The Long Hose Regulator Setup, Explained

A simple equipment upgrade that can improve both your buddy's safety and your comfort: the long hose.

One of the most transferable pieces of equipment from the technical diving world to recreational scuba diving is the regulator long hose, worn on your primary second stage. A 5 foot hose is typical for open water diving, while a 7 foot hose is more common in overhead environments.

Incident analysis has shown that in low air or out of air situations, the primary regulator is often the most readily reached and easiest to deploy. But a short 28 inch hose is less than ideal for sharing air because the buddy team is forced very close together, making movement difficult.

Enter the 5 foot long hose. It allows a buddy team to maintain safer separation and greater freedom of movement while facilitating a controlled ascent to the surface during an air sharing emergency.

What Does the Donor Breathe?

If the recipient is breathing the long hose, what about the donor diver? Glad you asked.

The donor diver switches to the backup second stage. This is typically fitted to a short hose and worn around the neck on a bungee necklace, keeping it immediately accessible.

A Simple, Streamlined Scuba Regulator Setup

This configuration, a long hose primary and short hose backup, creates a safe and streamlined scuba regulator setup that works with either a standard BCD or a backplate and wing.

It typically requires the diver to purchase little more than a long hose, and perhaps a shorter backup hose and some bungee if you want the configuration to be especially clean and streamlined.

Stop by Tom's and ask about it. We have a setup ready for you to see how the system works, and the shop can help configure your regulator with a long hose.

No specialty certification is required, but like any change to your scuba equipment, spend some time practicing primary donation, switching to the necklaced backup and air sharing with a buddy before relying on the configuration in an emergency.

A simple equipment change can improve the safety you represent to your buddy while also giving you a cleaner, more comfortable regulator setup.

Paul Murphy

XR Instructor

Tom's Dive & Swim