I also respect other's choices, that's why we are here talking about it. T
Tell me what happens to you with a 7' hose that makes you feel that it is so long.
It's not the wearing of the hose, yes it can be unwieldy if people need to de-kit in the water or with the long hose on a boat, but these are minor inconveniences that with a little thought are easily over come.
My feelings for OW are derived as thus: Sorry for the long post.
As you know for a OOA/OOG in a non overhead the you're simply donating the gas and making a controlled direct ascent to the surface. In Open water you'll need to generally take control of the OOG diver and manage the ascent.
In this regard either ascending up an anchor or shot line I see no need for 7' hose. Similarly with an ascent in the blue with a dSMB. That said I find the standard hose configuration too short.
As I've mentioned before, my main rig, is set up with 2 x 40" hoses, with both regs having a 90 degree swivel, and my Alt second coming under my left arm (a peculiar British way) and secured on a silicon bungee.
This I believe gives the best overall solution of hose lengths and flexibility, alleviates hose crossing issues and has the minimum of downsides (it doesn't matter which reg you donate). It would be acceptable for a "Tec dive to get the receiver to a stop before they can get onto a deco reg, however It would not be the optimum for a physical overhead like a wreck penetration.
I like for people to think about their gear setup rather than blindly follow a particular method.
Many many divers, really aren't that skilled with regard to donate. It's something they do in training , park and forget. Even those that practise (for the most part) do so in a controlled low stress environment.
When I teach Rescue, during the final scenarios, when I simulate OOA it's not with the nice calm OOA signal. No, I come at them with my mask off, reg out, eyes wide open "flailing" about. Even though they will have practised this as part of the course, and the OOA is briefed at least 50% freeze up with surprise and shock. Quite often I will end up halting the scenario putting my own reg in and mask on and then debriefing. This is with a normal rig. With Long hose some get into a real tizz.
Obviously this isn't' an equipment issue rather than a practise and skill issue. But this is the reality.
I'm a firm believer in the KISS principle (and the 6 P's - Prior Preparation Prevents P1$$ Poor Performance) so people having the simplest setup applicable to allow themselves to carry out the type of diving they choose, and thinking it through. A great example is the discussion on SM as to whether to use the standard long hose bungeed second or 2 long hoses. Pro's and cons for both and in the end a personal choice dependant upon your preferences (I prefer the latter especially on my DPV as its faster to donate a free reg)
In my early dive experience, I was as guilty as anyone of making my gear selection based on others' opinion or how shiney it was. More experienced divers got me to justify my equipment decisions by discussion and thinking. Sometimes I was right and sometimes I was wrong. They weren't trying to shame me, just get me to think my decisions through. And it was a great learning experience.
So in summary I have no objection to any gear rig - I only object to decisions that have been made without real thought behind it, (because they've read about it or want to look different etc etc) and then not taking the time to practice or get tuition in the operation or use of that config. That could be Long hose, Pony's etc etc
Good discussion though.
