Spare Air comes in handy when you have to use noxious chemicals that you don't wish to breath in. It is great when a deal goes bad at the end of the dock and you have to dive for cover. You can stay under and swim away and the bad guys think your dead. You can also stage your own death to get away from alamony and jetison some floatsom to make your relatives think that you are dead. Spair air is easy to conceal and you can take it anywhere and you don't have to pay for a fill. You don't need to hydrostaticaly test it eather. I can think of a hundred uses. As far as tank failure. I grew up in the sea hunt era. I was trained to make a free ascent from 100 like the old submariners had to.
Spare Air equipment questions
- Thread starter beachguitars
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oops... double post
Sean326:
I sincerely hope "your kids" are certified divers. It is possible to have an arterial gas embolism in as little as 3-4 feet of water, and giving uncertified kids (or adults) compressed air in a pool is equated in my mind to giving them a loaded gun. There have been several cases where someone let their kids "play" with scuba in a pool where the result was tragic. Don't let another one happen.
james croft
Contributor
Larry,
You took the words out of my mouth. I hope Sean had thought of that, but a little reminder is a good thing.
You took the words out of my mouth. I hope Sean had thought of that, but a little reminder is a good thing.
realdiver7
Contributor
In my "younger" days of diving I carried a 2.7 c.f. Spare Air for several years , but I never had to use it because I always anticipated problems, used proper gas management, kept my gear serviced and well-maintained, and practiced the buddy system.
I agree with Doc about figuring out first how much gas you need for your particular situation. Having said that I will now give you my opinion, but I will not need to use bottle size or amount of gas needed for my reasons for not using a Spare Air ever again.
Reasons for not using a Spare Air:
1. Unreliable - mine froze up and would not work after a period of time with very few dives. Some also develop leaks.
2. Dangerous - the pressure check pin exploded inside my closet over the winter months, punched a hole in my wall, and drained all of the air out. Glad I wasn't wearing it. Scared the crap out of my cats! Cannot be stored under full pressure for a period of time, so frequent refills are required.
Question: If you skip hydro (which is easy to do when you fill your own tank), give it hot fills because you filled it too fast, store it under full pressure, and stand right beside it when you fill it, will it ever explode? Probably not, but I personally do not want to find out.
3. Hard to service - had to send it off for servicing because no local servicing available. Took about 2 weeks to get it back. Have to send it off for hydro because of no local service. Very finicky to service.
4. Expensive to service - cost of servicing was about 1/3 the original price I paid for it. If you carry one, then you'd better be willing to pay the cost of having it serviced annually, and never skip servicing for any reason.
5. Very hard to breathe from, especially if you aren't breathing normally.
6. More expensive to fill than you may think - drains primary tank down too much when refilling. It's convenient to refill from your primary tank, but you have to get a new fill if you want any bottom time at all. No price break at LDS for topping off tank.
In summary, there are a lot of reasons for not using a Spare Air, but I just found it to be too unreliable, which is top priority in my book. I believe it gives divers a false sense of security. I'm sure there are some uses for it that are legitimate, but even at 15 feet, if it doesn't work, it doesn't matter how much gas it will hold.
Just my 2.7 c.f....
I agree with Doc about figuring out first how much gas you need for your particular situation. Having said that I will now give you my opinion, but I will not need to use bottle size or amount of gas needed for my reasons for not using a Spare Air ever again.
Reasons for not using a Spare Air:
1. Unreliable - mine froze up and would not work after a period of time with very few dives. Some also develop leaks.
2. Dangerous - the pressure check pin exploded inside my closet over the winter months, punched a hole in my wall, and drained all of the air out. Glad I wasn't wearing it. Scared the crap out of my cats! Cannot be stored under full pressure for a period of time, so frequent refills are required.
Question: If you skip hydro (which is easy to do when you fill your own tank), give it hot fills because you filled it too fast, store it under full pressure, and stand right beside it when you fill it, will it ever explode? Probably not, but I personally do not want to find out.
3. Hard to service - had to send it off for servicing because no local servicing available. Took about 2 weeks to get it back. Have to send it off for hydro because of no local service. Very finicky to service.
4. Expensive to service - cost of servicing was about 1/3 the original price I paid for it. If you carry one, then you'd better be willing to pay the cost of having it serviced annually, and never skip servicing for any reason.
5. Very hard to breathe from, especially if you aren't breathing normally.
6. More expensive to fill than you may think - drains primary tank down too much when refilling. It's convenient to refill from your primary tank, but you have to get a new fill if you want any bottom time at all. No price break at LDS for topping off tank.
In summary, there are a lot of reasons for not using a Spare Air, but I just found it to be too unreliable, which is top priority in my book. I believe it gives divers a false sense of security. I'm sure there are some uses for it that are legitimate, but even at 15 feet, if it doesn't work, it doesn't matter how much gas it will hold.
Just my 2.7 c.f....
Tassie_Rohan
Contributor
Pssst: this is thread number 487. From the year of our lord 2001.
Sean posted his comment in 2003.
Can we please let this spare air thing die......?
Sean posted his comment in 2003.
Can we please let this spare air thing die......?
realdiver7
Contributor
Tassie_Rohan:
Yep, I realize it's an old post, but the same questions still keep coming up even now. My reply may help someone from my personal experience with an old issue.
Thanks.
fire_diver
Contributor
"die thread die!"
And people thought the exploding tank thread wouldn't go away, thats not nearly as old as this!
FD
And people thought the exploding tank thread wouldn't go away, thats not nearly as old as this!
FD
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