spare air? i use one and i get laughed at

[Bob DBF]

It's too bad there's not a cliff notes version of this thread
Other than the first post, which posts are best?

Just pick some out at random, that should cover the flavor, as well as the content of the thread.



Bob

 

[Blasto]

If that's the case, why are doubles not requires in solo training? As I remember, one or both training agencies accept Spare Air as an alternate supply.

One would expect to hear "overkill". Except, in my personal opinion, it's rather the pony that is too cumbersome for rec diving. Small doubles, in comparison, are awesome. 2x6L HP beats 100+19 or even 80+19 every time, in terms of both reliability and comfort. Forget 100+19, it's more comfortable than just a single LP100.

Too bad the concept of small doubles is essentially non-existent in the US. The short tanks fit perfectly on your back, nothing left hanging, you get a smaller profile both underwater and above it. The manifold is a small price to pay for this.

I suppose the main reason is that the emphasis in diving has been, for decades, on making classes as short as possible, even at the cost of suboptimal comfort and gear configurations. Doubles add procedures, even independent ones, which add time to a class.

And then again the chicken and egg problem: shops have no small doubles, so no one gets trained in them, so there's no demand for small doubles, so shops don't stock them. More than half of all common dive gear is the way it is only for such historical reasons.

I have no issues with Spare Air, except it was not robust enough for the conditions I encountered solo diving, so I went back to using the surface for my redundancy. ...
This is not the fault of the gear, Spare Air is just another ( insert size here ) cuft bottle.

Me neither. It's a great tool to keep in your car alongside your glass breaker.
The problem started when the 1.7 cu.ft got marketed towards divers, and lately, even worse, the 3 cu.ft. as its own ersatz-diving device.

 

[Bob DBF]

Too bad the concept of small doubles is essentially non-existent in the US.

I have small doubles, but they were the same configuration I used back in the day, a pair of old steel 72's on a j-valve manifold to make it a 140. Not exactly what you are talking about or used to seeing.


Bob