To shop owners or owners of spare air tanks

[drrich2]

I dive the local quarry solo with a 30 cf pony clipped to my D-rings. It's bulky & hangs down a farther than I'd like. I've not persuaded myself to get the reg. (a Sherwood SR1) hose shortened (between 1st & 2nd stages) so keeping that banded to the side of the pony can be a bit of a nuisance. What I've seen in videos & pictures of the 3 cf Spare Air looks trimmer/compact and more 'together.' Dove with a 1/2 filled 40 cf pony (rental from Buddy Dive Resort) on a Bonaire trip.

I've not dove with a 13 cf pony as yet, and am curious as to what the look & feel would be like. I'd like to see how close to making a 'DIY Spare Air' one could get with a 13 cf pony (e.g.: compact reg. with very short hose, nice harness that hugs it to you instead of hanging off on stage rigging straps).

Interesting you mentioned the finger spool. I've got a finger spool, & a wreck reel. I like the wreck reel better, but it's bulkier, so I've been packing the finger spool. Either can do the job if I need it to (shoot an SMB up).

Richard.

 

[redacted]

So you're saying a Spare Air is a better equipment choice than a small (19 cuft) pony?

Really?

My understanding is the Spare Air was developed for emergency evacuations from helicopters. For SCUBA it's a poor solution for a potentially serious problem

---------- Post added December 8th, 2015 at 06:59 PM ----------



Or carry better thfought out equipment (like a small pony) and not have that problem. You choose.

If it has to fit in a 50 lb checked bag, it probably is. Unless you can think hard enough it get that small pony bottle to lose about 5 pounds.

 

[NAM001]

Very few shops really pay close attention to what a tank if filed to. It is either over filled by a couple of hundred # or are short. If you have a al tank with 3200 in it isn't your problem solved? My lp steels usually come out at 3100. most cant tell the difference between al and steel. One shop actually looked at the tank and could not fnd a pressure. Only a 2400 and no 3000 on the neck so they filed to 3100 like all the other al tanks. Another shop has a pressure reg on the system and fills tanks to 3200 warm. That 3 cuft tank is only 3-4% of the al volumn. so your tank drops 100-150 psi. and you are only going to do that once unless you are using the spare air as usable gas and then you problems are more than getting a free top off. As far as charging I often see pricing like 80 cuft asn less xxx$. greater than 80 1.5 or double that price. One of the sites I use is 8$ a tank. They doint care. so I dive my lp120's there. @ of them lasts all day. And even they have filled to 3100 at times. Its hard to mistake a lp120 for an al tank but they still do.

 

[JohnN]

If it has to fit in a 50 lb checked bag, it probably is. Unless you can think hard enough it get that small pony bottle to lose about 5 pounds.

Absolutely. If pooh hits the fan and I go OOA at 100', I'm going to be really proud that I saved $35 on my baggage fees (besides the obvious of carrying the regs in my carry-on).

You have how much invested in your gear and you're making sub-optimal decisions on what amounts to a rounding error

 

[redacted]

Absolutely. If pooh hits the fan and I go OOA at 100', I'm going to be really proud that I saved $35 on my baggage fees (besides the obvious of carrying the regs in my carry-on).

You have how much invested in your gear and you're making sub-optimal decisions on what amounts to a rounding error

An excellent solution, but I doubt if it will be adopted by many travelling divers.

 

[shoredivr]

IMO The answer for redundancy for a travelling diver is sidemount. You can always get two Al80s at a resort.

 

[Attreui]

IF you go OOA at 100' and you are relying on a Spare Air, you deserve to be in deep crap. No one in this thread advocated using one that deep. Not only that the thing has stamped all over it not to be used that deep. Do you normally ignore safety rules put on to dive equipment by the manufacturers? I don't.

---------- Post added December 9th, 2015 at 05:39 PM ----------

IMO The answer for redundancy for a travelling diver is sidemount. You can always get two Al80s at a resort.

Most OW divers who want to go away for the weekend to the keys or mexico aren't going to strap an AL 80 on their side. They are diving to go look at the fishies. Not saying tech divers or even AOW divers who will be diving to a deeper depth should be using them. But for getting you to the surface or to a point where a safe CESA is feasible, they seem to be fine for what they are designed for.

 

[Milkman670]

Wow what an interesting read. So as a new diver not yet certified it sounds like if I mistakenly find myself at say 80 ft and ooa BUT I have a 3cf spare air BUT not a 19cf minimum pony, I might as well just take in a big gulp of sea water and be done with it.
I can't believe some of the nonsense I've read here, how can even 1 or 2 more breaths of gas not give you a better chance of survival.
We went through this same safety issue in mountain snowmobiling in avalanche country. Many would not wear avy beacons and some still don't. They don't ride with us, we all wear and know how to use the tools because we made it a point to learn and practice with them
I don't see any difference other than its self rescue vs your buddy's rescue.
I have bought the 3cf Spare Air as a tool I don't plan on using BUT if I need too, it will be there.

 

[lowviz]

...//... I have bought the 3cf Spare Air as a tool I don't plan on using BUT if I need too, it will be there.

That is bu**$**T for all but the very experienced.

YOU will first hyperventilate when faced with real true peril. I did.

 

[BRT]

Wow what an interesting read. So as a new diver not yet certified it sounds like if I mistakenly find myself at say 80 ft and ooa BUT I have a 3cf spare air BUT not a 19cf minimum pony, I might as well just take in a big gulp of sea water and be done with it.
I can't believe some of the nonsense I've read here, how can even 1 or 2 more breaths of gas not give you a better chance of survival.
We went through this same safety issue in mountain snowmobiling in avalanche country. Many would not wear avy beacons and some still don't. They don't ride with us, we all wear and know how to use the tools because we made it a point to learn and practice with them
I don't see any difference other than its self rescue vs your buddy's rescue.
I have bought the 3cf Spare Air as a tool I don't plan on using BUT if I need too, it will be there.

You might as well save your breath. They would rather have nothing than have a little.