Short Hose
- These short length high-pressure hoses are popular for use with deco, stage and sidemount applications as well as transmitters. Regardless of brand, material or quality the very short high pressure hoses seem to prematurely develop “fizzing” leaks at the fitting swages sooner than the much longer HP hoses typically seen on backmount configurations. We suspect there are two reasons for these premature failures: First, the short hoses are often being folded back on themselves in deco, stage, and sidemount applications. Second, the very short length does not provide any cushion to the impact of rapidly pressurizing the regulator.
- See our TekTip below for our recommendations on rigging the SPG with very a short hose, and while the regulator should always be pressurized slowly this is especially critical when the first stage is rigged with a very short HP hose. We recommend following best practice to depress and hold the second stage purge while slowly opening the cylinder valve until the regulator begins equalizing with the cylinder pressure.
- Our experience has been the 9-inch length is consistently more reliable than the 6-inch length, regardless of flex or rubber hose construction. Recent availability of the braided stainless steel jacket over an inner nylon tube construction offers improved reliability over the flex and rubber versions. Dive Gear Express now recommends the 9-inch braided stainless steel high-pressure hose for all diving applications that require a short HP hose.
