Recreational OW diving with long hoses (or the 'usual' r/h hose routing) ...
- Thread starter roydude
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Oh, so I am not allowed to add my support or offer a post?! Sorry, but I felt more clarification was necessary
Most definitely not. The primary purpose of the long hose is to position divers sharing air in a variety of positions when needed. Like placing an out of air diver in front of you for exiting restrictions. It in no way suggests you should just let the person swim about within 7' of you.
Have you ever actually dove or been trained in a technical configuration? Given your profile (Master Instructor) I assumed you would have been exposed to these situations.
OP
This isn't a discussion about the restricted environment, I'm referring to recreational open water dives. No penetration and no overhead (in those situations I'm a big fan of the hog loop etc..., just not convinced it's the best setup for a recreational OW diver).
Is a long hose the best setup for the average recreational open water diver? not likely, especially without putting in the time to develop the techniques and comfort level. But, I am not a fan of the octo mounted on the left either. I prefer to donate my primary, its the quickest I have seen and it works well with standard length hoses also. I trained students for years using a scubapro classic bc with an air2 and I dove that way myself on many warm water dive trips. Pass primary with right hand and go to back up with left hand.
I was an instructor who had only seen a long hose configuration a few times in my life before I began my technical training. My attitude then was that the long hose was necessary for technical diving, but the standard octo was just fine for recreational diving. When I started tech and was diving doubles regularly, I got used to the long hose configuration, but I kept my old setup intact for recreational single tank diving.
Then I read a story about a woman who drowned in Europe. She went OOA and then went to her buddy for air. The octo had come loose from its retainer and had gotten stuck somewhere behind her buddy. They couldn't find it in time. I thought of all the times my octo had come out of its retainer during a dive. I thought of all the times I have seen other divers whose octos had come loose during a dive. I thought about how many times that I have to make sure that all octos are in place before having students do an alternate air exercise. I promptly switched my recreational set to the long hose configuration and have not looked back.
In order to work effectively, the octo retainer must be designed to release it easily. That means it will be prone to releasing on its own and not be available for the OOA diver. The bungied alternate, in contrast, is designed to stay in place, so it will likely be there when the donating diver needs it.
That's the primary reason I use the long hose for recreational diving now. Lynne (TSandM) lists some other reasons with which I agree.
Then I read a story about a woman who drowned in Europe. She went OOA and then went to her buddy for air. The octo had come loose from its retainer and had gotten stuck somewhere behind her buddy. They couldn't find it in time. I thought of all the times my octo had come out of its retainer during a dive. I thought of all the times I have seen other divers whose octos had come loose during a dive. I thought about how many times that I have to make sure that all octos are in place before having students do an alternate air exercise. I promptly switched my recreational set to the long hose configuration and have not looked back.
In order to work effectively, the octo retainer must be designed to release it easily. That means it will be prone to releasing on its own and not be available for the OOA diver. The bungied alternate, in contrast, is designed to stay in place, so it will likely be there when the donating diver needs it.
That's the primary reason I use the long hose for recreational diving now. Lynne (TSandM) lists some other reasons with which I agree.
No one has said that a standard rec setup is bad. The OP stated in his first post that the long hose has more risk in the open environment which is just not true. He then went on to express uninformed situations which have been explained.
I've moved to long hose config on both single and double configs because I believe that comfort in a setup comes with repetition. Having different configs makes you less proficient in both, in my opinion. I'm fine with people diving rec gear. I'm far from fine with stating its more risky.
exclusively what I do (cold water), and I find that the LH is quite adaptable....
I just recently, out of sheer curiosity, drilled with a buddy with whom we did a 10 minute traverse across a quarry on my LH/BO. It was quite an easy going swim. Convinced me even more of how useful it is. We have also drilled where we implement the use of the octo, and do a close quarter conventional ascent, without deploying out the full 7' of hose. Again, worked well.
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Folks are focused on the wrong thing, hose length. The first issue to deal with is surrendering the primary. Once that's done we can talk about the length of the primary hose (I'd suggest that for recreational diving a 5 ft hose is about right (under the right arm and around the back of the head). As far as what to do with the secondary ... who cares? That is up to the person who has to know where it is and how to deploy it for use ... the diver carrying it.
---------- Post Merged at 12:59 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 12:57 PM ----------
Folks are focused on the wrong thing, hose length. The first issue to deal with is surrendering the primary. Once that's done we can talk about the length of the primary hose (I'd suggest that for recreational diving a 5 ft hose is about right (under the right arm and around the back of the head). As far as what to do with the secondary ... who cares? That is up to the person who has to know where it is and how to deploy it for use ... the diver carrying it.
---------- Post Merged at 12:59 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 12:57 PM ----------
Folks are focused on the wrong thing, hose length. The first issue to deal with is surrendering the primary. Once that's done we can talk about the length of the primary hose (I'd suggest that for recreational diving a 5 ft hose is about right (under the right arm and around the back of the head). As far as what to do with the secondary ... who cares? That is up to the person who has to know where it is and how to deploy it for use ... the diver carrying it.
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