Ditch Octo for Spare Air
- Thread starter mdw
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genxweb:
Are you talking about one first stage with primary and alternate second stages?
If my primary stops delivering air then something is very wrong. The typical failure mode of the hardware is to free flow.
If it's freeflowing then my time on the alternate is limited and I may as well breathe the free flow to avoid burning even more air.
If any part of the air delivery system is malfunctioning then the dive is over. period.
To the OP...
A spare air does not even come close to the utilty of an alternate second stage. With the alternate your buddy can sort out a problem and make a normal ascent with you, assuming good gas planning. With the spare air the best he can hope to do is breathe as he bails for the surface. Bad scene.
Pete
Tassie_Rohan
Contributor
One question: Why? What benefit could there be? Indeed why have spare air there in the first place?
* Your occy will breath better at all depths than the spare air
* Your tank will have far more air in it than the spare air
* An occy is far more compact than a spare air
* An occy will allow you to assess the situation at depth, establish control and make a controlled accent with your buddy
* With a spare air your OOA buddies only option is to make an immediate CESA ascent, with no time to check what is wrong and no chance for a short safty stop.
* With no occy you are going to find it hard to get buddies who will dive with you.
* An occy will also allow you to inspect and make minor adjustments and repairs to your primary as you go along (removing sand or what you've just eatern...)..
Great idea if you are only planning to dive to a maximum depth of 5 m/15 ft.
Spare air does not count as secondary air source: it contains too little air to be of any use at depth. It is a toy of little practical use marketed to inexperienced divers. The thread here (thread number 958...) has been running for 5 years now and contains over 200 posts on the subject.
Lets say that, god forbid, I was OOA at depth (and there is no valid reason for this to happen) and I was handed a spare air as appeasement, I recon I would probably politely hand it back then rip the reg out of the doners mouth. Then what for the doner - he has a spare air but what next?
Cheers,
Rohan.
* Your occy will breath better at all depths than the spare air
* Your tank will have far more air in it than the spare air
* An occy is far more compact than a spare air
* An occy will allow you to assess the situation at depth, establish control and make a controlled accent with your buddy
* With a spare air your OOA buddies only option is to make an immediate CESA ascent, with no time to check what is wrong and no chance for a short safty stop.
* With no occy you are going to find it hard to get buddies who will dive with you.
* An occy will also allow you to inspect and make minor adjustments and repairs to your primary as you go along (removing sand or what you've just eatern...)..
Great idea if you are only planning to dive to a maximum depth of 5 m/15 ft.
Spare air does not count as secondary air source: it contains too little air to be of any use at depth. It is a toy of little practical use marketed to inexperienced divers. The thread here (thread number 958...) has been running for 5 years now and contains over 200 posts on the subject.
Lets say that, god forbid, I was OOA at depth (and there is no valid reason for this to happen) and I was handed a spare air as appeasement, I recon I would probably politely hand it back then rip the reg out of the doners mouth. Then what for the doner - he has a spare air but what next?
Cheers,
Rohan.
Lightning Fish
Contributor
Russian Roullette would probably provide more excitement.
Lightning Fish
Contributor
Tassie_Rohan:
:lol2:
Your sig is funny too.
mike_s
Contributor
I meant to start a new thread this past saturday that was titles "Spare Air is the greatest Scuba invention ever"....
The reason I meant to do it this past saturday (April 1st) was so that as soon as everyone opened it, the first line they would read would be April Fools!!!!!
The reason I meant to do it this past saturday (April 1st) was so that as soon as everyone opened it, the first line they would read would be April Fools!!!!!
Tassie_Rohan
Contributor
mike_s:
But Mike - you're wrong. It is the greatest invention ever - and I want to hear from people out there who feel this way.
This board has not had a heated discussion of this perennial favorite topic for quite some time and I for one want to fan the fires of debate. (I also have way too much time on my hands at the moment)
Now – if everyone starts with the phase ‘Spare Air is the greatest because…’ we will get somewhere.
Cheers,
Rohan.
You know, this just never gets old....dkktsunami
Contributor
Sideband:
Darwin must be smiling.
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