Blimey, that's a long one!
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Background
When we first learn to dive we are taught that our back-up second stage (or octopus) should be easily identifiable (bright yellow) and located in a triangle drawn from our chin down to the edges of our rib cage; some schools prefer the octo to be on the left side, some prefer it on the right (a brief explanation of why can be found here).
We are then taught that if we are in an out of gas situation that we should - get our buddy's attention, signal clearly by drawing our hand across our throat then reach for our buddy's octo; he or she will calmly raise both hands above their head so that you can have easy access to your new gas source - either that or they will present you with that much needed gas source.
This is all very well in controlled situations or where the buddy pair always stay side by side in open water; but what if...
  • ...your buddy has a problem getting your attention because:
  • you are more than an arms length away?
  • you have just checked that your buddy is OK and have now turned your attention to a very interesting critter which excludes them from your field of vision?
  • you are diving in poor vis?
  • ...they have a problem getting to you because:
  • you are too far away?
  • you're in an overhead environment and there are barriers between you?
  • ...they have a problem getting/using your octo because:
  • the octo is traditionally rigged underneath your arm this can add delay to deployment.
  • the hose to your octo is caught on equipment and/or tangled with other hoses?
  • the mouthpiece is blocked by debris?

    • If you need gas take it from my mouth
    Any one of the above will add vital seconds to your buddy's access to a reliable gas source and will only only make a bad situation worse. At this point the answer to their problem(s) is in your mouth, even in low vis exhaust bubbles are more visible than an octo clipped somewhere on your BC/harness; some would argue that two divers being temporarily out of gas is a VERY bad thing, on the surface of that statement - yes I agree; but if you are aware of the situation you have already switched to your backup on the short hose bungee'd around your neck whilst moving towards them, primary in hand, ready to donate and therefore in control or, they have ripped your primary from your mouth anyway in which case you simply duck your head to:

    a) release the hose to them and
    b) to take the backup secondary into your mouth

    If you can't manage a couple of seconds (and that is the maximum time this process will take) without a reg in your mouth should you really be diving at all? If you were diving with a standard regulator setup and your buddy or another diver took your primary from your mouth there will be a very small distance between you and them (the primary hose is about 60cm from first to second stage) and you now need to locate your octo for yourself (the yellow hose is about 1m long) and free it from any entanglements/obstructions before swapping regs with your buddy... again.

    OK taking the reg from your mouth seems an acceptable risk, but why the long hose?
    Originally the 2m hose came into use amongst the cave diving community (for more information follow Gas Diving UK, Global Underwater Explorers or the Woodville Karst Plains Project) the idea being that you wouldn't always have the luxury of being next to or directly in front of your buddy when either of you were in an out of gas situation; as such exiting cave systems whilst sharing gas could be facilitated through the use of a longer hose. This idea quickly spread to the wreck diving community and from there is (gradually) being adopted by recreational divers.

    I admit that not all of my dives would require the use of a long hose but I'm a firm believer in keeping the same dive kit configuration - by chopping and changing kit you leave yourself open to errors instead of an automated response to a potential emergency.
    Even in open water a long hose can prove beneficial - on one particular recreational dive there were two members of the group who had a potentially higher gas consumption than the rest and so two of us agreed to take higher capacity cylinders, buddy up with one of those with higher gas consumption and should the need arise donate our primary reg and switch to our backup (when our buddy reached 100 bar we would donate and turn around, when our cylinders reached 100bar we would switch back again as we should be near our exit point with more than enough gas to exit safely). I found myself donating and shortly afterwards my buddy and I were caught in a relatively strong surge - having the long hose meant that we could maintain close contact but not so close that we were constantly crashing into each other and hampering each others progress.

    If you agree with the following statements then maybe a long hose configuration is for you:
  • You would prefer that your buddy, who is probably on the verge of panic, has access to a reliable gas source.
  • You can test your back up at regular intervals, if it fails - you can call the dive or fix it!
  • If you find the backup fouled when needed you are in a better position to clear it than your buddy who is on the verge of panic or is already in a state of panic.
  • Octopus positioning will be different for most divers... the position of their mouth won't.
  • You and your buddy can both move freely without getting in each others way.
  • If you are in an overhead environment you can still manage to extricate both of you whilst you're both breathing from the same apparatus.