Got it #2!

[almitywife]

......... Boy, that new webbing is stiff! .......

whatever you do, dont be like a SB member (not me) who put their webbing in the microwave to unstiffen it

i hear the house still stinks of burnt webbing :shocked2:

 

[sambolino44]

Hmmm, I wonder if I can stretch that corrugated hose...

 

[TSandM]

The advantage of the short hose is that it doesn't hang down below you when you are in a horizontal position, so it won't get caught or beat up on anything. Look at a bunch of pictures of divers . . . You'll see the inflator hanging below their bodies, like this:

I don't understand your description of the issue with your hand. When I reach for my inflator, I either want to inflate or deflate. If I want to inflate, I grab the hose so my thumb is on the outside, and my index finger pushes the inflate button. If I want to deflate, I grab the hose so it's between my thumb and ring finger, and my index finger depresses the deflate button. I can understand the difficulty of looking for the inflator four inches below where it is, but once you've found it, it shouldn't be a big problem to utilize it.

 

[John_B]

It never catches or knocks on anything. It never gets in the way any more than the short one did. It's a hell of a lot easier to retreive if it falls behind me, and I don't have to rely on a strap, which holds it down, or a bungee to hold it in place.

The short inflator hose seemed strange to me at first, partly because it was so different from the Oceanic BC I used before where the inflator reached the bottom of the cumberbund.

I've since come to believe the DSS inflator is exactly as long as necessary and no longer. The bungee loop or section of bicycle inner tube holds it right between the left shoulder and d-ring, by design I will never have to retrieve it from behind me as its always between my left shoulder and my left d-ring. I can literally find it and use it without thinking about it.

Edit: Lynne's post just above mine sums it up nicely (as usual).

OTOH, if a 22" inflator works better for you, well then, it works better than you.

Hmmm, I wonder if I can stretch that corrugated hose...

The oval H corrugated hose will eventually "accordion" to a longer length, I don't think that's the case with the DSS version.

 

[evil_xander]

... If you release air, you have to move the valve anyway. You want to move the valve up over your shoulder (assuming you are prone) so that it's up high where the bubble is. So when you do that you can rotate your hand around the valve to position your fingers over the purge valve. OK, so now you have to move your thumb around to the other side of the hose/valve. Oops! You dropped it. Or maybe not, so now you have the hose extending back toward the wing from the bottom of your fist, and the exhaust button is under your forefinger. It's this very manuever that I found so difficult and frustrating.

To be honest, I never had a problem with this, my inflator is secured to my D ring, so it's not going anywhere regardless of what finger I use to deflate it (even if it's free from the bungee and in my hand)... OTOH I try to deflate using the rear dump whenever possible.

Like you said, if it works for you, it works.

 

[sambolino44]

The advantage of the short hose is that it doesn't hang down below you when you are in a horizontal position, so it won't get caught or beat up on anything....

But so far I've never had a problem of it hanging too low or catching or banging on anything.

I don't understand your description of the issue with your hand. When I reach for my inflator, I either want to inflate or deflate. If I want to inflate, I grab the hose so my thumb is on the outside, and my index finger pushes the inflate button. If I want to deflate, I grab the hose so it's between my thumb and ring finger, and my index finger depresses the deflate button.

Which way is the inflate button pointing when your are vertical? Toward your left, right, forward, or back?

I can understand the difficulty of looking for the inflator four inches below where it is, but once you've found it, it shouldn't be a big problem to utilize it.

But there is no difficulty looking for it; I don't have to look for it. It's always right where I feel for it; I just can't push the buttons without a lot of janking around. Since you, like most other divers, don't have a problem operating the buttons I can understand the difficulty understanding or visualize my problem. I wish we had been in the same buddy team when we dove together recently. Well, I guess that wouldn't have helped because you would not have seen me struggle with the short hose because I replaced it with a long hose. However, you would have been able to see how long it hangs down, which is not much in my opinion (maybe too much for you). I have to say that the bungee arrangement you have is way better than any other, similar device I've ever seen, but I still don't understand why there's so much more of a "you'll be better off with the short hose" vibe than a "whatever works for you (within reason) is OK" kind of vibe.

 

[sambolino44]

...OTOH I try to deflate using the rear dump whenever possible...

Me, too.

Hey, I fully admit that my skills are not the best, and I really don't like a gear solution to a training or skill problem, it just seems to me that, if the hose doesn't bang into stuff, what's the advantage?

And why such resistance to doing it differently?

 

[sambolino44]

By the way, I was JOKING about stretching the hose in the micro-wave (what's that smell?)

 

[TSandM]

When I'm standing up, the inflate button is aimed to my right.

In open water diving, if you aren't getting very close to anything, the length of the hose really doesn't matter that much. The inflator shown in my photo, which was an octo-inflator, would actually hit things I swam over at times. When you are working around line, as in caves or wrecks, you don't want ANYTHING hanging down from your body at all, because it can (and WILL!) catch in the line.

I think I may actually have a longer piece of corrugated hose at home, if you end up wanting it. Corrugated hose by itself seems to be kind of hard to come by. You can buy the inflators, but it's kind of silly to pay for the complex functional piece when all you really need is to replace the hose itself. I couldn't find a source for corrugated hose when I was looking, so I got a shorter piece from a friend (the Deep Outdoors wing I got had a long inflator).

 

[Soakedlontra]

The cord we have been furnishing on the NEW DSS OPV is larger than before, this alone should make it easier to find and use.

Yes, It is easier to find but I think I still want to add a knob or something at the end of the cord.

The vast majority of our users find the hose length furnished to be spot on. It may take a few dives to adapt, don't jump to any premature conclusions.

Good for them. I have tried twice so far and it has been a real pain in the neck to be able to operate the buttons and especially reach the mouth piece with my mouth. I guess those guys don't need to orally inflate the wing or my neck is really stiff and truly needs to be stretched somehow.