Regulator configuration for rec diving

[lexvil]

40” under the arm, with an Omni swivel and to go along with the D420 experiments a short shut off valve, 22” bungee second and usually a pony (13 or 19 cf) or the elephant 40cf.

 

[RIHappyDiver]

48" braided hose primary routed under arm with an elbow at the second stage, with a necklaced second stage on a 22" braided hose.
Bought the 48" hose on sale (much cheaper than a 40" hose). Being a "skinflint SCUBA" diver, I went with the less expensive hose.

I may need to try the 48” hose. I use a Litehawk BC and my 40” hose catches on the bottom of my right strap adjustment tab. Drives me nuts! Thanks for the idea.
Erik

 

[Searcaigh]

Single tank with 7' long hose + a 30 cf pony / deco bottle with 40" hose for recreational diving.

In an OOG situation donate long hose and go onto my pony / deco bottle which has 50%. If below 21m immediately ascend to 21m. In a recreational situation my max is 30m.

Once OOG buddy is comfortable, pony is attached to buddy and regs exchanged and continue ascent.

 

[Bob DBF]

I may need to try the 48” hose. I use a Litehawk BC and my 40” hose catches on the bottom of my right strap adjustment tab. Drives me nuts! Thanks for the idea.
Erik

I use 40" more as a generic to avoid confusion and a long explanation, I believe mine is a little longer, for a similar reason. I believe in experimentation and getting what works for you.

I have nothing against a 5' or 7', however I use a snorkel consistently and it is inconvient with a long hose, and could lead to issues in an emergency. In the cases I drop the snorkel I could use a 7' hose, but the muscle memory favors the 40+ inch, depends on the dive. And in my case, I mostly solo so it really doesn't really matter what configuration I use.

 

[Storker]

all tanks here have two posts

Y-valve?

I don't think I've ever seen one of those in the wild. Perhaps because twinsets - both small rec twinsets like D8.5x232 and large technical twinsets like D12x232 - are really common around here. If you want two posts, just get a twinset.

 

[Saboteur]

I'm surprise that the conventional way (short hose primary and 40" Octo) only gets 13.7% vote (as of now). So I'm in the minority?

My 40" yellow hose is coming out of the left port of my first stage, loop under my left arm and (pull-release) clip the Octo on to my BCD left chest D-ring for a couple reasons:
1. When I donate it to my buddy who look at me face to face, the yellow hose would make a half-circle loop from my first stage to his / her mouth, not an S-shape pattern with the conventional way (which is the yellow hose is coming from the right port of the first stage, loop under the right arm and clip the Octo on to the BCD right chest D-ring. The S-shape pattern would shorten the path and distance between the two of us to almost hugging each other.
2. My BCD right chest D-ring is already used for clipping my camera leash.

I may have to try that in the pool .... when pools are open....

 

[Searcaigh]

Y-valve?

The only place I've seen them was in Spain (Catalonia to be exact) with one part fo the valve for a DIN first stage and the other for an A-clamp first stage.

Personally I don't see any benefit for this type of valve.

 

[Angelo Farina]

I do not know if Italian valves are Y type.
We call Y valves the Beuchat ones, which are peculiar, as they feature two fully independent air paths with two anti-rust pipes.
Normal valves used here have just one anti-rust pipe and are shaped more like an H than a Y.
They are usually mounted on medium-sized tanks, such as my favourite size, a 15 liters steel at 232 bars.
I see the same tanks also in tropical diving centers managed by Italians.
Using two valves with two first stage has a couple of benefits and some drawbacks.
The main benefit for me is to ise the same regs I was using with twin tanks.
We all were using twin tanks in the seventies, and our rec dive certifications were typucally for 50 meters max with deco.
Only when the standard pressure was increased from 200 bars to 232 or 250 it was possibly to carry enough air in a single tank.
And they were all double valve, so you can use your regs without modifications both on double and single tanks.
In terms of safety I did benefit a couple of times of the possibility to close one valve when the second stage started free flowing.
With a single valve and single first stage this had been a relevant issue, having two valves it was a very minor nuisance.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

When I dove a standard recreational setup. Under arm primary, necklaced backup.
Not much of a transition to sidemount.

Long hose has it's place. But in single tank recreational setup it is more of a nuisance than a benefit. If you find a benefit in a long hose, you are probably not in a recreational dive scene. And this is a question about recreational dive configuration, not advanced configuration. That thread is down the hall.

I've had to share air with an OOA diver, and also extended shore dives so my buddy who was low on air could stay with me all the way to the exit. The long hose came in very handy each time. We were able to swim side by side without holding on to each other, which is extremely difficult with 40 inch hose.

 

[halocline]

I usually use a 5ft hose for single tank OW diving, routed in the typical long hose manner except no big loop for the canister light, it just goes under the right arm and across the chest, around the head. For me the 5ft hose is just about perfect length for OW diving. I just haven't done much OW diving in the last few years, I miss it.