Long hose for a new diver

[Steve50]

He didn't say that dirty HBO shows were completely worthless...

 

[Slonda828]

He didn't say that dirty HBO shows were completely worthless...

Exactly. I ask questions here too, hell, sometimes I even answer them. I was trying to say that asking random people on the interweb computer machine is not a substitute for actual diving. This place does not give you experience, but it does give you ideas. Sometimes people on here make the error of counting one for the other. That's why there's a bunch of people running around with Uwatec bottom timers and 55 dollar 7 foot primary hoses who do not know whether their system is better than a 26" primary hose and a watch. I just like to remind people to temper internet ideas with practical experience. It's just like the sex analogy. I like HBO, and when I'm single it is all I have, but it doesn't make me better in bed. I'm just saying

The OP is a smart cookie, I am not referring to him. I was merely speaking in general.

 

[Cave Bum]

Cave Bum -- when I've demonstrated the reg recovery/sweep when using my 40" hose I've found it much easier -- if for no other reason than I demo it while horizontal. This means, of course, when I "throw" my reg away, it just drops down in front of me. IF I was to demo this on my knees or in some other vertical position, the longer hose might make it more difficult. Yet one more reason to do these things while in a horizontal position.

Thanks for the input. Currently I'm doing the PADI (on your knees) thing for OW and starting the horizontal (correct buoyancy) thing at AOW but maybe I'll have to rethink that.

I know it's harder to break bad habits then it is to instill good ones to begin with but, working under the time crunch, I've been 'robbing Peter to pay Paul' so to speak. Again, maybe it's time for me to rethink that.

Thanks,
Bruce

 

[Teamcasa]

Long hose for OW? Why? You are never going to be in a position where the advantage of a long hose will come into play. Should you decide to take up cave or wreck diving, take the training for that, it will include the long hose training.

 

[ligersandtions]

Long hose for OW? Why? You are never going to be in a position where the advantage of a long hose will come into play. Should you decide to take up cave or wreck diving, take the training for that, it will include the long hose training.

I'm going to have to disagree here. While a long hose may not be required in open water diving, it does come in handy if/when an OOA emergency occurs. There's a lot to be said about not having to be within inches of your buddy when you're donating....but still having the option to do so.

I did a couple air sharing drills this weekend and it was very nice to have the extra room between the two of us....we could each maintain our buoyancy ourselves. That's not to say that if I were with a panicking diver that I would leave them completely alone....if needed, I could put a hand on them to keep them stable and/or comfortable. But if you're diving with someone who can handle the situation, it sure is nice not to be smashed up against one another.

I distinctly remember doing an air share drill with my traditional BC and Air2 set-up....it's like night and day between that and my long hose. With the BC and Air2, we were so close together, we were practically hugging....with the long hose, we can maintain a comfortable distance (whatever that might be).


As for doing it in your OW class versus waiting till afterwards, I would discuss it with your instructor. If he/she suggests waiting till after the class, research how to do it properly, see if you can find an experienced diver buddy/mentor, and practice with it. It's really not hard to figure it out, but there are some things that can trip you up....so it's best to get those figured out before jumping right in.

 

[Teamcasa]

I'm going to have to disagree here. While a long hose may not be required in open water diving, it does come in handy if/when an OOA emergency occurs. There's a lot to be said about not having to be within inches of your buddy when you're donating....but still having the option to do so.

OK, How about this situation. You are a new diver is training with a long hose. You are suddenly approached by a diver that is OOA and you happily pass them your primary and you (as trained) reach for your octo. - Groovy right?

All is working out as planed right up to the point the diver on your primary starts heading to the surface at a very unsafe rate, pulling you right up with them. The OOA diver is 5-7' away and maybe even behind you. You can't reach them except maybe a fin or their leg. Not enough to grip or arrest the ride up.

What is that new diver going to do and how fast are they going to be able to do it before you both end up bobbing on the surface?

 

[ligersandtions]

OK, How about this situation. You are a new diver is training with a long hose. You are suddenly approached by a diver that is OOA and you happily pass them your primary and you (as trained) reach for your octo. - Groovy right?

All is working out as planed right up to the point the diver on your primary starts heading to the surface at a very unsafe rate, pulling you right up with them. The OOA diver is 5-7' away and maybe even behind you. You can't reach them except maybe a fin or their leg. Not enough to grip or arrest the ride up.

What is that new diver going to do and how fast are they going to be able to do it before you both end up bobbing on the surface?

I get what you're saying, and for a new diver, that could be a serious problem. But after you've been diving for a little while, you start to read people. The panicked diver that comes rushing over you and rips the reg out of your mouth is probably not going to wait for you to slowly ascend to the surface....as a diver with a long hose (or even without one), you need to be ready to address the issue before it goes any further.

Like I said, having a long hose doesn't mean I have to let the OOA diver be 7 feet away from me....it just means that I can. But if I see someone with that look in their eye, mugging me for my reg, I will be maintaining contact with them from the get-go. And if I can't keep him/her ascending at a safe rate on my long hose, chances are it would be the same if I were diving with a standard length hose.

 

[wjknobles]

I'm starting my OW classes this week. I'm putting together my rig and I'm contemplating starting with a 5' hose and bungied spare SP G250v or a "common" deployment using my spare reg and then changing hoses later.
Ultimately I will have a long hose as it makes the most sense to me. My daughter and I are doing the class together and we'll be our normal buddies.

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

Thanks,
Jim

To answer the OPs post directly...

The problem here depends on what it is you as a diver want. If you want to start with a "long hose" set-up more power to you (I prefer teaching that set-up starting at the OW level). The problem is that not all instructors or divers will no how to handle that set-up and the "conventional" set-up would be more appropriate.

If you really want to go start with a "long hose" set-up find an instructor who both dives and teaches that set-up.

 

[danvolker]

I'm starting my OW classes this week. I'm putting together my rig and I'm contemplating starting with a 5' hose and bungied spare SP G250v or a "common" deployment using my spare reg and then changing hoses later.
Ultimately I will have a long hose as it makes the most sense to me. My daughter and I are doing the class together and we'll be our normal buddies.

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

Thanks,
Jim

Jim,
My advice to you :
Your primary obligation will be to your daughter ( as your buddy). This far exceeds ANY obligation you have to make the dive instructor happy that you are just like all his other students, or to PADI/NAUI or any other agency--those guidelines are quite unimportant, compared to your obligation to your buddy. With this in mind, if your daughter ever does have an OOA threat, your ability to keep her breathing, calm and comfortable is a big deal to you--and a 7 foot long hose will allow you to do this far better than the typical set ups popular in recreational dive classes.

However, one of the first parts of you protecting your daughter from OOA threats, will be your constant monitoring of HER air ( and she should learn to monitor yours as well)...in this way, each of you should never accidentally run out of air due to a lack of awareness ( common in new divers). Each needs to stay in the peripherol vision of the other at all times, and always be aware of how the other is doing.

As an example of a long hose/DIR mindset for buddies) ...if you were to see that she somehow just lost a large amount of gas since the last monitoring check by you--and she is under 500 psi ( and you are over 1000 psi) then this is a time when you call the dive, and may well give her the long hose immediately, so that she can have a relaxed ascent and swim back to the boat...and just before she tries to get back on the boat, have her go back on her own air. With the 7 foot hose, the 2 of you can swim very comfortably side by side, both with perfect bouyancy control--totally unlike the miserable experience of an air2 or typical recreational set up( where your legs are colliding with each other, buoyancy is messed up, and both divers are stressed by the difficulty).

One other poster mentioned a danger exists of a buddy taking a long hose, and sky rocketing to the surface. This is an unrealistic complaint---a diver planning on rocketing would try the same thing with a "normal short hose", and to control them, the donating diver would still have to hold them to prevent the rocketing--they should not attempt to control the diver by holding the hose --they need eye contact and their hands on the bolting diver------and again, the buddy should have never run OOA if you had been monitoring their air all along, so the liklihood of the rocketing ( providing you don't let them get too low on air) is no longer a big issue.

The "floating long hose issue" will not exist if you route the hose the way you are supposed to..specifially, the hose comes down your right side and goes under a light canister on a DIR diver---but for the recreational diver without a cannister light, you can substitute a big pocket on the waiste belt to route under, or even a knife scabbard on the belt...the hose goes under this, and it is used to keep the hose taught as it wraps around you and goes up to your face. There are plenty of photos of this--ask if you need to see this....bottom line, the hose stays where it is supposed to on your body, and with your BP and Wing set up, you will be much slicker in the water than the other students in your class---less effort to maintain a given speed.

If you were to purchase your BC and reg system for sitting on the boat, the normal recreational short hose system is a great choice...when you want to actually choose your gear for underwater use, the backplate and wing, plus long hose makes far more sense.

Regards,
Dan Volker

 

[H2Andy]

He didn't say that dirty HBO shows were completely worthless...

"not completely worthless" wow ... what high accolades