It's all about the little things...

[Digger]

Now, it doesn't really fit in any of hte forums, but I just wanted to share a couple of ideas and bits of dive gear which make life really easy, and save dives all the time.

Firstly, AP valves hose fittings. The reuseable hose ends are really handy for shortening hoses, as well as making inflator hoses out of just about any other hose easy enough. Very good for poseidon hoses where a standard hose might not fit, or on Apeks inflator hoses on drysuits.

The other thing about the AP fittings is you can attatch the ends on to just about any hose, and rescue a dive that way.

Scubapro seem to have designed a great little fitting which I got at the LDS for a tenner and it fits on the end of a reg hose, and turns it into a standard inflator. One reg hose in the spares crate and you have a reg hose and an inflator hose as required. Magic. I'm not aware whether AP do a reuseable reg hose fitting, but this way at least it cuts down on wasting hose unnecessarily.

For the little ideas that make all the difference, and for the sake of a few quid on dive gear you'll use every weekend, it makes it a whole lot less likely that you'll end up waiting on the surface because no-one has the right spare or you've really broken things and cable ties and gaffer tape just aren't cutting it!!!

Just thought I'd share, these have saved me a couple of times, and I've not had to buy a new hose because I needed a shorter one for whatever reason. It does mean that after a while all you end up buying is 2m hoses and cutting them down over the course of time then needing a 2m hose again!

Anyone got any others? Are there better hose fittings I'm not aware of?

Digs.

[wreckweasel]

The one I like is the tyre inflator fitting that plugs into a hose inflator end....

[Mr T.]

Originally Posted by Digger

It's all about the little things...

Err...can we leave Daz out of this please...?


I'll get mi coat...

[awaits PM abuse from the Bristol Bomber]

[NotDeadYet]

Originally Posted by wreckweasel

The one I like is the tyre inflator fitting that plugs into a hose inflator end....

Errr, yeah... I like that one too...

Digger, instead of buying 2m hoses and chopping them up why not just buy a coil of LP hose? I got 30m for about 20quid from a pneumatics supplier, it's a bit stiffer than diving hose but once you start using it then it softens up. I've now got more hose than I'll ever need.

You can also remove the crimped collar from 2nd stage fittings (or pretty much any swaged fitting) and insert them into the end of another hose and secure it with o-clips.

A handy fitting is a hose repair adaptor. It is basically a brass tube with barbed ends, if you damage a hose then you chop out the damaged section and re-join the hose with the adaptor and a couple of hose clips. You can get them from www.thorite.co.uk

[Duncan Price]

Originally Posted by wreckweasel

The one I like is the tyre inflator fitting that plugs into a hose inflator end....

Indeed it is the business when your 4x4 gets a flat. Would take a week to use foot pump to fill but with the right technology your tyres can be full of 'mix.

Digger is right on about the reusable hose ends. SubaAqua products sell hoses fitted with them though I'm not sure if they sell the ends on their own. Anybody know?

[principia]

What, there are things you cant fix with gaffer tape? Hell they must be really nackered.

J.