Aux air cylinders on BCDs'

When I started diving back in the early 90s I used a jacket with a 400ml air cylinder for emergency inflation.
I'm back diving regularly again and I wondered why they seem to have fallen our of favor.
I see comments about dumping lead at the surface to maintain buoyancy in an OOA situation as you would have no air to inflate. The aux bottle bypassed this problem.
We were also trained in "jacket breathing" as an emergency drill.
Why don't we still do this sort of thing.
Incidentally, the jacket was a Buddy Commando, And is still in good condition. Those things are indestructible.

AP Valves still makes the Buddy Commando and a few other models such as the Explorer. High quality and nearly indestructible. Very good warranty. Hard to find/buy in the United States (expect some wierd looks).

I think the cylinders you are referring to are currently available in 0.4 litre and 0.35 litre sizes.

This style of bcd is popular in some parts of the world and unheard of in others.

Back when a bcd was not required to scuba dive (such as the 80's), it was innovative to be able to use the bcd as an alternate air source. The air cylinder theoretically allowed for both emergency bcd inflation as well as extra air to breathe through the bcd.

If you ever had an old school instructor who made you wash your bcd bladder more than you thought was needed then using a bcd as an alternate air source is most likely the reason why.

As for a discussion on just how useful this style of bcd system can be look to some of the pony bottle and spare air threads. It's a love or hate type of thing. Fire proof gloves may be needed.

- Manny

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Perhaps the use of CO2 cartridge inflators as standard equipment years on BC's years impacted marketing in the USA.
Or maybe it was just to time consuming and difficult to teach here.

I still have my Fenzy with an air bottle. Before that I had a Nemrod with an air bottle. I added low pressure inflates to each so the air bottle became a back-up. I intend to keep the Fenzy for snorkeling, but I am changing to a jacket BC for scuba. I agree an air bottle back-up would be nice to have.

The Buddy Commando (and aux bottle) remains a British diving institution.

However, unlike dumping a weight belt, the aux bottle isn't going to help you if you have a BCD bladder failure.

Likewise, the aux bottle (BCD breathing) isn't nearly as fool-proof as simply carrying a redundant breathing source (pony and regulator).

graham_s:

I see comments about dumping lead at the surface to maintain buoyancy in an OOA situation as you would have no air to inflate. The aux bottle bypassed this problem.

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If you are at the surface why do you need a bottle to inflate the BC? If the bladder it not punctured then you can just manually inflate the BC.

It's a lot easier to twist open a valve than blow down the inflation hose, especially if the seas are a bit rough.
Plus you can inflate when you're not on the surface without needing air from your primary source.
Next time I go home, I think I'll bring back my Buddy Commando.