Sidemount: Long hoses or Short hoses?

[Climber703]

I'm new to sidemount diving and wanted to float a question by the forum and that is do you use short hoses and hand off a tank when a situation arises or do you use long hoses and apply the same rules in backmounting.

In our local area we have divers doing both situations and one benefit I see to short hoses is hose management. I guess another benefit in handing off a tank is the two divers are not bound to each other if you get into a tight situation like a restriction or something.

Some of the benefits of the long hoses is it just seems simplier to hand a reg off instead of a whole tank.

I'll still be diving quite a bit with backmount divers and it seems like an interesting case in an emergency for them to get everything managed while clipping on a newly inhereted tank.

Opinions?

[Moonfuzzy]

I figure that it will be difficlt enough to swim out with an empty tank (being so far off-balance), why add air sharing to the problem? My plan has been to hand off one of my tanks to my buddy should they need air - but they would have to loose both tanks to be in that situation right?

[Tegg]

I am no expert in sidemounting, I have just done what works for me and what was suggested by "sidemount explorers"...

Personally, I find it nice to have "longer" hoses on tanks when removing them to pass through restrictions. Since I mainly dive with other sidemounters, we basically "dive solo" because of our built in redundancy... but if the need arose, I could easily hand a long hose off to share...

YMMV.

Try several configurations and see what works best for you.

[normblitch]

I am no expert in sidemounting, I have just done what works for me and what was suggested by "sidemount explorers"...

Personally, I find it nice to have "longer" hoses on tanks when removing them to pass through restrictions. Since I mainly dive with other sidemounters, we basically "dive solo" because of our built in redundancy... but if the need arose, I could easily hand a long hose off to share...

YMMV.

Try several configurations and see what works best for you.

Is the long hose(s) 60" or 84"?

AND, since you are alternating regs-tanks for balance every 250-500#, do you also change the resulting neck-loop on every tank-reg exchange?

Norm

[Tegg]

Is the long hose(s) 60" or 84"?

AND, since you are alternating regs-tanks for balance every 250-500#, do you also change the resulting neck-loop on every tank-reg exchange?

Norm

I use 2 60inch hoses. I have rubber bands on my tanks to secure them.

My left side is pulled out enough to be on my neck with a bungee necklace, the right one is pulled out enough to come around the back of my neck and then clips into the bungee. I switch simply by swapping 2nds...

If I need to take my tank off and push it through a hole, I merely pull out the hose as far as I need, when I am done I secure it back on the tank...

This is what works for me, again, YMMV.

[ARY]

I guess another benefit in handing off a tank is the two divers are not bound to each other if you get into a tight situation like a restriction or something.
Some of the benefits of the long hoses is it just seems simplier to hand a reg off instead of a whole tank.

I'm freshman newbie in sm but that is what i do:
- diving with backmounted buds i have a long hose for them (passing bottle will first screw your ballance, second: not every backmounted buddy can easily decide how to carry that bottle, especially being "in situation")
- for the case when i still have to donate bottle to backmounter (high flow, small restriction etc.) i have small nylon loops on the neck of my bottles. I clip my becoming useless left clip to this loop and donate bottle. This way recipient has two attached clips and it doesn't ask questions of how to hang it on bm harness (unless dude never used stage in his life)
- diving with sm buddy or doing sm solo there is only problem and no benefit with long hose.
- i also carry H valve on the right cylinder with fully functional but shut off reg on a short hose that i can donate if problem arises with someone's regulator. Also it gives me extra redundancy when i have to leave the left bottle and push my right tank ahead.
Critics to the above is absolutely appreciated.


---
ARY
still saving money for sm training

[Jordan]

I figure that it will be difficlt enough to swim out with an empty tank (being so far off-balance), why add air sharing to the problem? My plan has been to hand off one of my tanks to my buddy should they need air - but they would have to loose both tanks to be in that situation right?

Your PLAN is to hand off one of your tanks? You haven't practiced?

I wouldn't give up a primary tank, it'd make me too off-balanced, and depending on how far we have to go to get out, could potentially muff me (air share, no takey my tank). I would, on the other hand give stage bottle(s) up no problem.

[ARY]

Your PLAN is to hand off one of your tanks? You haven't practiced?

It is quite possible to give up one tank and not to loose most of a ballance. Here it how:
I have two D-rings on my belly belt, that are not occupied most of a time. When i donate left bottle i unclip my right bottle from my butt and clip its bottom to my left belly belt ring, so it hangs under me diagonally across my chest. Of cause you feel bad swimming like that but it gives you more ballance than in case with one side hanging tank.

[Climber703]

I am no expert in sidemounting, I have just done what works for me and what was suggested by "sidemount explorers"...

Personally, I find it nice to have "longer" hoses on tanks when removing them to pass through restrictions. Since I mainly dive with other sidemounters, we basically "dive solo" because of our built in redundancy... but if the need arose, I could easily hand a long hose off to share...

YMMV.

Try several configurations and see what works best for you.

Is the long hose(s) 60" or 84"?

AND, since you are alternating regs-tanks for balance every 250-500#, do you also change the resulting neck-loop on every tank-reg exchange?

Norm

Right now I'm using a standard octo on my left side and a regular LP hose on my right with a swivel attachment for the reg. After my backmount buddy and I practiced a tank handoff a few times just to get the feel of it we got to see the difficulties first hand of this procedure.

With some of the discussion I'm personally starting to lean toward the long hoses for ease of air share and it seems it'd be a nice benefit pushing tanks through a tight hole which i've not had the opportunity to do yet.

I also do not wear a necklace in the SM config. A friend showed me to put a small loop in mt chest strap and a clip on each reg and with each reg swap i clip/unclip to the metal loop. This seems to work well because I alsways go to the same place for my main gas reg. The clip is low enough if I needed the reg it is available without clipping also. This seems to be working right now but with all of 6 dives with this config who knows. :>

[Jordan]

ARY,

Would you have enough ballast with only one, near-empty tank - especially dans les suits des dry?