Reef fish wrote:
>
> On Wed, 23 Aug 2000 06:41:19 -0400, Lee Bell
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> < SNIP >
>
> >Regardless of the advantages I have found, I know of only one aspect that
> >supports insistance that DIR is the end all of equipment configurations.
> >Consistency of set up between multiple divers is an advantage that's hard
> >to dispute.
>
> In silt out situations in CAVE diving where the diver would not have to
> THINK where his and his buddy's gears are.  I totally agree with the
> DIR approach in THAT diving environment and buddy/multiple-diver system.
>
> That was in fact given as the PRIMARY (if not the ONLY) reason for
> the "consistency" (or one configurations fits all) in an article
> written by Carl Shrieves (? who is supposed to be the High Priest of
> DIR ?) in Alert Diver article on the DIR topic.
>
>
> >Still, it also is not sufficiently compelling for me to join the
> >group of zealots who insist that anyone who does not agree is a stroke.
>
> There is much to be said in the adage, "never argue about RELIGION or
> POLITICS".  :-)   It's bad enough to argue on OTHER subjects.

Geez guys, you get all caught up on what is zealotry and strokery that you
forget to figure out what makes sense.

From my point of view, the DIR approach to ALWAYS donating the regulator in
your mouth always makes sense on so many levels and for every type of
diving.  You know that regulator is working so the out of air diver always
gets a working regulator, your buddy always knows where to find it, it
allows you to secure your backup regulator in the most ideal position for
your own use...right under your chin.  Also, in tech diving, it guarantees
that you always donate a regulator that is the correct gas for the depth you
are at (because you were just breathing it).  I've been diving with so many
people who have octo regs dragging in the mud or stuffed in BC pockets that
I have come to completely agree with the DIR approach to donating the
regulator in your mouth and keeping the backup on a leash around the neck
because those are the best places to keep both regulators for every type of
diving that I do.

If you achieve acceptance of this basic premise of DIR diving then the only
real issue is how long to make your primary hose.  For overhead diving (cave
or wreck) a 7 ft hose is necessary because it allows two divers to proceed
through a restriction one after the other while sharing air.  The out of air
diver goes in front and the donor follows.  In open water you presumably
never need to go through restrictions while sharing air so this issue is not
important.  The question is, how long should the primary hose be?  In may
open water air sharing instances it may be better to swim some distance
underwater while sharing air rather than ascending immediately.  For example
if you are in a current and want to get back to an anchor line, or if you
are navigating along a wall and want to ascent up the wall rather than in
blue water.  Or you may want to do safety stops etc. To do this you probably
need a regulator hose that is longer than 24" and the minimum is probably
36" to allow two divers to swim comfortably side by side. Much shorter than
that and you are more forced to face each other while air sharing.  Not
concidently 36" is the length provided with most octo regs.

The problem is that puting a primary regulator on a 36" hose to breath is
rather awkward because you end up with a large loop of hose out to the right
which could pose an entanglement hazard.  At least it's not completely
streamlined.  That's why on standard rigs the primary regulator usually
comes on a 24 or 26" hose.  There are several ways to deal with this extra
lenth of hose.  You can tuck it under your arm but this gives you a somewhat
awkward hose feed to the mouth.  This can be fixed with an angle adaptor or
by using a regulator with the port that angles down like on the Sherwood
Maximus.  Or, you can deal with the somewhat awkward 36" hose by not using
it and moving up to a longer hose that you can wrap hogarthian style.  A 5'
hose works perfectly for this and in my experience a 5' hose is more
streamlined than a 36" hose and less prone to entanglement because it lies
much closer to the body when wrapped.  If you are very fat then perhaps a 6'
hose would be more comfortable.  The 7' hose is a little unnecessary and a
bit awkward to deal with unless you have some place to tuck the excess hose.
One a cave or wreck rig you have the light canister under which you can tuck
your hose.  On a tropical open water rig you probably don't have a light so
you end up having to tuck the 7' hose under your knife or tuck in in your
waist belt.  This works OK but is probably less ideal than the 5' hose.

Myself?  I just use a 7' hose for all my diving including single tank
diving.  But then I am diving in dark cold water and I always carry a
canister light on every dive so I always have the canister to tuck the light
under.  Since about half my diving is with doubles and half with singles, it
is just easy to be consistent all the time and develop ingrained habits
about where my gear is at all times.  But if I was going to Cozumel, I would
probably put a 5' hose on my regulator because the big light would stay home
and I find that the 5' hose is more nicely streamlined than a 36" hose.  I
wouldn't have any problem using a 36" hose but I would probably put an angle
adaptor on the 2nd stage so that I could feed the hose under my right arm.
Still I think the 5' works better.

Of course if you are solo diving and NEVER going to donate air to anyone
then there's no reason to use long hoses at all.  Might as well just use two
24" hoses, one of the primary and one for the backup.

What do the rest of you guys use for open water?

-Kent-