Pony Bottle / Spare Air

[Pete.the.scuba.ewok]

Yup - Spare Air is the only piece of scuba gear that will allow you to run out of air TWICE on the same dive.

:shocked2:

What the heck do you mean by this?????

Any air system from surface supply to tanks to rebreathers may cease to function or run out if you do not keep an eye on your gauges and timers.

 

[RJP]

What the heck do you mean by this?????

Res ipsa loquitur

:cool2:

Though perhaps you raise a valid point, in that other air sources might fail as well. Accordingly, I'd be willing to modify my earlier statement:

"Spare Air is the [-]only[/-] best way to run out of air TWICE on the same dive."

 

[scubadada]

What the heck do you mean by this?????

Any air system from surface supply to tanks to rebreathers may cease to function or run out if you do not keep an eye on your gauges and timers.

Meaning that 3 cu ft of air is not enough to make a normal ascent from nearly any depth, duh. As I said in my earlier post, a few breaths is better than nothing in an emergency but hardly a controlled ascent at a reasonable rate with the option of a safety stop. Pretty simple. With an AL80, this is like starting your ascent with 112 psi, of course, if you did that, you might not need your Spare Air quite so soon, it would be like having two!

Good diving, Craig

 

[kanonfodr]

Meaning that 3 cu ft of air is not enough to make a normal ascent from nearly any depth, duh. As I said in my earlier post, a few breaths is better than nothing in an emergency but hardly a controlled ascent at a reasonable rate with the option of a safety stop. Pretty simple.

Good diving, Craig

:classic:

3 cubes of air at a stressed sac rate will let you do a safe ascent from...15 feet or so. If that much. Key phrase: safe (normal) ascent.

A 19 is much better, as it provides almost enough air for a safe ascent from almost 100 feet, but most definitely 70. If you want I can provide you the math, it's fairly simple.

Peace,
Greg

 

[Dr Wu]

con....nope....

Pony Cons:

They can cause foolish gas planning

They can cause foolish buddy planning

They can be empty when you think they are full

They can be turned off when you think they are turned on

They can be turned on when you think they are turned off

They can be mistaken for the primary and run out

The regulator can malfuntion

They can become entangled

They can be too small

They can be too big

Every one of these reasons has caused fatalities.

 

[Dr Wu]

:classic:

3 cubes of air at a stressed sac rate will let you do a safe ascent from...15 feet or so. If that much. Key phrase: safe (normal) ascent.

If you want I can provide you the math, it's fairly simple.

Please do. I cannot figure how 3cft would be insufficient to make an ascent that should take less than 20 seconds and at less than 1.5ATA.

 

[gcbryan]

Pony Cons:

They can cause foolish gas planning

No, being foolish causes foolish gas planning.

They can cause foolish buddy planning

See above comment.

They can be empty when you think they are full

So can your main tank...check it.

They can be turned off when you think they are turned on

They can be turned on when you think they are turned off

See above comment.

They can be mistaken for the primary and run out

I don't even get this one.

The regulator can malfuntion

So can your primary regulator but they both aren't likely to malfunction at the same time which is the whole point.

They can become entangled

They can be too small

They can be too big

Anything can become entangled, if the bottle is too small get a larger one and too big isn't a problem.

Every one of these reasons has caused fatalities.

Being human causes fatalities along with being underwater.

 

[scubadada]

Meaning that 3 cu ft of air is not enough to make a normal ascent from nearly any depth, duh. As I said in my earlier post, a few breaths is better than nothing in an emergency but hardly a controlled ascent at a reasonable rate with the option of a safety stop. Pretty simple. With an AL80, this is like starting your ascent with 112 psi, of course, if you did that, you might not need your Spare Air quite so soon, it would be like having two!

Good diving, Craig

Are you with me, Dr Wu?

Good diving, Craig

 

[RJP]

Pony Cons:

They can cause foolish gas planning

They can cause foolish buddy planning

They can be empty when you think they are full

They can be turned off when you think they are turned on

They can be turned on when you think they are turned off

They can be mistaken for the primary and run out

The regulator can malfuntion

They can become entangled

They can be too small

They can be too big

Every one of these reasons has caused fatalities.

And your main tank could be accidentally filled with whipped cream...



Of course all of these are complete and utter nonsense in terms of being any sort of actual, specific "cons" for a pony bottle.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

And your main tank could be accidentally filled with whipped cream...



....

Mmmmmm, whipped cream.... tastes great, and reduces nitrogen loading, but increases fat saturation....

Maybe if I just use low-fat whipped cream in my Al30.... wait... a can of Cool Whip is about the same size as a Spare Air