I would like to make my own hookah setup....is it this simple?

[fstbttms]

I don't know enough about hose manufacturing to give specific details. But I do know that no commercial diver or dive instructor would agree with the premise that it doesn't matter what kind of air hose you breath through. The reason is (as I stated earlier) that non breathing-rated hose can off-gas toxins. It is not safe to use in diving applications and any argument to the contrary is based either in ignorance or idiocy.

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

I don't know enough about hose manufacturing to give specific details. But I do know that no commercial diver or dive instructor would agree with the premise that it doesn't matter what kind of air hose you breath through. The reason is (as I stated earlier) that non breathing-rated hose can off-gas toxins. It is not safe to use in diving applications and any argument to the contrary is based either in ignorance or idiocy.

Depending on the level of O2 being pushed through the hose, that, can make a difference in the hose. Gates makes good breathing hoses when you raise the O2 or add helium. Higher levels of O2 or other breathing mediums can cause the inside of a hose to breakdown and this is when the manufacturer and type of hose you chosse can be critical. If that happens you may end up with a chemical / breathing issue or may wind up breathing broken down rubber, neither being safe.

For breathing "air" and at a shallow depth most hoses are ok as air is not gonna cause a chemical breakdown of the inside portion of the hose. The big issue is if the hose has any petroleum inside, which is a huge "No NO". I have seen guys who have washed the inside a bit to get the plastic smell out. I haven't known anyone who ended up with any issues when they were breathing "air" FWIW

 

[fstbttms]

OK spd, so knowing what you know, if you're putting together a hookah or snuba rig, would you use cheapo industrial air hose?

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

OK spd, so knowing what you know, if you're putting together a hookah or snuba rig, would you use cheapo industrial air hose?

For shallow diving I, personally have 2 set ups:

1. A 30' hose manufactured for scuba set up with a first stage. This hose was $100.00
2. A 100' goodyear hose that I have set up for a first stage for shallow (40' or less) diving with more reach. I spliced a scuba hose to each end (First stage portion on one end, and regulator fitting on the other). This hose was $30.00 and works well.

With either set up, I use a bailout bottle with scuba if I am deeper than I can just stand up. If I am rigging bags on a car or boat in shallow water I may use a hose only. If entanglement or water over my head is a real issue, I use a bailout too. If I was diving for lobster and such, with no one on the top to yank my hose if there was a problem, I would also carry sufficient bailout to ascend, stop, and surface when a safe stop has been done.

The bottom line is real common sense. It is obvious that each atm we descend the partial pressure of what is in our breathing medium, or picked up from the hose, increases. Any trash gas that can occur through a breathing hose (chemical reaction?) has to be considered. This can be a clear danger.

The real experience I have found though is breathing "air" 40' or above has not presented any real health issues over the last 10 years or so of using them from time to time. For what the OP is wanting to do, it is probably safe, but that is for the OP to consider, especially after the information that has been presented here.

 

[corman]

The bottom line is FSTBTTMS doesn't know squat in this particular instance. He makes these bold prononciations about possible chemical toxidity of these pneumatic hoses but has no answer for this thread except generalizations. The only thing passing through these hoses is compressed air. No mixed gasses. The hose is PVC with a coating that may or may not have rubber but is irrelevant to the actual breathing section of hose which is PVC!!! . There are NO chemical issues in play here. I have used these hoses for over ten years and never have I tasted or smelled anything PERIOD end of story. I have used them to depths of over 100' and have been ou for hours at a time. I have had instructors, equipment repair technicians comment on my set up as cool but never even once questioned the safety relative to chemical composition and these are people that know diving trust me. We dive in perhaps the most busy recreational dive area of the U.S. A and people tend to know about diving there. If and when someone has some other factual information specific to these type hoses by all means chime in.

 

[corman]

I just emailed ATD Tools, the manufacturer of this hose and will await their comments from no doubt their legal department LOL Again I have no doubts in my simple mind that the hose is just fine but lets wait the expert opinions

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

I just emailed ATD Tools, the manufacturer of this hose and will await their comments from no doubt their legal department LOL Again I have no doubts in my simple mind that the hose is just fine but lets wait the expert opinions

I think you are right on this. Rubber will break down over time even with air. PVC? Probably a much more resiliant material especially for air.

 

[fstbttms]

I have used this type of air hose for upwards of ten years and have spent countless hours underwater using it for lobstering, hunting and Wow yes even cleaning hulls. The hose is ideal for diving use and you are misguided in your analysis.

Your argument is flawed. For instance- it is a fact that smoking cigarettes can cause cancer and other diseases. Yet people often smoke cigarettes for decades before any ill effects are noticed. The fact that you have used cheap air hose, not rated for breathing for a long time and somehow live to tell the tale does not mean that you are not hurting yourself and those who use your gear.

I have had instructors, equipment repair technicians comment on my set up as cool but never even once questioned the safety relative to chemical composition and these are people that know diving trust me.

I find this a bit difficult to believe. It is common knowledge in the commercial dive industry that nothing but Grade-E breathing hose should be used in dive applications. If your hose is perfectly safe, why do professional divers not use it? Why is it not included in recreational dive gear (like commercially-available hookahs)? Everybody is interested in saving a buck, so there must be another reason. Maybe because it carries inherent risks and can't legally be sold as breathing hose?

I just emailed ATD Tools, the manufacturer of this hose and will await their comments from no doubt their legal department LOL Again I have no doubts in my simple mind that the hose is just fine but lets wait the expert opinions

I will give you props for this. At least you are willing to risk being proven wrong. My guess is that is that, if you hear back from ATD at all, they will tell you that they cannot endorse the use of their PVC air tool hose for breathing purposes.

 

[corman]

fstbttms back in 2007 on another board LOLHoly kee-ryst. Pneumatic hose is designed to do one thing; provide air to pneumatic tools. It is not designed to provide safe breathing air to humans underwater (or anywhere else.) The manufacturers test the hose with oil-laden air under pressure. That oil didn't disappear from the hose when you ignorantly included it in your hookah rig. Do you believe for a second that you are not breathing that oil when you use such hose for a purpose for which it was never intended? It's your life and your health, but if you want the advice of someone who dives professionally with surface supplied air every day, ditch the cheapo hardware store crap and only use hose designed to provide clean, safe breathing air underwater.

The same goes for using a hardware store compressor with a steel reservoir. That thing is going to rust out in short order and you will be breathing mud. The only materials suitable for that application are aluminum, stainless or plastic.

Seems he is the true authority on pressure hose for hookah systems LOL

I think this will be an open ended argument until someone can safely say that expensive (Only in Selling Price????) Brownies hookah hose as an example is much different than Industrial Pneumatic Hose in safety and functionality. Perhaps it is all marketing. All I know is fstbttms doesn't have the answers and he is using pure conjecure based on his interpretation of "Common Sense".

My commonsense tells me the hose I am using is perfectly fine. And around and around we go and where we stop....... LOL

 

[fstbttms]

If you do some research on breathing hose, you will find several things:

1.- PVC is not necessarily a safe material for food or breathing applications and may leach dioxin.
2.- The federal government has a standard for breathing hose. It requires strict manufacturing processes. Hose manufactured to this standard is marked "Grade-E".
3.- The Navy has developed a separate standard because it found that the diver's hose it had been purchasing did, in fact, offgas toxins. Amongst them, tuolene.

It may very well be that the hose corman advocates using is doing him no harm. On the other hand, it may be slowly poisoning him. What is certain is that the hose he uses was not designed to provide breathing air and certainly does not meet the government's standards for it. Professional divers (myself included) who use breathing hose every day are not willing to risk our health merely to save a couple of bucks. Whether or not corman's low-grade PVC pneumatic tool hose is actually dangerous to use as a breathing hose is something I doubt we here in this forum will ever know definitively. But considering what is at stake, it seems foolish to use it, or advocate its use.