Regarding your point 1. Do you think it is a good plan to dive a setup for ages, go on a big trip and change?
Sure, why not?
Kidding, just kidding. I truly appreciate all of the differing points of view-- you've all brought up very good points.
I just got back from a huge trip (Guam-Palau-Truk) using (more or less) what I've been using for years (plus an additional octo); I'm going to do a bit of refresher training with my wife (she's getting her Rescue done-- I'm going to tag along as the crash test dummy) in March, and then Turks in October (welcome to being landlocked), so having a fair while off between dives is sadly sort of how my life works.
If I can swap back and forth between airplanes (and all those confusing lights and buttons and switches!), I'm pretty sure that I can figure out that my secondary air source is in a slightly more convenient place. If you're talking about swapping to a longer hose-- well, that's what practice dives are for before the "main event", innit? Truk isn't exactly something that you decide to do next weekend-- best guess is that I'm three years out before going again-- plenty of time to play with (i.e. get instruction on) a different hose configuration during a few dives prior (it would give me something to do in Guam, anyway). Besides, I'm not certain there's a huge amount of difference in the fundamental mechanics between streamlined and long hose OOA situations-- you're still giving away your primary air source, you still have to get the primary hose out from under your right arm, and you're still reaching for your secondary air source around your neck. The only significant differences that I can see in mechanics is the loop around the head and prepping the gear pre-dive; both of those are certainly trainable with a reasonable degree of lead-time before a big trip. Admittedly, you can't swim side by side, but since I won't be doing anything except non-enclosed/overhead environments, that's less of an issue than it could be.
One other consideration is that my wife wants to mirror my configuration; fair enough (but spendy) and she (at this point) absolutely has no interest in a long hose. She's just not interested in tec-ish diving (although she does want to do Truk again). Since she's the Minister of War and Finance, she sort of gets a controlling vote-- I had to talk a lot today to get her to buy off on the streamlined configuration since she's very comfortable with what she currently uses. I'm calling that a win (and by "win", I mean doubling the cost of the new regs and hoses I was going to buy.)
The bottom line is that although I'm more "tec" inclined (translation: if I lived somewhere where I could do tec consistently with a partner), my wife isn't. She wants our gear to be rigged the same, and since she's my primary dive partner (and significantly less experienced), I see wisdom in that. If I lived in the Pacific and got to indulge on my off days, I'd be all over long hoses and twin tanks. However, the reality is that other than a bit of tec-flavored diving every 3-5 years (i.e. Truk), most of our diving is Resort based or Liveaboard. At this juncture, I think the streamlined system makes the most sense for the two of us.
Again, a huge THANK YOU to everyone; I've learned a lot, and considered (and reconsidered) a few things I thought I was happy with. That's kind of a Good Thing.
R.
