Pony bottle vs. Spare Air?

Yeah--- well I guess he'll find out soon enough whether it works. The shop wouldn't sell him anything else unless he was certified (i.e. a pony tank ), so if this doesn't work I guess he will have no choice but to take the course! (Yay!)

Anyway, I was way off about the depth - he said that he would only need to go down 3-4 feet max. So basically it's the equivelent of using a big snorkel. If you can tell me how that is "very dangerous" (and not freak accident, yes something *could* theoretically happen dangerous), I am all ears! I don't want him to get hurt. I can't think of anything though. As long as he remembers to keep breathing, I really don't think it's a big deal.

He's going to try it in the pool to see how long it lasts for and then get it refilled.

 

No, you're not really on topic but don't sweat it...lots of posts in this thread are just as peripheral.

If it makes you feel better, this 'classic thread' refuses to die. If you do a search (command bar, top of page, fourth button from the right) you'll come up with about six pages or more of threads on the topic of pony bottles (versus Spare Death) from about 2001 onwards...which should provide you with a few days of invigorating reading or so. Its sort of one long continuation of the same basic thread.

Have fun.

 

Heh...is it that obvious?



As far as using Spare Death to examine the bottom of a boat's hull in about 3' of water, remember this classic line from Murphy's Rules of Combat:

"If its stupid, but it works, then it isn't stupid."

Best,

Doc

 

Gosh, I think the spare air would be great fun in a swimming pool. But to clean tangles from a prop? Sounds kinda dangerous. I probably would not do it with at least 10 times more air (a 30 cu ft pony), and at least 2 cutting devices.... Just in case I get tangled. It is hard to hold the spare air in one hand, and tangling the other hand or worse, the spare air, and dropping your cutting device.....

 

Most people here do it on breathhold. If longer is needed they use scuba.

 

Hehe, I don't think we're going to see the James Bond Rebreather any time soon.

Really, he sounds too much like me in my younger years - and he's probly some younger than me (stuck on 59) anyway. In my 30s, I doing dumb stuff with sporting goods store snorkel gear like solo free diving for big bass just to watch the expressions on the faces of my friends fishing the other side of the boat when I turned it loose, changing a shear pin on a small boat's prop, free diving to hook a chain on the body well underneath the bumper of a ton truck that had rolled down the ramp into the lake with a trailer hooked, then driving the truck our on another breath when the wheels kept turning the wrong way as the wrecker tugged at it. Of course, I was too good to worry about cramps or other problems and no one ever told me about snorkelers vests or shallow water blackout. I try to offer safer suggestions here tho, and that's probly all you can do with him.

No problem. We love posting personal opinions on this thread. Nice to see it come up again. It still doesn't show on google's top 20 when you search "spare air."

Yeah, let's not tell him that most online scuba sites would sell him any equipment he wanted based on his credit card clearing. I've read about one diver who took a deep breath from his scuba reg at three feet, breath held and came up quickly - dying of lung expansion embolism - but that could be a myth. That's only 1/10 of an atmosphere; I suppose a 10% increase in air volume on a closed lung could cause one, but that's asking a lot to believe - and I don't want anyone testing the idea! Tell him it's a true story.

Question: How is he going to get fills for either a pony or the SA? Do tell him that work shop compressor air is sure death, ok? Too many contaminants to breath it safely.

Is that on the same page as "Hold my beer and watch this"...?

 

I just remembered the story of a priest off New Orleans who drowned checking out his props.... I guess I am over paranoid?

 

Yep, the dive shop said to bring it back and they'd refill it for him. ( I think you were kidding about this, right? Otherwise there'd be a lot of sick students in the pool in the back of the shop! )

As far as the danger of it all, ok, it's somewhat dangerous to do anything under your boat yourself - you could cut yourself on the prop, you could run out of air, panic and bang your head on the bottom of the boat and knock yourself out, you could tangle yourself in the line and drown - but the question is it any MORE dangerous to do it with the spare air as opposed to just holding your breath. I can't really see how. Assuming you don't have to hold it with one hand, I think you'd be safer cause you could relax a little more and go slower.

 

Sorry, I meant work shop compressor air, edited my previous post. Some people own their own compressors for powering air tools, blow cleaning, tire inflation, etc.

The only increases in danger I can think of would be breath holding on ascent, which is a natural mistake for OOA, and that he might actually try to use it all up and get into that position. SAs are cute little toys, but I don't know how it would be to try to rig it for hands free use.

 

Isn't that why they make duct tape??

Ah, yes a work shop air compressor. Yeah... that would not be good! I don't think he would do that... On second thought, maybe I will just send him a quick text...