goonsquad
Contributor
Tell us what you really think Skim...
Next question is why do you read new posts on "old subjects"?
Next question is why do you read new posts on "old subjects"?
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Here's my experience. Back in the day when I was typically a 40'/50' for 40 minute diver , I pulled out my spare air on a safety stop and timed it, got around 2 and a half minutes. Nowadays I get twice that for bottom time, so getting a full safety stop in the unit if needed is no issue at all.
Many of the critics who are throwing out "math" to put down spare are are picking a 3-4 atm depth and treating it as though it's a constant. In reality you're either running out of air and grabbing your spare air and ascending, giving you varying rates of air consumption as you ascend, requiring lots more math to figure out how long it will last.... or you are trapped, at which you may only have a minute (using the 60' example earlier in the thread) on a 3cuft spare air, or 5 minutes on a 15cuft pony, to work youself out of trouble - in which case you could potentially be screwed no matter what size of alternate airsource you are using.
Spare air as a backup source to get you to the surface in the event you have unimpeded access to the surface when you run out of air at depth should do the job. At some depths if you are poor on air consumption you probably won't get a full safety stop in, but at least you should get to the surface assuming the path is clear.
In an ideal world, backup air sources are never needed, it's nice to have something though just in case.
I have performed the search and I have read peoples posts about the fact they hate it, but none of them seem to explain.
Thanks Dr. Wu, but as I read through the posts (here and in the searched threads) all I find is anecdotal evidence and piss poor attitudes to back up the reasons people actually dislike SA.
Perhaps you're a dive god who will never have a problem or be separated from their dive buddy, but things happen.
Dr. Wu- I guess I rely on more than. "it sucks, it's too small to ascend from 150ft" type of nonsensical answers. Of course its too small, its not made for that. Nor do I rely on the positive reviews of its great, I used it in my pool.
I have read more than a few accounts of divers who have said it may have saved their lives during a OOA emergency, I have not found any accounts of a drown diver who had died clutching their SA, or even a diver found with a spare air missing from its holser, etc. (I imagine with the hatred some people have against SA, it would be posted on everyone of these types of threads)
Now please excuse me if I read articles in magazines like:
Spare Air Is Reverse Parachute of Scuba: Test Dive (With Video) - Popularmechanics.com
and give them a bit more credence than I give you.
Now if you're saying that a pony is better, I'd completely agree that in most cases it is. I myself would think though that using the right tool for the right job is a better strategy, if my dive plan is 30-60ft I don't really think lugging a pony around is the right tool...
According to almost every argument against SA, the exact same argument can be made against a pony. All I am hearing from people such as yourself is "have better gas management", okay, so tell me how do you manage an equipment failure at 60-100ft, without a redundant air supply?
Oh, again, thanks for your insightful posts...
According to almost every argument against SA, the exact same argument can be made against a pony. All I am hearing from people such as yourself is "have better gas management", okay, so tell me how do you manage an equipment failure at 60-100ft, without a redundant air supply?
Oh, again, thanks for your insightful posts...