Reworking my setup

[beanojones]

I leave my guage clipped to the left D-ring, so I don't have to deal with it either. You're right though, not wearing a bungee necklace could save me a valuable second every time I kit up

But you do have to deal with it when putting the gear on; you are just used to dealing with it, because you have to find the place to put your arm when the gear goes on. When the SPG is routed over the shoulder and strapped to the shoulder strap, it can't really catch on anything, because it is one with the shoulder strap. I teach lots of people and not once with the over the shoulder routing have they ever gotten tangled on that hose in gear R&R. Underarm it happens fairly often.

The same goes with the over the arm bungied necklace reg; you might find putting the bungie on does not take much time; but there is a simpler way, and that is for it to take no time. Again, I teach lots of divers, and not often does one manage to get tangled in an alternate inflator reg, but the number of people who can even figure what to do with a bungied necklace without experience and practice number about zero.

The comfort level of dealing with gear shows itself when newly certified people are comfortable enough taking their gear off underwater for whatever reason they want to take their gear off. For some of my OW students, the DM gear exchange when it happens down the road is not even something they have to think about because they stopped thinking of gear as being permanently attached even underwater, and stopped having to strap themselves into it all the way back in the OW course.

The bungied necklace does not necessarily solve any problems if an over the shoulder reg is uncomfortable, which I, personally find it to be, pretty much all the time (though I am interested in giving the 18" Miflex and 110 a try). I do bungie neck looped regs, and sometimes run the short hose under the arm on a bungie, but I hate non neck looped regs that run over the shoulder, though, again I am interested in giving the 18" Miflex and 110 a try, since there are times I have to use one, futz with an underarm work around). Luckily since stopping most BM doubles diving in favor of sidemount, those times are getting rarer.

Squaring one's gear away is probably best done with an open mind and with a minimum of "putting up with it". After all we could all use the standard rental setup, if we were only willing to "put up with it". It's increasing function, and, for some, decreasing hassle that makes anyone try new stuff. (Except for people moving into DIR who have to use the system as is for system consistency reasons.)

For some people decreasing hassle is not an important goal. For you, it's not. For me, it is. My gear comes on and off 20 times a day, both in the water and on land. Even if it didn't I would not want to futz with stuff before diving. And I see that lack of futz makes for more comfortable OW divers who are not fighting with their gear.

---------- Post added July 3rd, 2013 at 09:26 AM ----------

I'm sure beano will give you a long, detailed explanation of why it's superior to the way you do it

And right you are, since we are trading ideas. If you don't want to trade ideas, why are you reading this thread. Or SB at all?

But I don't feel the need to be snide about what other think, and neither should you feel that need. It's not superior, not did I say it was. It's what works for me and why.

 

[Tortuga68]

If you don't want to trade ideas, why are you reading this thread. Or SB at all?

I just come here to be refreshed by your unique outlook on scuba diving

 

[MrChen]

I tried reconfiguring my gear on a dive this week as well.

I used a 40" under my arm with a swivel. I suffered from the worst jaw fatigue I've ever had. I'm blaming two things for this; 1) The swivel is heavy, and 2) I need a longer hose.

So I ordered a 5' hose and I'm sending back the swivel and replacing it with a 110 degree adapter.

On a positive note, I *LOVED* having my octo right under my chin. I went to hold my primary to relieve the fatigue and I accidentally knocked it right out of my mouth. I figured there was no better time than that to switch to my octo and it was so easy. My octo was such a relief in terms of jaw fatigue that I almost swam with it as my primary the rest of the dive, but I didn't want to leave my primary dangling so switched back.

My main motivation for doing this was to remove clutter from items hanging from my BCD. There's just too much when you tally up all the accessories (light, knife, octo, camera, etc) clipped to my bc. Getting the octo out of the way helped a lot. I'll report back how the 5' hose and 110 degree adapter work out once I get a chance to dive with them. Until then, I'm back to the standard config.

 

[fbk]

That's interesting that you had jaw fatigue. For me it is non existent with that setup, and far worse with standard config where the reg wants to get pulled out the right side of your mouth as the hose wants to lengthen/shorten as you turn your head. Coming straight up from your chest the hose length is the same no matter which way your head is turned. Miflex hoses are really light as well and you never even know it is there. As noted above the 110 elbow did not work for me at all, the 90 is perfect, they are only $12ea so grab a couple and experiment.

 

[tracydr]

Hello everybody

I'am thinking of reconfiguring my reg setup to go with the 40 inch hose on my primary looped under my arm with the right angle at the second stage. Has anyone gone with this setup and if so,how do you like it. It seems to offer a lot of advantages as far as cutting drag and being safer. I already have my second on a necklace but I might end up putting that on a shorter hose also having that come around the back of my neck.

Thanks

Why?
if reworking it to 40", why not just go all the way to a DIR configuration and use a 5-7'. If you're worried that a 7' is too long, try a 5' first. I'm 5'1" and I use a 7' with no difficulty on a single tank set up. I've used it with all different exposure suits and everything from a BC jacket to a BP/wing. You can tuck excess in the waist belt or do as I do and tuck it under a weight pocket/can light or knife.

---------- Post added July 3rd, 2013 at 09:35 AM ----------

After a grueling pool and lake session with my DMC buddy last summer ( he's 6'4" and I 5'1", although I'm not sure it mattered much), I ordered my DIR hoses and other kit.
Those long laps around the pool breathing off each other's octo were just brutal. I could not see doing that for any length of time with a panicky OW student or resort diver. Not fun! Especially in strong current if I had to get them back to shore or back to a boat with any long swim!
The longer hose just makes so much sense. It gets you out of striking range of a panicky diver if needed, allows you to swim normally in good trim which decreases air consumption of both divers( assume your rescuee doesn't need to be held close) and allows you to use your compass if needed while navigating back to boat or shore, again, because you are able to stay in level trim.

Finally, I found my 7 foot hose decreased the jaw fatigue that I get with my old setup.

 

[MrChen]

That's interesting that you had jaw fatigue. For me it is non existent with that setup, and far worse with standard config where the reg wants to get pulled out the right side of your mouth as the hose wants to lengthen/shorten as you turn your head. Coming straight up from your chest the hose length is the same no matter which way your head is turned. Miflex hoses are really light as well and you never even know it is there. As noted above the 110 elbow did not work for me at all, the 90 is perfect, they are only $12ea so grab a couple and experiment.

I'm a bigger guy, 5'11" 260lbs. The 40" reaches, but there isn't a lot of slack and the hose wasn't flexible.

WHen I say the swivel was heavy, I'm not saying that "lightly" . The swivel weighed more than my reg. I should have heeded the reviews as others were complaining about the weight as well. I was just hoping it would be a non issue under water, but it was an issue. I'll try the 110, if it doesn't work, I'll get a 90 as well (buying both would be less than the swivel with room to spare).

---------- Post added July 3rd, 2013 at 01:30 PM ----------

Also, the 5' hose is one of the flexible brands. I expect the combination to make a huge difference.

 

[beanojones]

Which swivel were you using? One of those hemisphere ones or the 90 swivel?

Just keep in mind with the 5 foot MiFLex that the first couple of dives will be prolly be annoying because of the float and flex. The memory effect will wear off as the braiding relaxes itself over to match your drape over time. But the float is just something to deal with.

Most people trying the 5 foot rubber and the 5 foot Miflex will like the rubber better the first time IME: no memory, and no floaty. But I like the MiFlex once the braided relaxes for weight reasons.

---------- Post added July 3rd, 2013 at 06:23 PM ----------

As noted above the 110 elbow did not work for me at all, the 90 is perfect, they are only $12ea so grab a couple and experiment.

Or less, even:
HP, LP & BC Hose Adapters and Fittings - Dive Gear Express

 

[MrChen]

It was the Aqua 360 Swivel.

Thanks for the advice on the hose.

---------- Post added July 3rd, 2013 at 09:10 PM ----------

Once you add tax and shipping, it's back up to $13.

 

[beanojones]

Those 360 swivels are heavy and IME unreliable. I have suffered two complete hemisphere separations with them. In my defense, I only tried it again after the manufacturer said they identified the cause of the first failure.

The simple 90 is lighter, more reliable, and is actually more comfortable because the 360 swivel pulls in a funny way when the angle changes because it has to rotate both hemispheres to actually swivel in plane.

As always, YMMV. Interesting that the LP reviews are all over the place as well.

http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/AQUS360.html#ReviewInfoTab

 

[MrChen]

It's already in the mail on it's way back. I didn't buy it at LP (I avoid them due to previous purchase issues), but the reviews were the same where I purchased it. I have the 110 on the way, if it doesn't work, I'll have the 90 coming right behind it. Again, thank you for the feedback.