off