View Full Version : DIR hose setups....
Hello.
Still being relatively new to the sport I have been reading with interest about the DIR (Doing It Right as I found out) method of diving and the passion it can bring out in some people from both sides of the fence. And I can see both sides of the argument. Standardising kit is a lot safer, but to the point where members of the GUE (http://www.gue.com/index.html) are telling you to use specific bits of kit that just happen to be manufacturered by their company can be seen as a bit cheeky (and I've seen the defence to this as well, I'm not looking to start an discussion on this). Even the name suggest if you don't follow the methods you are Doing It Wrong...
However there are techniques and set ups that make sense even if your not using the recommended kit. More info here (http://www.gue.com/Equipment/Config/index.html)
I dive with a twinset (300 bar 7s) and have a 1.5m hose on my octopus. The reason for the long hose being that after an air sharing incident during my earlier days when I was using my buddies octopus on a standard length hose during an accent I found the length of hose meant that we had to be so close together that it was restricting both of us dumping air etc. In the end up the reg was ripped from my mouth, I was going to switch back to my own air but I was wheeked to the surface by my buddy when he seen I had no reg in my mouth.
This got me thinking that I wouldn't want to put anyone who had to share my air in this situation so went out an bought the longer hose for my octopus which now sits coiled up in my shoulder strap ready to be pulled out.
But I've since been convinced that people under stress generally won't go for your spare reg if their out of air/stressed, they'll go staight for the one in your mouth. Indeed my instructor has been known to do this to people rescuing him during training (either that or rip their mask off) to help prepare you for the real thing.
Now the DIR method is to use the longer hose as your primary, with it attached to your RH shoulder 1st stage, routed straight down between your RH tank and wing, tucked under you light cannister or into your waist belt, digonally across your chest, up the LHS of your face, round the back of the neck and into your mouth. Therefore if someone need your reg all you to is tip your head forward and they instantly have 3ft of hose, untuck it from your belt/canister and they have 5 or 6ft and they are out of your harms way until they calm down.
It all seems to make perfect sense to me but I've never met anyone to use this method. It also seems to be quite a bit of extra hose across your front. But it seems to be standard for cave/overhead divers so it must work!
Has anyone had any experiance with this method.
Not had any experience of a DIR diver myself, I know a few folk who use the long primary hose idea though.
GUE/DIR is all very well if both of you are kitted up the same, thats the whole point of it.
It might work well in a Florida cave system in gin clear water, doubt if it would work in a manky limestone sump in the Pennines.... Lizardland, care to elaborate :D ??
gogs
Yep I use a long hose on my primary both twins and singles the long hose going across your chest just seems to fit so you dont notice it there. More info can be found here
www.direxplorers.com
there is a section full of articles also doing it right the fundamentals of diving is a good book to read. A couple of us are doing GUE fundamentals later on this year, should we be able to agree a weekend when are all free.
Not had any experience of a DIR diver myself, I know a few folk who use the long primary hose idea though.
GUE/DIR is all very well if both of you are kitted up the same, thats the whole point of it.
It might work well in a Florida cave system in gin clear water, doubt if it would work in a manky limestone sump in the Pennines.... Lizardland, care to elaborate :D ??
gogs
I'd of thought it would be even more apt in manky limestone or dark green low viz water due to the fact that everyones kit is set up exactly the same using the same gas mixes, should there be a problem with either yours or one of the other divers kit you will instinctivley know where to grab yr spare air or any other item from.
I was just comparing the size of the tunnels in the WKPP on the DIR dvd I have where some of the tunnels are so big you could park a double decker bus in them. You could travel down them with twin 12s and several side-slungs towing a couple of scooters behind you.
I doubt it is the same over here in the UK.... Could be wrong though.
gogs
I was just comparing the size of the tunnels in the WKPP on the DIR dvd I have where some of the tunnels are so big you could park a double decker bus in them. You could travel down them with twin 12s and several side-slungs towing a couple of scooters behind you.
I doubt it is the same over here in the UK.... Could be wrong though.
gogs
I mis-understood what you were meaning in that case, hence my reply saying it would probably be more beneficial here in low viz conditions.
alexmaclennan
06-06-07, 17:05
I use a 2m primary reg hose on my single tank and twin 7s setups.
Only problem is that it can occasionally pull at your mouth, I think because it snags as it crosses your chest or around your neck. A quick shake of the head sorts the hose out.
I also need a boltsnap close to the reg as the hose is too unwieldy otherwise.
alex
I had the snagging too, but when i tucked long hose under either pouch attached to waist band and backplate, or torch cannister it seems to of cured it.
i use a 2 meter hose on my twins, routed the DIR way.
the idea works well and snagging does not happen if routed correctly.
i also do penetration wreck diving & have failed to snag it.
should it snag, it will be easily freed, simply switch regs & undo it, as per training.
1.5 meter hoses are designed to route the same way but used on a single cylinder set-up.
DIR makes some sense, they have some good ideas & some crazy ones to go along with them.
for the record,
GUE dont own any dive kit companies.
GUE schools are invited to be agents & sell Halcyon gear & others, no obligation.
GUE members are not allowed to smoke.
GUE has an annual membership.
broaden your mind & skills.
diver development is the key to your future.
Definatley going to give it a go. I was going to try tonight but I went to pick up my tanks from the shop and they'd shut early....
Need to play tomorrow...
I think it's a 1.5 meter hose I have, it might be a 2m, I'll need to measure it. Although I can't see a 0.5 meter difference between twins and a single tank. If anything a twins hose should be shorter as it comes from your right shoulder, down then across. Whereas a single has to go across half your back before it goes down?
If you were doing it right you'd be there before the shop shut :D
If you were doing it right you'd be there before the shop shut :D
Ah but his opening post said he wasnt DIR :p
I think it's a 1.5 meter hose I have, it might be a 2m, I'll need to measure it. Although I can't see a 0.5 meter difference between twins and a single tank. If anything a twins hose should be shorter as it comes from your right shoulder, down then across. Whereas a single has to go across half your back before it goes down?
a 1.5 m hose is too short to route around a wing.
it is long enough to route around a BCD.
me personally, i would use a 2m hose in both cases.
if your serious about doing a GUE course, PM Gwilson or davieG, both members of this forum. ;)
a 1.5 m hose is too short to route around a wing.
it is long enough to route around a BCD.
me personally, i would use a 2m hose in both cases.
if your serious about doing a GUE course, PM Gwilson or davieG, both members of this forum. ;)
I see said the blind man..
It turns out I do have a 2m hose after all :D
If you were doing it right you'd be there before the shop shut :D
They shut the shop early :D :p
GUE dont own any dive kit companies.
Isnt Jarrod Jablonski the MD of Halcyon??
gogs
Isnt Jarrod Jablonski the MD of Halcyon??
gogs
That was more of the feeling I got from reading around on the web. As stewart said GUE dont own any dive kit companies. But some of its members do..
Lizardland
07-06-07, 10:45
Before I started diving CCR I dived in a DIR(ish) style. As Stewart says, you need a 2m hose with a wing. Mine goes down the side of the cylinder, under the base of the wing, under the light can and then up and around. That way there is no snagging or chance of it coming loose. Instead of a light can you could use a pocket, knife or just tuck it into the waist strap. But it does need to be routed properly otherwise you get problems with it. You also need to practice deploying it a lot.
As for it's suitability in the Dales... depends on the cave. I've dived that way in a few sites which are perfect for it but if you can't fit in both a twinset and a buddy then you can't dive DIR. It's not just underwater, transporting 2-3 twinsets to the water's edge could take 6-8 people. If the vis doesn't allow you to maintain buddy contact then you aren't diving DIR either. Similarly if passage size means you can't go to a buddy's aid then you can't do DIR either.
One of the big misconceptions of DIR is that it is all equipment related and all Halcyon at that. There is no requirement to use Halcyon, there are plenty of better manufacturers out there who do DIR compliant kit (personally I think Halcyon is over-priced and poor quality in comparison to Salvo, Agir, Oxycheq, etc). You also don't need GUE certs to dive DIR. There is nothing stopping IANTD or TDI instructors teaching DIR (many do). NAUI teaches all their tech courses DIR and has been doing it long before GUE existed. One of the good things (I think) about GUE is that you need to do a minimum number of dives every year at your highest cert level in order to maintain it.
Cheers,
Stuart
They shut the shop early :D :p
Yeah, but to DIR you (ie you and they) would all be in the know and they wouldn't have - or something like that anyway. :confused:
I think I'll stop my helpful posts on this topic as I am feeling quite confused now!
Isnt Jarrod Jablonski the MD of Halcyon??
gogs
nope... but close, Chief Executive.
amongst other business ventures.
as i said previously...
GUE schools are invited to be agents & sell Halcyon gear & others, no obligation.
there are many DIR instructors out there who dont associate with Halcyon. i wont name any as it might infringe 'censorship' issues.
as Stuart says, there is better value for money kit on the market.
im not promoting them or putting them down, i use some of their methology as it makes sense, the rest i leave behind.
i use some of their methology as it makes sense, the rest i leave behind.
I'm thinking along those lines as well. I like the thinking behind the gear set up general diving techniques.
Don't think I would go as far as to join GUE. But who knows....
nope... but close, Chief Executive.
amongst other business ventures.
Yeah, I knew he was something high up in the Company, couldnt remember what though...
ta
gogs
Yeah, I knew he was something high up in the Company, couldnt remember what though...
ta
gogs
for your perusal. (http://www.halcyondive.com.au/jj.htm#1._Education)
Got my hoses reconfigured last night. The 2m hose seems a good fit, not quite long enough to tuck it into my belt though. (Could be a good excuse to get a canister light :D ) I'm a big chap mind you, that's a whole lot of chest to span. Easy now ladies :rolleyes: :D :D
Just need to clear this cold so I can try it out....
for your perusal. (http://www.halcyondive.com.au/jj.htm#1._Education)
I thought life was bad enough with one job!
Got my hoses reconfigured last night. The 2m hose seems a good fit, not quite long enough to tuck it into my belt though. (Could be a good excuse to get a canister light :D ) I'm a big chap mind you, that's a whole lot of chest to span. Easy now ladies :rolleyes: :D :D
Just need to clear this cold so I can try it out....
tuck it in?
down under your wing, under your battery (if you have one) or wing pocket, back up across your chest, over the left shoulder, round your neck & into your gob.
Had two 15-20min dives with it today. Promising I must say, still didn't have enough slack to tuck it in. I actually found that it was being pulled to the right at times and had to give myself more slack.
I didn't have any snags even though I had to get through a kelp bed four times. In general I like it. The feedback from the club members is positive (and that's hard to come by as I'm sure any Scottish chap knows :D ), I'm sure I'll convert a few fellows.
But even with the 2m there definately isn't enough to tuck into my waist belt. Need a canister, or to shrink :D
Lizardland
11-06-07, 10:05
Just out of interest, how have you set up your regs? Is the long hose on the right or left of the manifold? If it's on the left then that's possibly why you find the hose is too short.
Cheers,
Stuart
Hi Stuart,
The long hose is on the right post (my RH shoulder)
The whole rig is:
RH post:
Primary, long hose, reg.
Wing
LH post:
Backup, short hose, reg
Dry suit
Gauge
A possible cause of you feeling like it is dragging to the right maybe because you have not got it tucked under a torch cannister or harness pouch which kinda holds it in place.
I think you're right. It's being pulled back when finning. I'll need to sort out some way of tucking it to keep a bit of slack around my head.
Next dive :D
Rob Andrews
11-06-07, 14:47
You can also get a 7 foot hose. Its what I use as the extra 13cm makes quite a difference.
Lizardland
11-06-07, 15:38
I'll need to sort out some way of tucking it to keep a bit of slack around my head
Putting your knife sheath on the waistbelt is a good way of doing it if you aren't using a battery cannister. Tuck the slack under the point of the sheath.
I've got a 30m hose tonnes of slack in it if you want to borrow it :D
http://www.lizardland.co.uk/3jun00/oxy-02.jpg
I thought about that. But is there not the risk of cutting the hose if you don't quite get the knife back in the sheath 1st time?
I would imaging probably take a consious effect to actuall rupture the hose with a knife but still..... :(
Lizardland
11-06-07, 16:24
I thought about that. But is there not the risk of cutting the hose if you don't quite get the knife back in the sheath 1st time?
I would imaging probably take a consious effect to actuall rupture the hose with a knife but still..... :(
Nah. Ever tried to cut a hose? :) I broke a pair of those trauma shear thingies trying to get through one. They're quite tough, the hose sits out of the way anyway. An alternative is to fit a pocket on the strap and loop it under that. I do that with a wetsuit.
Cheers,
Stuart
I was king of expecting to be shot down here :D
I kind of guessed that if the DIR guys where advocating it that it would have been thought about at some stage.
But as I've learned in the past. Always check, never assume ;)
welcome to the long hose club ;)
welcome to the long hose club ;)
Said the Monsignor to the French tart :eek: