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> ... wouldn't breathing a long-hose regulator be a good practice to > follow for *any* one who dives in *any* situation Yes, which is why I personally started doing it. For OW diving, I use a five foot hose, looped "Hogarthian" style, and tucked into the waist belt of my BC. I feel a lot better about this setup, because it allows me to maintain some distance from the "victim" if necessary. Standard octopus length hoses are really only effective if the OOA diver remains calm and in control. I do not want to be that close to a diver in a state of full-blown panic. > How difficult is the head-ducking manoeuver to execute properly? It is simple - you just grab the second stage with your right hand, and pass it to the other diver. The hose itself is already in the required "S" shape, so the whole thing proceeds very smoothly. > How much continuing practice does it require? Practically none - it is a very natural maneuver to execute. > Could looping the hose around the neck be a danger in its own right? No more so than the short hose would be in a situation where a panicked diver grabbed it. The worst case is a diver grabbing from behind and to your left, but that's a problem for a short hose, too. At least with the long hose, you can give yourself some slack by pulling it out of your belt (or wherever). > any risk of the 2nd stage's (1) being pulled from [your] mouth, then > (2) entangling itself in the loop of hose around [your] neck? Not if the hose routing is checked prior to starting the dive. > is the scenario that I outlined less probable, and less risky, than > the problems of being all too close to the panicked diver After deploying the long hose, you could more easily spin a panicked diver to his left to get behind them and maintain control (your "lifeguard" maneuver :-). > [One instructor that we know says he usually gets two or three in his > intro classes annually.] Maybe the instructor needs to spend more time in the pool working with his students, so they that do not panic as easily. In almost three years of teaching intro OW courses (100+ students during that time), I have *never* had a student panic, bolt, or run out of air on a checkout dive. But the course I teach requires 16 hours in the pool alone, which is more time than a lot of students get in their entire OW course. > if the rationale for the technique is sound for tech divers, then I > see no reason for not adapting the technique for "ordinary" diving as > well. It is, and it could be - if I could get away with teaching this technique at the intro OW level, then I would. -JimG
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