Now you tell me. I just ordered the 24" on my new Deep6 reg. DOH!
22" or 24" primary regulator hose?
- Thread starter flybigjet
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if it hasn't shipped, send them a message, they'll swap it over.
in doubles, the 22" hose is for when you have regs with a bottom port and are running your hoses like this
Realistically, the 22" is still too long in my opinion, but to each his own.
The 24" is when you run them like this, and not only is the hose attachment on the first stage farther away from center, but it also has to make a 90* turn to go from heading down, to heading over and that radius eats up a lot of hose length
Too late but thanks for all the valuable info that you share. I appreciate the time you take and the attitude you have while doing it.
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glad to help. I love teaching and mentoring people, so the ability help from afar is satisfying for me and if it helps others to learn and grow, then it's that much better.
the 2" isn't going to make that much of a difference though, highly unlikely you're going to notice unless you run the octo out of the bottom port in singles
I'll order the right length after trying it and perhaps a custom length will be the best.
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Honestly? unless it bothers you, I wouldn't spend the money to change it, a couple of inches of extra hose is negligible vs a few inches missing. No, it's not going to be as streamlined as it could be, but no, it won't make any significant difference in your diving and if someone critiques you on it, then they are far more anal than I would have thought
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flybigjet
Contributor
Ok-- so after spending WAY more time last night researching, I've more or less come to these conclusions (which of course, breeds more questions).
1. The 5'/6'/7' hose is simply overkill for the type of diving I'll be doing in the near future. The "streamlined open water" is more practical for my purposes at the moment. If/when I go back to Truk, I can easily swap out a longer hose.
2. I'm going to give the under the arm primary routing a shot-- I'll be using a miflex hose with an Omni 360 degree swivel (spendy, but seems to be the most optimal of the bunch).
2a. Query: Omni 360-- the way to go with underarm setup, or would a 90/70/110 be better? I like the idea of it being able to swivel to an OOA diver.
2b: Query: My options on hose length are 40" and 36"; I don't think that 4" would make a huge difference in an OOA situation, especially with the Omni swivel. Looking at a lot of pictures last night, it looks in some like the 40" bulges out vertically when used under the arm. Since I do use my shoulder harness d-clips (second clip-off for camera or GoPro rig when transiting to keep hands free), that's a minor concern. Has anyone tried 36" in an under the arm configuration? I'm 6', 190 lbs if that makes a difference.
3. I'll set up my Octo as a necklace, again with miflex hose. My options are 18" or 22" for hose length. I'm leaning towards 22" over the 18" as that will give it a bit of play in the stowed/necklace position?
4. And, with all of this research, now I have to convince my wife (i.e. diving buddy) to swap to whatever configuration I end up with (which will of course, almost double the cost)-- she's currently running an inline octo off of her bc hose. She likes it and isn't exactly excited to swap. My fallback is to get her to switch to a "traditional" octo, although she's a grumble-bunny about that as well.
Again, thanks to all-- you've given me a LOT to think about!
R.
1. The 5'/6'/7' hose is simply overkill for the type of diving I'll be doing in the near future. The "streamlined open water" is more practical for my purposes at the moment. If/when I go back to Truk, I can easily swap out a longer hose.
2. I'm going to give the under the arm primary routing a shot-- I'll be using a miflex hose with an Omni 360 degree swivel (spendy, but seems to be the most optimal of the bunch).
2a. Query: Omni 360-- the way to go with underarm setup, or would a 90/70/110 be better? I like the idea of it being able to swivel to an OOA diver.
2b: Query: My options on hose length are 40" and 36"; I don't think that 4" would make a huge difference in an OOA situation, especially with the Omni swivel. Looking at a lot of pictures last night, it looks in some like the 40" bulges out vertically when used under the arm. Since I do use my shoulder harness d-clips (second clip-off for camera or GoPro rig when transiting to keep hands free), that's a minor concern. Has anyone tried 36" in an under the arm configuration? I'm 6', 190 lbs if that makes a difference.
3. I'll set up my Octo as a necklace, again with miflex hose. My options are 18" or 22" for hose length. I'm leaning towards 22" over the 18" as that will give it a bit of play in the stowed/necklace position?
4. And, with all of this research, now I have to convince my wife (i.e. diving buddy) to swap to whatever configuration I end up with (which will of course, almost double the cost)-- she's currently running an inline octo off of her bc hose. She likes it and isn't exactly excited to swap. My fallback is to get her to switch to a "traditional" octo, although she's a grumble-bunny about that as well.
Again, thanks to all-- you've given me a LOT to think about!
R.
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@flybigjet
1. we'll agree to disagree, though I have been using the "Streamlined OW" setup for several years before it became a "thing". The one thing I don't like about it is that there is still the potential for it to get pulled out of your mouth or dropped. The 7' is the only length of those that I use and recommend and any extra can get tucked into your waist belt to remove any excess. Can't do that with the 5', and I don't think I've ever seen a 6' hose. I do use a 9' hose in sidemount, but never in backmount.
2. good call
2a-omni is better than elbows in my opinion, the only elbow I would ever recommend is the Kirby Morgan, but they are kind of annoying to find. Half the price of the swivel. The Cave Adventurers ball swivel is perfectly fine as well, and for only $25 you are risking a lot less if you don't like it. The key with both of the swivels is proper maintenance, particularly using blue loc-tite on the screw. This should be done every time you rebuild your regulators. They come with a rebuild kit. The KM elbow is welded so has no risk of exploding like the cheaper ones, but I don't think it is as comfortable.
2b-40" is best for this. 36" is too short and may inhibit your ability to look left. The 40" hose shouldn't "bulge" anywhere. If you have a hose with a bottom port on it, then consider using that for the primary hose and that way you can control the angle of the hose with the first stage orientation. Either way it shouldn't interfere with your d-rings. It will however run the risk of interfering more than the 7' hose will since the hose is moving in that general vicinity vs. the long hose that is stationary around your chest.
3. for single tank diving, I go with 18". The 22" is fine, but will just bow out farther around your shoulder. It will not determine how long your suicide strap is though. The picture below is of Bob Sherwood and shows where the secondary is supposed to live. Any longer and it starts to defeat the purpose of putting it there in the first place. It does not interfere at all when diving when the suicide strap is that short.
1. we'll agree to disagree, though I have been using the "Streamlined OW" setup for several years before it became a "thing". The one thing I don't like about it is that there is still the potential for it to get pulled out of your mouth or dropped. The 7' is the only length of those that I use and recommend and any extra can get tucked into your waist belt to remove any excess. Can't do that with the 5', and I don't think I've ever seen a 6' hose. I do use a 9' hose in sidemount, but never in backmount.
2. good call
2a-omni is better than elbows in my opinion, the only elbow I would ever recommend is the Kirby Morgan, but they are kind of annoying to find. Half the price of the swivel. The Cave Adventurers ball swivel is perfectly fine as well, and for only $25 you are risking a lot less if you don't like it. The key with both of the swivels is proper maintenance, particularly using blue loc-tite on the screw. This should be done every time you rebuild your regulators. They come with a rebuild kit. The KM elbow is welded so has no risk of exploding like the cheaper ones, but I don't think it is as comfortable.
2b-40" is best for this. 36" is too short and may inhibit your ability to look left. The 40" hose shouldn't "bulge" anywhere. If you have a hose with a bottom port on it, then consider using that for the primary hose and that way you can control the angle of the hose with the first stage orientation. Either way it shouldn't interfere with your d-rings. It will however run the risk of interfering more than the 7' hose will since the hose is moving in that general vicinity vs. the long hose that is stationary around your chest.
3. for single tank diving, I go with 18". The 22" is fine, but will just bow out farther around your shoulder. It will not determine how long your suicide strap is though. The picture below is of Bob Sherwood and shows where the secondary is supposed to live. Any longer and it starts to defeat the purpose of putting it there in the first place. It does not interfere at all when diving when the suicide strap is that short.
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flybigjet
Contributor
@tbone1004--
THANK YOU. Very good advice. I'll be picking up a new set of Deep6 regs, and it looks like their primary has a bottom port. I was actually thinking about that last night, but it's nice to get some confirmation.
Regarding the swivel,could you expand a bit on comfort of the Cave Adventurers vs the Omni? Comfort underwater trumps cost, but I'm not adverse to saving where I can if there's no noticeable difference.
Again, thank you.
PS: Now, want to try convincing my wife to completely rebuild *her* rig? Heh.
THANK YOU. Very good advice. I'll be picking up a new set of Deep6 regs, and it looks like their primary has a bottom port. I was actually thinking about that last night, but it's nice to get some confirmation.
Regarding the swivel,could you expand a bit on comfort of the Cave Adventurers vs the Omni? Comfort underwater trumps cost, but I'm not adverse to saving where I can if there's no noticeable difference.
Again, thank you.
PS: Now, want to try convincing my wife to completely rebuild *her* rig? Heh.
Last edited:
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@flybigjet
Cave Adventurers has a ball swivel that is held to higher QAQC standards than most of the cheap ones you find out there. For $25, vs $80 for the Omni swivel, it's a great deal and they are being used for some seriously impressive cave dives. Perfectly fine for recreational diving as long as they are properly maintained. There is no real difference between the two, but the Omni is made in USA, and just "feels" better in your hand. It's completely ridiculous, but it is what it is. I would not spend over 3x as much money on the Omni's, but I do have almost a dozen of them because I bought them for about $30 from a closeout sale.
Kirby Morgan makes a 110* elbow that is welded. This is much better than the cheap ones that you find from everywhere else because they can't explode when the brass strips on the threads. Seen it before, very annoying, don't use them anymore. If I were to use elbows again, I would only look at the Kirby Morgan elbows because they're welded. Like the Omni's they are used in commercial diving if that gives a testimony to their reliability...
For comfort. In the water, it's going to be a bit of a tossup. If you use a long hose, or dive sidemount, and the reg is coming behind your neck, there really isn't much of a difference in comfort between the two. With the streamlined OW style of hose rigging, the ball is going to give you some more flexibility. These aren't freewheeling casters, they are under pressure and require some effort to move, so you can actually use the ball to adjust the hose positioning to where it can actually help assist with the weight of the regulator. Having that freedom of movement is quite nice to be able to infinitely adjust it. Can't really go wrong with either of them, but most people I know prefer the comfort of the ball swivels
Cave Adventurers has a ball swivel that is held to higher QAQC standards than most of the cheap ones you find out there. For $25, vs $80 for the Omni swivel, it's a great deal and they are being used for some seriously impressive cave dives. Perfectly fine for recreational diving as long as they are properly maintained. There is no real difference between the two, but the Omni is made in USA, and just "feels" better in your hand. It's completely ridiculous, but it is what it is. I would not spend over 3x as much money on the Omni's, but I do have almost a dozen of them because I bought them for about $30 from a closeout sale.
Kirby Morgan makes a 110* elbow that is welded. This is much better than the cheap ones that you find from everywhere else because they can't explode when the brass strips on the threads. Seen it before, very annoying, don't use them anymore. If I were to use elbows again, I would only look at the Kirby Morgan elbows because they're welded. Like the Omni's they are used in commercial diving if that gives a testimony to their reliability...
For comfort. In the water, it's going to be a bit of a tossup. If you use a long hose, or dive sidemount, and the reg is coming behind your neck, there really isn't much of a difference in comfort between the two. With the streamlined OW style of hose rigging, the ball is going to give you some more flexibility. These aren't freewheeling casters, they are under pressure and require some effort to move, so you can actually use the ball to adjust the hose positioning to where it can actually help assist with the weight of the regulator. Having that freedom of movement is quite nice to be able to infinitely adjust it. Can't really go wrong with either of them, but most people I know prefer the comfort of the ball swivels
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