Switching to long primary hose

[palmer loggins]

im looking to switch to a long hose on my primary and just wanted some insight. I like the idea of donating my primary while having my back up bungees to my neck. Does anyone have any links to websites showing how to rig this set up? I'm assuming different brand regs have to be set up differently. I've got an atomic B2 yoke and just recently switched to a Hollis BP/W. Also I don't think I would want a 7ft hose but something I can just run under my arm. Any insight would be great.

Thanks, Palmer

 

[Ouvea]

Palmer:

If you're going with the 5 or 7ft hose, make sure you don the necklace first, then the long hose. Your last part of the equipment check should be to ensure that you can deploy the long hose (GUE refers to this as the "modified S Drill). Can't tell you how many times I've seen the long hose captured by the alternate second stage hose.

FKD - Single Regulator Configuration
Equipment Configuration | Global Underwater Explorers

The longer hoses increases your dive team's mobility, as you're not physically constricted by a very short hose. However, the length also has its drawbacks. Learn to use it properly or have SHTF in a real emergency scenario...

O.

 

[BoltSnap]

im looking to switch to a long hose on my primary and just wanted some insight. I like the idea of donating my primary while having my back up bungees to my neck. Does anyone have any links to websites showing how to rig this set up? I'm assuming different brand regs have to be set up differently. I've got an atomic B2 yoke and just recently switched to a Hollis BP/W. Also I don't think I would want a 7ft hose but something I can just run under my arm. Any insight would be great.

Thanks, Palmer

I use a 40" hose for my primary routed under my arm and with a swivel/elbow at the hose/ss connection. My alternate (same second stage) is on a 24" hose and with a necklace. They work fine for non-technical type of diving and no issues with the hoses.

 

[KenGordon]

Find someone qualified to teach you. There are a number of alternative ways to configure regulator hoses, some with non obvious issues (like the order you put them on). Learning this from the Internet, which owes you no duty of care, is the stuff of parody. If you want to do that though, you could do worse than look at Equipment Configuration | Global Underwater Explorers where you will find a recognised agency's views rather than those of some bloke off the internet.

 

[Searcaigh]

I have been using a long hose (7ft) for recreational diving for some time and I usually carry a stage / bail out bottle on most of my dives.

I tuck the hose through my waist belt of the harness.

As Ouvea mentions above you need to practice deploying it and ensure that your hose routing does not snag on any of your other gear.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Also I don't think I would want a 7ft hose but something I can just run under my arm.

I thought the same thing--a 7 ft hose sounds REALLY long and surely must be unwieldy. So I took the introductory GUE course with a 5 ft hose. What I found was that a 5 ft hose was so short that it exerted a force on the reg in my mouth. If you read the many threads on SB debating 5 versus 7 feet, you'll find that an elbow fitting is the key to avoiding the tug on a 5 ft hose. In my case, I just switched out the 5 ft hose for a 7 ft hose and never looked back. Once you get used to it, it doesn't feel long at all. At this point, a shorter hose would feel weird.

 

[DiverDownD3]

I like my 7' hose. Like others have mentioned I just tuck mY excess in my waist band. There's honestly not that much excess. I don't have a canister light battery to tuck it around, but I've never had an issue with the hose coming out either.

 

[KenGordon]

Assuming a hog loop, the 5ft vs 7ft thing is a personal size/preference thing, nobody can tell you what works. My other half uses a 7ft hose on a single with a BCD but a 5ft one with a twinset. What works works. Get an instructor with a wide experience of students and they will help you get it right for you. Ask on the Internet and people will swear by what is right (or do they think) for them.

 

[halocline]

I use a 5ft hose in OW with a single tank and it fits me perfectly. I use a 7ft in caves with BM doubles. Both of these I rout the hose in the hogarthian manner, tucking the 7ft hose under my can light. Somewhat large individuals will probably find 5ft to be a little short. In an ideal dive world you would be able to get long hoses in 4" or 6" increments to fine-tune one for your size. I'm medium-sized and I mount the single tank fairly high and very close to my back; no STA.

In OW there's no real advantage to the 7ft hose; it's necessary in restrictions for air sharing single file. And IMO it's much more convenient without a canister light to just rout the hose across my chest and around behind my head.

 

[uncfnp]

im looking to switch to a long hose on my primary and just wanted some insight. I like the idea of donating my primary while having my back up bungees to my neck. Does anyone have any links to websites showing how to rig this set up? I'm assuming different brand regs have to be set up differently. I've got an atomic B2 yoke and just recently switched to a Hollis BP/W. Also I don't think I would want a 7ft hose but something I can just run under my arm. Any insight would be great.

Thanks, Palmer

Hey Palmer,

This is the routing I use myself. It has become popular enough that DGE calls it Streamlined OW and sales packages setup this way but it is easy enough to do yourself.

Most divers use a 36 to 40 inch hose that routes under the right arm with the primary regulator on an adaptor, elbow or swivel. The backup reg is then placed on a shorter hose, I use a 24 inch and secured by bungee/necklace. Donation is simple and no advanced training is needed. If you dive with a buddy unuse to this configuration a simple explaination is all that is needed. its not required by any means but I use a 40 inch yellow hose and have a yellow purge cover on my primary.

Its a simple, elegant solution that allows an easier donation, in my opinion, for OW divers.