Got it #2!

[Soakedlontra]

You cannot reach this little hose?

Only thing I can think of as possible help without yoga or replacing it is adjusting the wing position or checking that your BP & harness are properly setup, you can have a look here how to do it:
DIR-diver.com - Adjust the backplate

I can reach the hose. The problems are operating the buttons without twisting my hand all over the place (something that increases my stress level) and reach the mouth piece with my mouth!

I had scoliosis when I was a kid, perhaps that's it! That's why I am so clumsy at using this hose!

Thanks for the link!

 

[John_B]

I can reach the hose. The problems are operating the buttons without twisting my hand all over the place (something that increases my stress level) and reach the mouth piece with my mouth!

If a longer inflator hose works for you after trying the stock version, then don't worry what we think.

 

[djcheburashka]

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).

Dive Rite Express sells corrugated hoses in various sizes. Hollis is also about to start selling them (I think the Hollis ones are nicer). And OMS also has them. But they are all (except the Dive Rite Express) hard to find either in stores or over the internet.

 

[evil_xander]

I can reach the hose. The problems are operating the buttons without twisting my hand all over the place (something that increases my stress level) and reach the mouth piece with my mouth!

I had scoliosis when I was a kid, perhaps that's it! That's why I am so clumsy at using this hose!

I have scoliosis and kifosis, it's still ok...

 

[ManLee]

One size does not fit all. A hose that is the perfect length on someone that weighs 120 lbs will not fit the same on someone that is 240 lbs. And don't say that the rig is not adjusted right. Its just simple math. The distance from the center of my back, over to my shoulder strap, then down and around to my mouth is not the same as someone who weighs half of what I do.

I replaced my "short" hose with one that is 4" longer and people still ask me why I dive with such a short inflator hose. Must be just about right then.

 

[Soakedlontra]

After 6 dives with the 12" hose I capitulate! :depressed:I may be a wimp but I don't care. I want a hose that makes me feel comfortable not a piece of equipment that causes stress and makes me feel unsafe, that's the bottom line! I am not planning to do any cave or wreck diving any time soon.

At the same time I do not want gear that dangles and droops down my body catching into weeds, animals etc like a trawl net. I think a 16" hose is a reasonable length, a good 'compromise' between a short hose that I can barely hold in my hand and one that reaches my pelvis!

 

[Soakedlontra]

Thanks for the advice and photo. I don't want to seem argumentative, but you seem to be missing the point(s). It's not that we cannot reach the valve. I was able to reach it and grasp it easily, but no matter how I tried to turn it, arrange it, manipulate it, whatever, it was always difficult to get the buttons positioned in relation to my fingers so that it was easy to operate. And my wife finds it unsettling to be required to crane your neck and pull the hose to it's limit in order to orally inflate the wing.

Look at the photo you provided. Now imagine your left hand moving up in a natural motion to grasp the valve. It seems to me that the most natural way to move your hand would end up with the inflator valve under your fingers. Great! Now try to push the purge button; it's sticking out of the bottom of your fist, nowhere near any fingers. No problem! 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.

My new corrugated hose is 4 inches longer than my old hose. Now I can make the move described above without dropping the valve. Or I can easily hold the valve so that one button's under my thumb and one's under a finger, and I can comfortably hold it like that for a long time, if I want to.

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.

It makes me happy. It works for me.

What I have not heard yet, though, is an argument why the 4" shorter hose is better?

UAUAUHHH! That's a hell of a description! Thanks! Technical writing has never been my 'forte'!

 

[Soakedlontra]

I have scoliosis and kifosis, it's still ok...

Kifosis...uummhh...

Amazing!!! AAAHHH! I have found it in the dictionary, spelled with an e, though!

(I thought you made the word up!You never know what you end up learning in the Scuba Board!)

 

[Soakedlontra]

One size does not fit all. A hose that is the perfect length on someone that weighs 120 lbs will not fit the same on someone that is 240 lbs. And don't say that the rig is not adjusted right. Its just simple math. The distance from the center of my back, over to my shoulder strap, then down and around to my mouth is not the same as someone who weighs half of what I do.

I replaced my "short" hose with one that is 4" longer and people still ask me why I dive with such a short inflator hose. Must be just about right then.

However there are some women out there as small as me who are happy with a short hose...got figure...

 

[sambolino44]

However there are some women out there as small as me who are happy with a short hose...got figure...

A lesser man may be tempted to reply with, "I wouldn't touch that line with a ten-foot pole!" But not me; I didn't say it!