The long hose Blues

[waterpirate]

I am curious as to how many people picked up the long hose to meet standards for a class like advanced nitrox/intro to deco, what did they do with the hose after the class, and why?
Did you retain the hose, or revert back to standard lenght?
We all know the answer for team diving, but what about the rest of us?
Eric

 

[Web Monkey]

I am curious as to how many people picked up the long hose to meet standards for a class like advanced nitrox/intro to deco, what did they do with the hose after the class, and why?
Did you retain the hose, or revert back to standard lenght?
We all know the answer for team diving, but what about the rest of us?
Eric

The long hose was originally for sharing air in places where face-to-face air sharing isn't appropriate or possible like in a cave or wreck. As far as I can tell it has little to do with "team diving".

I don't know anybody who had it removed, since that would defeat the purpose of training with it.

Terry

 

[Web Monkey]

PS. The title of your post is "The long hose blues" which suggests you're unhappy with it.

If this is the case, you most likely have the wrong length for your application or are routing it incorrectly, since if done correctly it's extremely comfortable and pulls much less than the standard length hose.

Terry

 

[Peter Guy]

The quick answer to the OP's question is:

a. I did "acquire" a long hose for a class and it has stayed on my reg because I can't identify any negative aspects but have identified several positive ones (like taking gas from my buddy to "equalize" our useage during tropical dives).

b. I still use a "short" (although 40") hose on my pool reg which is the hose I hand off since I use a BC with an Airsource inflator/reg combo.

As another said, I've found it much more comfortable to dive with a long hose than with a short one on my primary reg.

 

[nereas]

I am curious as to how many people picked up the long hose to meet standards for a class like advanced nitrox/intro to deco, what did they do with the hose after the class, and why?
Did you retain the hose, or revert back to standard lenght?
We all know the answer for team diving, but what about the rest of us?
Eric

I picked up the 7' hose because of a class requirement for stage-deco.

The reason given by the instructor was that when you are nose-to-fins inside of a shipwreck, and also sharing air(nitrox/trimix), you need it.

He had a strange way of curling up his long hose, which was yellow, and bungee-ing it near the top of his right twin tank. I instead read about the JJ-method of curling it around your torso from a book at another scuba store. [If you have never read JJ's book, it is worth doing; he has all sorts of interesting ideas, some of which are quite good, and others not always so good depending on the circumstances of the dive environment.]

I used the 7 ft hose for all subsequent diving, single tank or double tank, even with no shipwrecks in sight, because I wanted to get accustomed to having it all the time.

When you gear up with this, using the torso method, you need to tuck a portion of the hose into your BP belt. The procedure step in gearing up is worth getting used to. I like to do things the same way every time, when possible and safe [this is one of JJ's ideas too, although he does not qualify it like I just did].

For DPV diving, a 7 ft hose is also quite critical for air(nitrox/trimix) sharing.

So if anyone asks me, "Why do you have a long hose?"

Then I say, "Which hose?"

And they say, "That hose."

Then I explain about the DPV.

Then if they ask me, "Are you DIR?"

Then I ask them, "What does that mean? DIRRR?"

Then I will tease them about as many DIR things as they know.

My point then being, that whatever this DIR thing is, with its unfavorable reputation among ordinary divers, it does not mean that anyone with a long hose is unfavorable.

 

[waterpirate]

My curiosity was not so much for or against the DIR folks, just a simple querry as to how many people kept it, and how many people did not. I am currently transitioning into doubles with the long hose, in preperation for intro/advanced in the spring. With 10 dives on the doubles with the long hose I am still not comfortable with the hose. Trimming the doubles was not as hard a transition.
I am currently routing the hose down the right side, under my shears, up across torso, around the kneck and done. Maybe it is just a time and skill thing. However I dive with as many people who have kept the hose, as ditched it. Both camps have a tale to tell as why.
I believe the long hose to be an asset to donate to an ooa diver, even when diving same day same ocean. Due to the control aspect. The other scenario was you find a diver on the hang with ooa or a blown gas plan, and you can still donate 1/3 back gas without comprimising your deco gas or obligation.

The other tale comes from task specific diving. The spearing community holds that nothing should be in the chest area as to interfere with gun loading. The long hose is a severe entanglement issue should you get inverted while subdueing a kill.

The last comes from the old school divers, many of which are still diving independant doubles in my area. If you have an ooa it is your issue, and not up to someone to save your bacon, so why the long hose?

I am trying to cook this information down into a something that I can get on board with. Right now I am leaning towards the long hose for good, if I can get comfortable with it.
Eric

 

[Bismark]

I picked up the 7' hose because of a class requirement for stage-deco.

The reason given by the instructor was that when you are nose-to-fins inside of a shipwreck, and also sharing air(nitrox/trimix), you need it.

He had a strange way of curling up his long hose, which was yellow, and bungee-ing it near the top of his right twin tank. I instead read about the JJ-method of curling it around your torso from a book at another scuba store. [If you have never read JJ's book, it is worth doing; he has all sorts of interesting ideas, some of which are quite good, and others not always so good depending on the circumstances of the dive environment.]

I used the 7 ft hose for all subsequent diving, single tank or double tank, even with no shipwrecks in sight, because I wanted to get accustomed to having it all the time.

When you gear up with this, using the torso method, you need to tuck a portion of the hose into your BP belt. The procedure step in gearing up is worth getting used to. I like to do things the same way every time, when possible and safe [this is one of JJ's ideas too, although he does not qualify it like I just did].

For DPV diving, a 7 ft hose is also quite critical for air(nitrox/trimix) sharing.

So if anyone asks me, "Why do you have a long hose?"

Then I say, "Which hose?"

And they say, "That hose."

Then I explain about the DPV.

Then if they ask me, "Are you DIR?"

Then I ask them, "What does that mean? DIRRR?"

Then I will tease them about as many DIR things as they know.

My point then being, that whatever this DIR thing is, with its unfavorable reputation among ordinary divers, it does not mean that anyone with a long hose is unfavorable.

More pearls of wisdom...........

 

[nereas]

My curiosity was not so much for or against the DIR folks, just a simple querry as to how many people kept it, and how many people did not. I am currently transitioning into doubles with the long hose, in preperation for intro/advanced in the spring. With 10 dives on the doubles with the long hose I am still not comfortable with the hose. Trimming the doubles was not as hard a transition.
I am currently routing the hose down the right side, under my shears, up across torso, around the kneck and done. Maybe it is just a time and skill thing. However I dive with as many people who have kept the hose, as ditched it. Both camps have a tale to tell as why.
I believe the long hose to be an asset to donate to an ooa diver, even when diving same day same ocean. Due to the control aspect. The other scenario was you find a diver on the hang with ooa or a blown gas plan, and you can still donate 1/3 back gas without comprimising your deco gas or obligation.

The other tale comes from task specific diving. The spearing community holds that nothing should be in the chest area as to interfere with gun loading. The long hose is a severe entanglement issue should you get inverted while subdueing a kill.

The last comes from the old school divers, many of which are still diving independant doubles in my area. If you have an ooa it is your issue, and not up to someone to save your bacon, so why the long hose?

I am trying to cook this information down into a something that I can get on board with. Right now I am leaning towards the long hose for good, if I can get comfortable with it.
Eric

For spearfishing with a gun, you can indeed replace the long hose with another short one, and bungee them both. I have also seen sidemount divers who bungee them both.

The long hose is primarily for nose-to-fin situations like a narrow cave or wreck, or else separation like DPVs.

There is not enough hose for deco issues. Whenever you are on the line together sharing OOA, then the precise depth is not going to matter over a few feet. You would both be on the same deco plan at that point, for your backgas, if you were sharing with another.

The nice thing about 7 ft vs 5 or 6 ft is that there is more hose available to stick through your BP belt. Once you rig it properly, it should resolve your problems.

 

[Thalassamania]

Like Peter I dive a longish hose on my primary (5 foot) which I give up if needed and I back that up with an inflator/reg combo.

 

[TSandM]

I switched to the long hose to do Fundies. At first, I felt like I was swimming in a bowl of black spaghetti. But eventually, I realized that wrapping the hose meant NOTHING stuck out away from me at all, and I liked that. However, I will say that the proper hose length is different from person to person . . . a full 7' hose on doubles is way too long for me, and results in the hose being reluctant to stay where it's tucked. 7' on a single tank is okay, but I'd probably be better with something a bit shorter, and 6' on doubles is much better. Maybe this is your problem?