braided hoses vs rubber hoses

[dkiely]

I've done some searching but haven't been able to dig up anything that compared braided hoses to rubber hoses and weighed the pros and cons to both.

I'm thinking about changing some of my LP hoses to braided hoses. Is it worth the switch?

 

[decompression]

Braided hose
Pros; lighter, flexible, last longer
Cons; cost, retain shape memory, can be rough on skin/neoprene

Generally, they are great for inflators, SPG's and short hoses. If you are using a hogarthian set up, the 5 or 7' hose is too "floaty".

I've switched a lot of my hoses but I have a lot of gear. I really like them for my travel rigs.


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[tbone1004]

basically what J said. I don't like them on regulators because they bite the hair on the back of your neck and/or tear up the hood/neck seals. Great for inflator, HP, etc etc, but the only ones I regularly use is the reg on my O2 bottle and my backmount SPG. If you can get them at the same price, they're nice, Cave Adventurers has them pretty cheap actually. I would never use one for my long hose for cave diving though, they float really strange and that can be really annoying, on top of that being the one hose that is always laying on your neck. My secondary does as well, so those will stay rubber.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I haven't had any issues with braided hoses chaffing my neck, seal, or suit or biting the hair on the back of my neck. For a primary long hose they are floaty though. After 6 or so years of using them for 100+ dives a year (mostly technical diving) I recently switched the long hose back to rubber as I've had concerns with the braided primary in tiny overheads. I still use the braided long hose for air travel as it is lighter.

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[Jim Lapenta]

I am ok with them for inflator and my pool reg. Long hose? Nope. Sidemount? Nope. Too floaty and abrade the bands on my tanks that I have to tuck them under.

They also are rough on my skin and I have seem some less than desirable effects on my seals when I tried them for a short time. I like them on stage bottle spgs. On my sidemount regs I am testing some new ones and so far not impressed. Too floppy.

Some of the LP ones also seem to take a set when coiled for storage. Not a big deal if you are able to hang your regs but I have nine assembled set ups. Not even going to count the spare 1sts. 2nds, and hoses. Once rinsed and dried they get stored in a bin or I'd have them hanging all over the apartment. It's bad enough I have tanks in the living room, kitchen, and bedroom.

 

[phoenix31tt]

I switched back from braided to rubber because i had an issue where one of fairly new hoses leaked in the middle and a visual inspection showed nothing... this was a 7' hose. My biggest issue other than that was the fact that the hose takes the shape of however it was stored, which is a problem for me because i don't have the luxury of being able to hang my regs for storage

what you need to ask yourself though is why do you want to switch?

 

[dkiely]

what you need to ask yourself though is why do you want to switch?

I don't really have a need to switch, all my hoses are fine and have less than 100 dives and I take excellent care of my gear. The biggest reason I wanted to switch is the availability of colors and lighter weight. We also have a small selection of braided hoses at the shop I work at and I don't like telling people I like or dislike a product if I've never used it. I was thinking it'd be a good way to make sure my gear never gets confused with anyone else's on large charter boats, although it's never really been a problem so far. I was also thinking that when working as a dive guide/divemaster it'd make it easier for large groups of divers to easily identify me. I've only seen rubber hoses in black and in yellow. Do rubber hoses come in other colors (other than black or yellow)?

It use to be I was easily identifiable because my white steel tanks, but the steels seem to be getting more popular and I'm finding more and more divers starting to use them.

Several of you said they make good hoses for inflator hoses, are you referring to a BC LP inflator hose or dry suit inflator hoses, or both?

So for now they aren't necessary, just something I think would be neat to have all matching colored hoses. I guess I could always just get hose wraps.

 

[buddhasummer]

Both, they are good for "BC" and drysuit inflators.

 

[Centrals]

I still remember couple of posts on the reliability of braided hoses in SB not too long ago.

 

[DevonDiver]

I can't recommend something, once I've had to provide rescue to an OOA diver because it failed....Nylon-Braided Regulator Hose Diving Emergency