Quote: (Originally Posted by TobyFish)
If the risk of an out of air buddy is really "then why don't we dive on two short hoses?"
What about a catastrophic failure? For example, if you (and your buddy) are diving a single tank setup, and a tank o-ring blows? Someone's out of gas very fast. If the buddy has a long hose, it is easier to share air to the surface than it would be on a short hose.