How Do You Keep Your Corrugated BCD Hose in Place?

@jaketarren
#askmark, Heyo! Longtime listener, first time caller, etc. Went with a BP/W for my first set and I'm having a really hard time keeping the power inflator on my shoulder; the corrugated hose keeps flipping off my shoulder and getting twisted up or just ending up behind the backplate and dangling down the back of the wing. Is there something I can add to my harness to keep it in place? I don't want to tie it to the D ring since I wouldn't be able to lift it to deflate. I'm using the cheap DGX Gears wing for reference. Thanks!
#scuba #scubadiving #scubadiver
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[@stopspinskydiving]

Am I the only one who doesn’t raise the hose to deflate to start the dive? I simply pull the hose to release the gas to keep water from going into my wing.

[@RAVINGMUNSTER]

Whilst most recreational jacket BCDs have 'pull-dumps' in the corrugated hose, most wings don't have them.

[@aliasincognito0]

Technical and cave diving considers the pull cord a failure point and usually favors not having it at all. I use the "butt valve" almost exclusively to dump gas, even at the surface.

[@toadou8127]

I only trap the inflator hose in the bungee loop.

[@kevinwhite2358]

#ASKMARK What is your opinion on pro air / pro ear masks (I have heard them called both). They are the masks with cuffs that cover your ears. The cuffs are also attached to the face mask with small air channels so the air pressure in your mask is the same air pressure in the cuffs covering your ears. They are supposed to, if not completely keep water away from your ears, at least reduce the pressure of the water around your ears helping reduce ear issues when diving. What do you know about them?

[@mgelax]

They don't exactly reduce the pressure, rather how your eardrum can respond to the pressure when wet vs dry. You still get the full pressure at whatever depth you are at, but if you can keep your eardrum dry it may be easier for you to equalize. This does not solve eustachian tube disorder, rather issues with the ear drum or ear canal. If you are extremely prone to ear infection, then it could help. If you have issues with your eardrum, then these masks could help. I recommend that if you have a known injury or issue, then this sort of mask can be helpful. If you only have difficulty equalizing, then I recommend practicing and maybe learning about how the ear, nose, and throat work so you can come up with a better strategy to safely equalize.

[@sweetwaterdiver]

#askmark In one of your videos, you demonstrated the long-hose setup where the long hose is "hooked" beneath some type of retainer on your belt (in your case the dive knife). This does not work for ADV style BCs, which - AFAIK - are the primary type of "rentable" BC. I was wondering if there is a significant downside to retaining the long hose with a bolt snap, i.e. tying a bolt snap to that part/length of the long hose which would normally be retained, and then hooking it into one of the ADV D-rings. Of course, it's not nearly as easily released as the retainer variant on a wing, but the hose length (from bolt snap to 2nd stage) is already longer than the normal "short-hose setup" one would otherwise dive, so that seems to me to make it viable option when diving an ADV and wanting a long-hose setup. Any thoughts?

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

Many rental BCDs will only have one waist D-ring, either at the top or the bottom of the pocket that will add some slack to that hose. You might get some trouble depending on which BCD style they hold. A boltsnap would do the job, it just adds an extra step to deploy and get kitted up. As long as you practice the setup and it works for you and your buddy then it should be fine. I would just tuck the hose under the waist, just being careful not to let anything hook onto the bight so you can easily pull it up and out.

[@TheRedbaron11]

#AskMark Asking for Mark's and others' opinion on the long hose donate method. Here's my confusion: A lot of demonstrations of the long hose primary donate say that you should ensure that the out of air diver is calmed down before switching to the necklace regulator. But I hear a lot of actual situations where the out of air diver is described to be so panicked that they are a threat to the donor. So if I see a dude swimming as fast as he can towards me giving the out of air sign, do I want to face the 50:50 chance of him being crazy without a reg in my mouth? Obviously, I have never witnessed a real out of air situation so I'd like to hear your opinion.

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

I wasn't specifically taught to pause when donating. I think it's may be to ensure the OOA diver is the priority in that moment. You've just taken a breath so, you have more time and you're more composed than they are. You also don't want the other diver to continue to paw at your gear while your attention is on securing your AAS. That being said, with enough practice and muscle memory you'll be able to find your AAS without looking away from the other diver.

[@bl3d0]

#ASKMARK Question, what is some basics in getting setup with dual tanks or side mounted tanks. Most divers start with a single cylinder but nobody talks about moving in to dual tanks or side mounted and we don't know where to start!

[@shannoncarey9936]

If I may offer a suggestion, as I'm going through that myself, go and have a chat with your local tech instructor, mine offers a pool dives with various tech set ups, twins side mounts and the like and even will offer you a go a rebreather if you ask them nice enough, and chat to them about it. You tube is great as well, there's plenty of really good people here that give really good advice, #askmark is a good example just need a litte searching to find those that explain it so you can understand. If you do talk to a tech instructor, about twins and side mounting, I'd go to a TDI person as TDI have been at the forefront of this side of our sport, I've found they tend to be bit more knowledgable and finally when you go out for a dive and chat to the tech divers amongst the crowd about their set up and how they got there, they're pretty easy to spot, even when they are running singles for the day. FYI I was hooked on Tech diving from day one as my instructors were tech divers and had great stories of stuff they did and to this day I still pick their brains about paths to follow when ever we cross paths, and finally is to slowly build up your knowledge first as you going to double the cost of a lot of essential items versus single tank set ups for starters and see which way is best for you, for me I've found twins are better than side mounts as my preferred set up for the type of diving I do as I like everything to be set solid and not moving around like side mounts. Anyway hope that helps. Cheers

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

There are twin cylinder and sidemount courses. If you search around you'll probably find an Instructor near you that teaches an intro course for twins or sidemount. It's often taught in introductory tech courses also. Have a search around online for twin set courses or sidemount and you should be able to find something

[@bodee1994]

#ASKMARK Why can’t you run the Octo over the left shoulder, the reg will be facing up, and the hose will be a little longer? Then run your SPG over the right shoulder . What do you think?

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

You can, it mainly stems from _"Regs of the Right"_, which is the standard configuration so all of your breathing hoses are on the right side and all of your buoyancy hoses are on the left. If you need to find a 2nd stage, then you only need to look on one side to find one. That being said, if a different configuration works better for you and your buddy then you can change your regulator configuration. On some 2nd stages you can even swap the insides around so that the hose routes out from the other side to eliminate the problem altogether.

[@bodee1994]

@@ScubaDiverMagazine Thanks Mark!

[@ValTaylor7]

#askMark Hi Mark, I’m a newly certified diver and have 10 dives done (all on rented gear) and on a couple of dives my jaw has locked. It also happens sometimes if snorkeling for a long time so I’m wondering if this is due to weight of 2nd stage or less comfortable mouthpiece. If it’s mouthpiece and I get a good one that fits me well (any recommendations?) will dive centres in general switch them when I rent gear? Thanks for any advice Val

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

That's a great question and I get to use a long word to answer it! Biting down hard for extended periods on a mouthpiece can create a temporomandibular issue or a stiff jaw. I get it sometimes on colder dives. It does affect some divers more than others. If it continues it's worth talking to your dentist about it and they may be able to help Relaxing your jaw during the dive will help, a lighter 2nd stage and a different mouthpiece can also help. It's fairly common with new divers. Once you spend more time with a 2nd stage in your mouth you'll relax and won't bite down quite as hard. I like the Apeks/AquaLung Comfobite Mouthpieces, they're short and have a bridge that sits behind your top teeth and you don't need to bite down to hold it in place. There are different size holes though and they won't fit any 2nd stage...

[@garthb2554]

Could you just use a large retractor clipped to the d-ring?

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

You could but, there's lots of moving parts and it will probably get tangled in something where a small loop on your shoulder is much neater.

[@chrisphilhower6029]

My Aqua Lung Omni has a Velcro strap

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

Yeah, most BCDs have that kind of strap and it does the job perfectly well

[@chrisphilhower6029]

@@ScubaDiverMagazine But didn't come with Trim Pockets. Go figure