broncobowsher
Contributor
I think they only people doing anything with "These little 15 or 20cf bottles" that would involve any type of deco would be rebreather divers. And that would be primary bottles, not bailout.I've been diving for a long, long time, so perhaps I've lost touch with what people are doing these days, but the idea of using a small safety cylinder, what we called a bail-out bottle, for decompression fills me with horror. The gas needed for decompression should, I strongly believe, be factored into the dive plan from the primary cylinder(s). These little 15 or 20cf bottles are for emergencies, redundant sources of air. I've always thought that the rule of thirds was more than just a good idea: it was obligatory. Squeezing every minute possible from a dive by nearly depleting the main air source and relying on a small secondary source to complete any required decomp while doing ordinary sport diving is the hallmark of a fool.
My exception to that is the 6cf bottle for the drysuit.