Should I get a Spare Air?
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Don Burke
Contributor
I've seen a double spare air.
The thing that struck me is that, once maintenance is cranked in, it is cheaper to have a 40cuft aluminum bottle and a regular regulator.
I have a set of double 80s that I use wet and two sets of double 72s that I use dry.
I don't recall the exact prices, but it wasn't all that much since I got the tanks used.
cdennyb
Contributor
Here it is, the dumb question for your attorney types out there.
I see all the ads for the "ultimate live saving device" proported to be the "cats meow" for those emergency situations when you or your buddy are having a OOA fit. But...I'm a little fuzzy on this part of it...
If I make a dive (recreational of course) to say 100' (even less for that fact!) (I know I shouldn't be at that depth but that little critter just kept swimming and I was in hot pursuit to get that perfect picture so...) I ended at 100' and had a OOA situation. But my buddy was a little out of reach, he was up at 60' and too far away so I 'whipped out' my spair air unit. A whole 3 cu ft (the BIG one!) of fresh air to make it back to the surface with. Now I figure in that situation I'm panic stricken and probably breathing more than my usual 30 breaths/minute (or about 1.7 CuFtSAC) and I'm a hundred feet from the surface. Now if I travel at 30'/min without stopping, my body should be floating about 10' from where I run out of air, at around 70' depth!
How can they sell that unit as a spare air unit when the assent I just described barely made it to the surface with 13 cu ft! I suppose if you could control your breathing and only make 3 breaths per minute (under extreme stress!) you might make it...but what about the liablity associated with this kind of dangerous device. How come I don't see more of this discussion in other places? I see these on ebay all the time and just shake my head in disbelief at the number of these things being sold. The poor bastards that are buying them actually think they'll get out alive, God I hope they don't run out of air at 100'! That spair air unit should only be used in the pool or equiv. location.
What do you think about this? Am I wrong or what?
These units sell for more than a quality 13 cu ft pony tank with valve!
db
:sharky:
I see all the ads for the "ultimate live saving device" proported to be the "cats meow" for those emergency situations when you or your buddy are having a OOA fit. But...I'm a little fuzzy on this part of it...
If I make a dive (recreational of course) to say 100' (even less for that fact!) (I know I shouldn't be at that depth but that little critter just kept swimming and I was in hot pursuit to get that perfect picture so...) I ended at 100' and had a OOA situation. But my buddy was a little out of reach, he was up at 60' and too far away so I 'whipped out' my spair air unit. A whole 3 cu ft (the BIG one!) of fresh air to make it back to the surface with. Now I figure in that situation I'm panic stricken and probably breathing more than my usual 30 breaths/minute (or about 1.7 CuFtSAC) and I'm a hundred feet from the surface. Now if I travel at 30'/min without stopping, my body should be floating about 10' from where I run out of air, at around 70' depth!
How can they sell that unit as a spare air unit when the assent I just described barely made it to the surface with 13 cu ft! I suppose if you could control your breathing and only make 3 breaths per minute (under extreme stress!) you might make it...but what about the liablity associated with this kind of dangerous device. How come I don't see more of this discussion in other places? I see these on ebay all the time and just shake my head in disbelief at the number of these things being sold. The poor bastards that are buying them actually think they'll get out alive, God I hope they don't run out of air at 100'! That spair air unit should only be used in the pool or equiv. location.
What do you think about this? Am I wrong or what?
These units sell for more than a quality 13 cu ft pony tank with valve!
db
:sharky:
How do you rate a pony bottle vs a Spare Air?
Boogie711
Guest
Geez GDI - what hornets nest are you trying to taunt here?
Listen, with all due respect, and I honestly mean this - why? This topic has been debated to death, ad nauseum, ad hominem, and any other latin term you can think of. All it does is piss people off.
As a moderator, please - do us all a favour and just delete the thread.
Listen, with all due respect, and I honestly mean this - why? This topic has been debated to death, ad nauseum, ad hominem, and any other latin term you can think of. All it does is piss people off.
As a moderator, please - do us all a favour and just delete the thread.
Oh no....
This is not going to be good...
I agree with the Boogie man...
This is not going to be good...
I agree with the Boogie man...
A pony is for riding (or eating) and a spare air is for doing long deep rescue dives on Bay Watch.
rjchandler
Contributor
Note to File: please tickle this thread every 4 months just to keep it active.
I have just read the instructions to my Spare Air and it says to use underwater I must remove my hub system and use the spare air so I can get my head between my knee's to Kiss My Ass bye bye then the unit stops ?rjchandler:
:f: :f:
matt_unique
Guest
Is some air better than no air? Of course. Would the volume of air in the Spare Air be suitable for anything other than a tropical ascent from 30 feet? Probably not.
If you want a redundant breathing system get a pony/deco bottle with a volume of air appropriate for your diving environment. For me it's a 13CF bottle for shallow shore dives and a 30CF bottle for deeper boat dives or of course for deco applications.
--Matt
If you want a redundant breathing system get a pony/deco bottle with a volume of air appropriate for your diving environment. For me it's a 13CF bottle for shallow shore dives and a 30CF bottle for deeper boat dives or of course for deco applications.
--Matt
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