I'm a recreational diver who exclusively dives the long hose. I've done that ever since my first real-life air share. That day, I was doing transect studies in the middle of very thick kelp bed in Monterey, Calif. I asked my dive buddy for his gas pressure and I knew the answer bad simply by seeing the whites of his eyes. We thumbed the dive and started our ascent. Part way through, he spit out his reg and I shared mine. Now, we were locked together, face to face, at close range until we reached the surface. Once I made sure my buddy had orally inflated his BC, we were stuck to the surface, in the middle of a thick, large kelp bed in the height of summer. We had to do a L-O-N-G , S-L-O-W and miserable kelp crawl to get free of the kelp bed and back to the boat. It was especially difficult with all of our survey gear, slates and reels. Had I been on a long hose, I could have passed my primary reg and gone onto my bungeed octo. Then, we could have gone single file, through the base of the kelp (where it's thin), and been to the boat within a couple of minutes. That was the last dive I ever did without a long hose. A couple of years later, I was in another real-life air share, and it went much smoother with my long hose, even though that diver was in a passive panic. He was huge and had he actively panicked I would have been in extreme danger without the long hose. So folks say that long hose is only for diving for overhead environments. Not only are they wrong, but they also don't realize that we often have virtual overheads, including kelp and boat traffic.
This is a topic I've been interested in since before I bought my first reg (sounds like a long time, in reality it's under three months ago...) I ended up going with a traditional set, mainly because that's what most people dive and most schools teach. So having the same stuff as everyone else seemed to make sense. The secondary is the same Aqualung Leg3nd as my primary, though, and it's secured to my chest with a glorified snorkel keeper. So no dragging and bouncing. I've been considering switching to long hose for a while, but the one thing that's keeping me back is that same familiarity idea. On one hand, keeping a panicked diver at arm's length seems safer. On the other hand, allowing them to go for the yellow one on your chest that they've been trained to go for might make life a little easier. One guy I know uses a yellow longhose with a yellow reg on it as an in-between of some sorts. What are your thoughts on the added safety of the longhose weighed against the added safety of familiarity with the traditional setup?
Hi Ron. Great Q. Good to see you are asking Qs and seeing what's out there. First, I totally hear your point about keeping all like configuration across your buddies, shop and/or club. That said, if you raise the conversation with these folks, you might find one or two others that are also curious. It took me like 6 months from the first time I saw and laughed, which later lead to reading, watching, asking and deciding it made sense. Related to this, anytime you have a (new) buddy, you should brief each other about what will happen in the event of an air share. There are all kinds of regs/systems out there, including the dreaded Air 2 and equivalents. Some of these will require knowledge about which to accept, or how things are attached, etc. Last, as to the point of what will attract an out of air recipient, I propose that one should never (intentionally) be a passive donator of your air. Total surprise from behind can never be anticipated, but my goal would be to recognize and be proactive with the air share. The donator is technically in control anyway, since he or she controls the resource. Best to take charge right away, see the situation develop, be proactive with the donation, offering up the reg that should be the correct one. Keep curious and enjoy the adventure. Dive safe, Ron!
Thanks for the reply! I think the 'taking charge' point makes a lot of sense. I was thinking along the lines of 'panicking diver who forgets everything you told them about your kit in the briefing and grabs whatever they think they need to grab', but I guess that's probably not how most OoA-scenarios actually work. And as long as you retain some form of control over the situation, the pros of the longhose quickly start outweighing the pros of familiarity. And hey, if people can bring an Air2, then a long-hose should not be any problem! Oh, and forgot to mention: love the karate kid-intermezzo! Just the right amount of camp :D
Thanks for that, Ron. Karate kid skit was a real learning experience for me ;). Yup, I aim to never be surprised, but it can always happen, sometimes out of our control.
thanks for this, I have bought a traditional setup hose but actually considering switching to a long hose setup somewhere near the future. But my worry is that in my country ( indonesia) we often gear up in the water where we will just jump first wear the bcd in the water. Any idea on how to use the long hose and stow it easily? Thanks!
Hi Fong, thanks for the comment and great question. Personally speaking, I'm familiar with the in-water gear-up situation you are describing. As with anytiung, proper practice will allow you to don and remove your gear in water with no issues. Dive on!
Without expressing any opinions on solo diving, to the best of my knowledge, the DIR philosophy is opposing solo diving. In practic,e I cannot see why using a long hose offers to solo divers, since it is an important component of the DIR set aimed to assist a group of divers.
@@mariosx12 in an out of air situation. I give the panicked diver my long hose regulator and keep him/her away from me so I don’t drown. I switch to my short hose regulator that is positioned under my neck. The long hose allows me to take my rig off and on easily to fit in tight places. It works for me.
Do you use rubber or flex Hoses? So far my my reg setup is traditional but I am thinking to change that for a long hose but I am uncertain if the miflex will feel inconvenient on the skin of my neck (mostly I dive with a hood but not always)..
Great Q, Martin. Over time, the older flex hoses do fray and cause irritation on the back of my neck. In the lat handful of years, the quality seems to have improved and I feel less irritation.
@@DiscoveryDiversTokyo thanks for your fast reply! so you have flex hoses i guess? I use flex hoses as well and i dont have any issues, but i have heard from others that they might can cause skin iritation. But the hint that they have improved is very valuable! Thanks you!
Yes, mine are all Flex, rubber seems to be getting rare. When they do Frey, you can clip the plastic strands with a nail clipper, though that does seem to be rarer these days for me.
Hi Javy. Thanks for the view and Q. If you mean one of those integrated air units on the BC, they are generally frowned upon. I used to have one in my early days. Some problems: 1. Many of them don't actually breathe well at depth like many other seconds and 2. They prevent you from being able to easily use your BC deflator while in an air share. I might be forgetting other downsides. On the upside, I do understand the attraction of one less hose and less regulator bulk overall. However, they are just frowned upon by most serious divers I know. Dive safe!
Another great video. Informative + demonstration with comic relief thrown in. Is it wrong that I’m laughing at you because you could pass as Daniel’s brother when dressed the part? Your work is appreciated.
Yes, one day my custom bite fit regulator just got torn out of my mouth and back over my shoulder. While I was getting the backup out of my pocket I turned around to see a buddyfish glomming down my air. So yes, they'll grab the one in your mouth. All ended well.
Here are some pictures showing how to stow a long hose: www.google.com/search?q=How+to+stow+scuba+long+hose&sxsrf=ALeKk01IzWd3_9oiuADMfjBoKlbtTmsLNw:1607897739832&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjkjvjs_cvtAhWHHHAKHWLXBKMQ_AUoAXoECBYQAw&biw=1467&bih=1306
I know a guy who’s SAC rate is way higher than his wife’s so he put a long hose on her rig and breathes her air when he’s getting low - I guess that’s one way to stay on the reef longer. 🤙
As a newbie, I'll ask the obvious question. With a long hose setup; why not just use the one on the necklace around your neck as a primary and the long hose as a donate only option; thus no requirement to remove a second stage from your mouth at all when donating. Ok you lose the "its definitely working" argument, but if one or other isn't working then you've got other issues anyway. Thanks for all the great video's by the way; learning lots of great stuff from them.
Interesting Q, Nick. I’m honestly not sure if there are stronger reasons, but as I read and was taught, the long hose system and DIR was born in the cave diving community and donating the reg you were breathing was the norm, including if it was a deco tank/reg. One small reason is that if you were breathing the necklace reg, the long hose would have to be secured, and traditionally with a bolt snap, not great for donation. This could be changed to a less permanent connection, naturally. Thanks for the view and great Q!
Would be quite ugly if an OOA diver takes you by surprise ripping your necklace regulator out of your mouth and starts breathing right next to your face - that's definitely too close, at least for me 😂. And forget about the thing that an out of air diver will signal OOA and wait patiently for your response - that does not make sense if really OOA.
If something happens to your primary reg you can switch to the necklace without even using your hands, if it's well adjusted, just by moving you mouth towards it. If you were using the necklace as primary, then the long-hose reg would be secured on your D-ring with a boltsnap. Thus, while being out of air, you will have to still camly keep your dexterity to unlock it, and then put it in your mouth. Not impossible but requires significant dexterity and focus than the current procedure.
@@JFCisme Good idea...unless someone attacks you with an air share at the stop. I used to have a tech instructor that would do that when he saw dives on the necklace reg by mistake.
The true story of one my few emergent air shares on the long hose: th-cam.com/video/prB52_xwwVI/w-d-xo.html
I'm a recreational diver who exclusively dives the long hose. I've done that ever since my first real-life air share. That day, I was doing transect studies in the middle of very thick kelp bed in Monterey, Calif. I asked my dive buddy for his gas pressure and I knew the answer bad simply by seeing the whites of his eyes. We thumbed the dive and started our ascent. Part way through, he spit out his reg and I shared mine. Now, we were locked together, face to face, at close range until we reached the surface. Once I made sure my buddy had orally inflated his BC, we were stuck to the surface, in the middle of a thick, large kelp bed in the height of summer. We had to do a L-O-N-G , S-L-O-W and miserable kelp crawl to get free of the kelp bed and back to the boat. It was especially difficult with all of our survey gear, slates and reels.
Had I been on a long hose, I could have passed my primary reg and gone onto my bungeed octo. Then, we could have gone single file, through the base of the kelp (where it's thin), and been to the boat within a couple of minutes. That was the last dive I ever did without a long hose.
A couple of years later, I was in another real-life air share, and it went much smoother with my long hose, even though that diver was in a passive panic. He was huge and had he actively panicked I would have been in extreme danger without the long hose.
So folks say that long hose is only for diving for overhead environments. Not only are they wrong, but they also don't realize that we often have virtual overheads, including kelp and boat traffic.
Great post, Oren. Really illustrates the benefit of long hose for those once in a thousand dive air-shares!
The karate kid air share is gold! Thanks for the laugh
Thanks, Dean. Glad you enjoyed it!!!
I'm a long hose diver, even when I travel I bring my long hose setup, for all the reasons you stated.
Excellent video!
Thanks for the view and comment, Aaron. Long live the hose!
Me, too. There are more and more us I've noticed.
What a great video. I will surly use this for my students. Sums it all up with a punch. Thanks a lot.
This is a topic I've been interested in since before I bought my first reg (sounds like a long time, in reality it's under three months ago...) I ended up going with a traditional set, mainly because that's what most people dive and most schools teach. So having the same stuff as everyone else seemed to make sense. The secondary is the same Aqualung Leg3nd as my primary, though, and it's secured to my chest with a glorified snorkel keeper. So no dragging and bouncing.
I've been considering switching to long hose for a while, but the one thing that's keeping me back is that same familiarity idea. On one hand, keeping a panicked diver at arm's length seems safer. On the other hand, allowing them to go for the yellow one on your chest that they've been trained to go for might make life a little easier. One guy I know uses a yellow longhose with a yellow reg on it as an in-between of some sorts. What are your thoughts on the added safety of the longhose weighed against the added safety of familiarity with the traditional setup?
Hi Ron. Great Q. Good to see you are asking Qs and seeing what's out there. First, I totally hear your point about keeping all like configuration across your buddies, shop and/or club. That said, if you raise the conversation with these folks, you might find one or two others that are also curious. It took me like 6 months from the first time I saw and laughed, which later lead to reading, watching, asking and deciding it made sense.
Related to this, anytime you have a (new) buddy, you should brief each other about what will happen in the event of an air share. There are all kinds of regs/systems out there, including the dreaded Air 2 and equivalents. Some of these will require knowledge about which to accept, or how things are attached, etc.
Last, as to the point of what will attract an out of air recipient, I propose that one should never (intentionally) be a passive donator of your air. Total surprise from behind can never be anticipated, but my goal would be to recognize and be proactive with the air share. The donator is technically in control anyway, since he or she controls the resource. Best to take charge right away, see the situation develop, be proactive with the donation, offering up the reg that should be the correct one.
Keep curious and enjoy the adventure. Dive safe, Ron!
Thanks for the reply! I think the 'taking charge' point makes a lot of sense. I was thinking along the lines of 'panicking diver who forgets everything you told them about your kit in the briefing and grabs whatever they think they need to grab', but I guess that's probably not how most OoA-scenarios actually work. And as long as you retain some form of control over the situation, the pros of the longhose quickly start outweighing the pros of familiarity. And hey, if people can bring an Air2, then a long-hose should not be any problem!
Oh, and forgot to mention: love the karate kid-intermezzo! Just the right amount of camp :D
Thanks for that, Ron. Karate kid skit was a real learning experience for me ;).
Yup, I aim to never be surprised, but it can always happen, sometimes out of our control.
I use either my tank lamp or a longhose retainer for accordingly storing my longhose. No hassle and gone is the disadvantage. ;)
Maybe you do not use your secondary a lot by I use mine every tenth dive or so for a full dive to make sure it's working properly. :)
Solid practice 👍
thanks for this, I have bought a traditional setup hose but actually considering switching to a long hose setup somewhere near the future. But my worry is that in my country ( indonesia) we often gear up in the water where we will just jump first wear the bcd in the water. Any idea on how to use the long hose and stow it easily? Thanks!
Hi Fong, thanks for the comment and great question. Personally speaking, I'm familiar with the in-water gear-up situation you are describing. As with anytiung, proper practice will allow you to don and remove your gear in water with no issues. Dive on!
I DIVED WITH A LONG HOSE ABOUT 15 YEARS AGO. THE DIR SYSTEM WAS THE WAY TO GO. USING THE DIR SYSTEM I DECIDED TO SOLO DIVE.
Thanks, David...Kobra Kai!!!!! 👊
Without expressing any opinions on solo diving, to the best of my knowledge, the DIR philosophy is opposing solo diving. In practic,e I cannot see why using a long hose offers to solo divers, since it is an important component of the DIR set aimed to assist a group of divers.
@@mariosx12 in an out of air situation. I give the panicked diver my long hose regulator and keep him/her away from me so I don’t drown. I switch to my short hose regulator that is positioned under my neck. The long hose allows me to take my rig off and on easily to fit in tight places. It works for me.
@@davidclark291 But you said you solo dive. Which panic diver you refer to?
Do you use rubber or flex Hoses? So far my my reg setup is traditional but I am thinking to change that for a long hose but I am uncertain if the miflex will feel inconvenient on the skin of my neck (mostly I dive with a hood but not always)..
Great Q, Martin. Over time, the older flex hoses do fray and cause irritation on the back of my neck. In the lat handful of years, the quality seems to have improved and I feel less irritation.
@@DiscoveryDiversTokyo thanks for your fast reply! so you have flex hoses i guess? I use flex hoses as well and i dont have any issues, but i have heard from others that they might can cause skin iritation. But the hint that they have improved is very valuable! Thanks you!
Yes, mine are all Flex, rubber seems to be getting rare. When they do Frey, you can clip the plastic strands with a nail clipper, though that does seem to be rarer these days for me.
What's your thoughts on having your back-up air source on your BC(Air Source) and having a buddy out of air situation?
Hi Javy. Thanks for the view and Q. If you mean one of those integrated air units on the BC, they are generally frowned upon. I used to have one in my early days. Some problems: 1. Many of them don't actually breathe well at depth like many other seconds and 2. They prevent you from being able to easily use your BC deflator while in an air share. I might be forgetting other downsides.
On the upside, I do understand the attraction of one less hose and less regulator bulk overall. However, they are just frowned upon by most serious divers I know.
Dive safe!
@@DiscoveryDiversTokyo Thanks for replying! considering what your thoughts I going to change my reg set -up back with the 2nd stage Octo!
@@javymartin61 Dive safe, dive often, Javy 👍
Love long hose... Get some weird looks from some, but after chatting they see the benefits (even if it's not for them)
I’m with you, JJ. Weird looks less and less as years go by 👍
hahaha great video
I’ve also changed my rec set up to long hose and necklace set up since I completed my Tech diving qualifications 🤿👍🏽😉
Welcome to the Dark side, Mark 👍
Another great video. Informative + demonstration with comic relief thrown in. Is it wrong that I’m laughing at you because you could pass as Daniel’s brother when dressed the part? Your work is appreciated.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Chris 👍
Yes, one day my custom bite fit regulator just got torn out of my mouth and back over my shoulder. While I was getting the backup out of my pocket I turned around to see a buddyfish glomming down my air. So yes, they'll grab the one in your mouth. All ended well.
That's some scary sh#t...
I don’t understand the ‘tucking the long hose in’ comments? How would you tick it in?
Here are some pictures showing how to stow a long hose: www.google.com/search?q=How+to+stow+scuba+long+hose&sxsrf=ALeKk01IzWd3_9oiuADMfjBoKlbtTmsLNw:1607897739832&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjkjvjs_cvtAhWHHHAKHWLXBKMQ_AUoAXoECBYQAw&biw=1467&bih=1306
Butthead? Was Biff in The Karate Kid as well?
😜
With my rec set up my occy always used to come lose and drag 🤣
You'll find a system that works...
I know a guy who’s SAC rate is way higher than his wife’s so he put a long hose on her rig and breathes her air when he’s getting low - I guess that’s one way to stay on the reef longer. 🤙
Doh!
As a newbie, I'll ask the obvious question. With a long hose setup; why not just use the one on the necklace around your neck as a primary and the long hose as a donate only option; thus no requirement to remove a second stage from your mouth at all when donating. Ok you lose the "its definitely working" argument, but if one or other isn't working then you've got other issues anyway.
Thanks for all the great video's by the way; learning lots of great stuff from them.
Interesting Q, Nick. I’m honestly not sure if there are stronger reasons, but as I read and was taught, the long hose system and DIR was born in the cave diving community and donating the reg you were breathing was the norm, including if it was a deco tank/reg. One small reason is that if you were breathing the necklace reg, the long hose would have to be secured, and traditionally with a bolt snap, not great for donation. This could be changed to a less permanent connection, naturally.
Thanks for the view and great Q!
Would be quite ugly if an OOA diver takes you by surprise ripping your necklace regulator out of your mouth and starts breathing right next to your face - that's definitely too close, at least for me 😂. And forget about the thing that an out of air diver will signal OOA and wait patiently for your response - that does not make sense if really OOA.
If something happens to your primary reg you can switch to the necklace without even using your hands, if it's well adjusted, just by moving you mouth towards it. If you were using the necklace as primary, then the long-hose reg would be secured on your D-ring with a boltsnap. Thus, while being out of air, you will have to still camly keep your dexterity to unlock it, and then put it in your mouth. Not impossible but requires significant dexterity and focus than the current procedure.
THAT video really made me laugh :-)
Also diving a longhose over here in Germany :-)
Thanks, Stephan...keep hosing 👍
I use mine at every safety stop.
Hi JF. On your safety stop?
@@DiscoveryDiversTokyo I switch regulators at my safety stop to give it some exercise.
@@JFCisme Good idea...unless someone attacks you with an air share at the stop. I used to have a tech instructor that would do that when he saw dives on the necklace reg by mistake.
As a Split Fin diver I take great offense to this.
Hey, GD. I honestly have nothing personally against splits...I just happen to know it’s a contentious topic 😉