Should I get a Spare Air?

[LUBOLD8431]

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 ?
:f: :f:

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!

THats awesome...

 

[DennisS]

I'd like to hear your opinions on SPARE AIR... I want to purchase one for emergency use only.. I am strictly recreational and not into deep dives or any specialty.. maybe wreck diving in the future... I've heard alot of controversial info on these and want to know if they are even practical... I've read that depending on the size of the bottle they range from 20 surface breaths to about 54 max..<20 breaths underwater isn't much air at all but at the depths I dive( approx 60ft max) isn't this sufficient for direct ascent to the surface.. (assuming I dont need a deco stop), a pony bottle seems to be overkill for me.... the piggy bank is on the table so gimme your $.02... thanx

It's better than doing a free ascent, it'll give you a breath or two so you can hook up with your buddy. It's better th

 

[jo8243]

Ok, I've read all the posts against spare air, but I still have a question. I understand that it is only 3.0 cu. ft. of air and is marginal (or just not enough) for some situations if you are trying to make an ascent to the surface. I also understand that with good buddy technique in theory you should not need any extra redundancy.

However, it is very easy to be more than 1 breath away from your buddy, whether it is your own fault or the fault of your buddy. If you've just exhaled and need to inhale and can't you won't have much time. Say you've just exhaled and "something" happens to your reg/tank. I won't specify what that "something" is or how it could happen. Basically you go to inhale and you can't.

Who here would say that having a spare air to grab a breath or two from while you get closer to your buddy would be a bad thing? NOT to try to ascend to the surface with...... because we know this may be a crap shoot.

I know this subject has been beat to death, but I'd like to hear your opinions. Does anyone own a spare air for this particular reason alone?
Thanks.

 

[NEWreckDiver]

Ok, I've read all the posts against spare air, but I still have a question. I understand that it is only 3.0 cu. ft. of air and is marginal (or just not enough) for some situations if you are trying to make an ascent to the surface. I also understand that with good buddy technique in theory you should not need any extra redundancy.

However, it is very easy to be more than 1 breath away from your buddy, whether it is your own fault or the fault of your buddy. If you've just exhaled and need to inhale and can't you won't have much time. Say you've just exhaled and "something" happens to your reg/tank. I won't specify what that "something" is or how it could happen. Basically you go to inhale and you can't.

Who here would say that having a spare air to grab a breath or two from while you get closer to your buddy would be a bad thing? NOT to try to ascend to the surface with...... because we know this may be a crap shoot.

I know this subject has been beat to death, but I'd like to hear your opinions. Does anyone own a spare air for this particular reason alone?
Thanks.

It would be better to use a pony bottle. This gives you enough air to get to the surface if you plan your dives right. Keeping a peice of gear to get a couple of breaths from until you find your buddy is poor planning. What would happen if you did not find your buddy. It would be better to have one piece that will handle all cases.

Be Safe and Enjoy.

 

[DepartureDiver]

sorry ... can't do this one again ... the opinions are firmly rooted on both sides ... even though those believing in the spare air are wrong :irazz: :031:

 

[MikeFerrara]

If I thought there was enough of a chance of that happening to justify something like a spare air I'd address the cause, find a better solution or just stay out of the water.

Some dives/environments certainly call for redundancy but a spair air still doesn't count.

 

[Bob3]

You're setting yourself up for trouble by using the "get to the buddy" scenario.
As NEWreckDiver already pointed out, your buddy may just decide to scooting off again & then you'd be REALLY screwed.
If you feel the need for a small redundant air source, go with a pony & have a quantity of air you can actually do something with.
There's no reason a pony rig should have to cost more than a Spare Air anyway, so for the same $$ why mess with a tiny air bottle?

 

[jo8243]

Thanks for the info. I see the point. The only advantage I see of the spare air over a pony bottle is being easier to travel with and easier to fill (from a tank)..... of course who knows if that's true anymore with TSA in the picture. Just wanted to get some more opinions.

 

[Henry]

Would some of you please explain how you run out of air on a dive?

Your regulator is equiped with either a SPG or a computer or as some of you have said 2 computers. Please explain this to me as I have NEVER run out of air, I guess I just pay more attention to my gauges than most, after all that's what they are there for.

I can see using a pony bottle in a student application, but other than that I must be missing the point.

An don't tell me about the reg not working. Modern day regulators are by design not to fail in the out of air position but rather they free-flow when they fail. A frozen reg is another matter.

If you pay attention to your equipment, you will never have an out of air situtation.

ID

A friend of mine with about 8-900 dives over 20 year was diving with his brother off the Vancouver Island coast in BC.

They dived by the book, dive flag on a float and everything. When they finished their safety at 15 feet and was just about to head up when day light all of a sudden disappeared.

A tug towing a large float of logs ran over their dive flag and over their dive site (in a marine park). They didn't know how long the log float was nor did they know how wide it was, so they couldn't swim sideways. They waited at the 15 foot mark for their air to run down slowly and finally as they got down to about 150lbs, the float passed.

They had computers and monitored their guages and yes their regs works fine. You CAN run out of air, even if you are paying attention to your equipment. Sometimes, it is just not your fault.

Extra air if you can carry it or afford it, is a good idea.

My $.02
Henry

 

[riddler]

I see these same arguments made in other sports about certain safety equipment. "If you have to use it, you aren't smart enough or good enough to be doing this", blah, blah. There are definitely people that shouldn't be diving, but I have news folks - even the best divers in the world have bad days. You can and should make a very conscious effort to be as safe as possible, but you NEVER have 100% control of ANY situation. If you believe you do, you are deceiving yourself. Not that I am against self-deception - it's one of the few forms of guiltless pleasure we have left But I've had competant friends die in other sports, even though they did everything "right". I do agree that if I ever used a Spare Air, I would really have to do some soul-searching to understand what went wrong with my procedures, and evaluate whether I should be diving, but I do not think that having a SpareAir encourages bad diving practices.

Now, in keeping with my name , I have a question. Has anyone flown commercially with a SpareAir in their checked luggage or carry-on? If so, what should I expect if I do this?

The company recommends expelling all the air, removing the reg and mouthpiece and putting the canister in your checked luggage. I assume that having a large metal cylinder in my checked luggage will almost certainly raise some eyebrows with the TSA people.

If you've traveled with SpareAir, can you tell about your experience? Did you have your checked baggage searched? If you carried it on, did you get the vaseline and rubber-glove treatment at the metal detector?