Spare Air have you tested? Do you Dare? Do you care? Really what's in there?

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

Tested Spare Air?
Do you Dare?
Do you care?
Would it help if the dive became a bear?

Really what's in there?
Is the question fair?
Answer with some flair!
Speak up as at the screen you stare!

IF YOU DO NOT OWN A SPARE AIR PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND. I AM ASKING PEOPLE WHO OWN THE DEVICE IFTHEY HAVE TESTED IT AND IF NOT WHY NOT SINCE THEY ARE COUNTING ON IT TO SAVE THEIR LIFE

Seriously, I have a question about spare air. Ian posted a thread with some links and in one of those someone said they carried spare air and were counting on the to get them to the surface. I have read that line many times about people saying this is their backup plan.

So here are my questions:

1. It is my understanding that Spare Air can be refilled. Is that correct?

2. I know how long I will get out of an 80 cu ft tank on a give dive under various circumstances. I know this because I have breathed more than one tank, so based on history, I can give a pretty good answer. I test all my gear on every dive and know how it all works and how it works. So if I am correct in question number 1 that you can refill a Spare Air, I wonder how many people that have them on this board have actually gone down to say 100' and switched to the Spare Air to test it and see how many breaths they can take before said Spare Air is gone and then of course switched back to main reg and tank afterwards?

If I were depending on it as I do my other gear, I would test it for myself to see how it actually performs. Just like I test my smoke alarms not only with the button tester, but I aslo test them with real smoke once in a while to make sure I don't have a bum one.

So has anyone that is depending on a Spare Air actually tested one in the water from depth?

3 And how did it perform when you tested it?

4 Under what conditions did you test it?

5 How long did it last?

6 How did the test meet with how you thought it would perform vs how it really performed?

 

[D_B]

1 - yes
2 - cant answer, I have one (gift) but have not had it inspected (old) .. think 100ft is too much though, 60ft might be a more reasonable depth for testing number of breaths (sorry for inserting an opinion here and not tested facts)

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

1 - yes
2 - cant answer, I have one (gift) but have not had it inspected (old) .. think 100ft is too much though, 60ft might be a more reasonable limit (sorry for inserting an opinion here and not tested facts)

I used 100' because that is the number the person saying it was their back up plan used. I have read many times where people who own spare air use the 100' number. The person who posted that, posted it in a thread where there was a discussion about someone who died after their gas was gone. However, if someone has tested it, they can share the results of their testing from whatever depths they feel it is a viable option.

What would it take to get you to test it for us DB?

I know that many people on SB thing spare air is a bad idea. I don't want to get into that debate. I want to know if people who are trusting their life to spare air have tested it and what the results of that personal testing was.

Perhaps I should have added question 7 so here goes:

7 If you are trusting Spare Air as your back up plan, but have not tested it, why not?

 

[Doc]

"Again?" -Rocket J Squirrel in a coversation with Bullwinkle J Moose, 1960

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

Again?

I don't want to debate the merits. I want to know if those who use it have tested it and what the results were.

I have yet to read a post in the many threads about spare air about actual real world tests.

I have read that many people on here use them, but have never read about those same people testing them.

So anyone?

 

[Nemrod]

What kind of tests? The Spare Air ( http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=SpareAir ) works as advertized. You put it in your mouth and you breath. It comes in several sizes. It may or may not be enough to get YOU back to the surface but it may well be plenty for another. What is your point? If you want to use one then you should test it. There are a multitude of other solutions that are generally better that run the full spectrum from:

A good buddy <---------------------------------------------> Full isolated doubles and stages

Here is another:

Air Buddy

and another:

http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=h2odyssey

or you could just rig a pony bottle:

http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=QuickDraw3040

http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=DiveRiteRemoraMount

or you could sling your pony bottle stage style, do a search.

http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=AL19
N

 

[Nemrod]

I have tested it, it will get me back to the surface from over 100 feet, even the 1.7 cf version. I had to purchase one once because it was a charter boat rule to go to the Middle Grounds (????) so I did. Yeah, it works. I don't use it. An OOA with a Spare Air backup plan should be considered a Spare Air ASSISTED CESA. You will get several full breaths from it as you ascend making what would be a very stressfull emergency ascent into a slightly less stessfull emergency ascent. You should buy one and go try it out, then you will know the answer to your question.

N

 

[ianr33]

My opinion is that Spare Air is junk and I would never consider using one.
Thinking divers will test BOTH regs in the water before a dive.
How many divers test their Spare Air before a dive? If you havent tested it how do you know its going to work? Would be kind of embarassing to go OOA at 100', grab the Spare Air and get a mouthful of water!

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I have a H2Odessy which is the big brother to the spare air. It had 6cu ft of air and a more robust regulator and a small gauge.

It works, its a decent tool. I have done normal ascents from 60' several times, absolutly no problem. I am confident I could make a rushed, but reasonable ascent from 100'.

I have had a blast using it as a boat toy. I can refill it many times of an AL 80 and get 10 minutes or so of shallow dive time. As an experiment, I found I could sit on the bottom for 22 minutes with the 6cu ft of air. Or I can swim hard and blast through it in 6 minutes at 8 feet. This just goes to show the variability of air consumption and if you do the math, at 66' you get 2 minutes on the 6cu ft bottle (1 minute on a 3 cu ft spare air) if you are working hard.

I have no doubt either my H2O unit or a Spare Air could save you butt in some situations.

That said, it is not a good fit for me as a redundant air supply and I choose not to use it. For shallow dives, I don't need it, its not worth the hassle. For deeper dives and in a semi-panic, it is not big enough. I have good buddies or I don't dive. Thats my profile. Other have different profiles and can make their own decision. Its a tool with a limited envelope that has a substantial tradeoff in volume to reduce size.

 

[Web Monkey]

I don't want to debate the merits. I want to know if those who use it have tested it and what the results were.

First, it's a tiny tank (generally either 1.7 or 3.0 Cu Ft).

Since it won't breathe when the ambient pressure is greater or equal to the tank pressure, and regs generally won't breathe the tank down to 0 anyway, you actually have closer to 1.6 Cu Ft and 2.85 Cu Ft respectively.

Assuming a 1 CFM SAC rate for moderate stress (you did just run out of air and had to go looking for your spare air), and a 66' dive (3 ATA - easy round numbers), the smaller tank would get you almost 30 seconds of air, while the larger one would get you almost a minute.

So it's good for whatever you can do in 30 seconds or a minute.

The following come to mind:

• "Oh S***! I'm out of air"
• "Wow! Running out of air at 70' and 30' is way cooler than just doing it at 70!"

Terry