His use of a smilie had a certain conciseness to it.... but hit the nail on the head perfectly.
Well "Devon Diver" where to begin? I think if you slow down a bit and re-read my post carefully we can have a somewhat more polite discussion.
I did read it carefully. Yours was an innocent post that highlighted some naive perspectives that I remember sharing a long time, and many thousands of dives, ago.
I don't intend to to spend a lot of time at depth looking for a buddy and never said I would. What I said was that a few extra breaths makes it a lot easier to close on your buddy and arrange to use his octo. I do believe that that procedure IS what is taught.
What is taught is: an
immediate ascent using CESA.
Look now, I can understand that you simply don't understand what I am trying to explain regarding emergency psychology and the development of instinctive reactions to enable rapid and effective responses.
Why not try re-reading some of my posts in this thread - and get your head around the psychological issues that need to be addressed. I talk from considerable experience in this area and it would be beneficial knowledge for you to have. It may shape your perceptions a little and allow you to understand the 'bigger picture'.
I am not looking for an arguement.... merely trying to explain some concepts that you have not encountered yet. No antagonism.
Apparently in your world your buddy is never more than a couple of feet away and your buddy is completely reliable in an emergency. My world is a bit more uncertain and I have a variety of buddies. Hence the spare air to add some self reliance.
I make use of the appropriate diving techniques that apply to any given dive. Generally, I am diving with students or fun divers and I am the most experienced diver in the group. I am very self-reliant and take every reasonable measure to safeguard my health and life.
When the circumstances demand it, I use
appropriate gas redundancy. I plan my gas requirements for the dive. At no point on any dive, of the 000's I have done, has a Spare Air been chosen as an
appropriate gas redundancy.
I have completed an emergency ascent from 70' in near freezing water in the dark. It was difficult. The regulator instantly and completely failed to deliver air. At that point I had nearly empty lungs.
Congrats. Glad you got up safely. It's good to see that the training works...and that the concept of CESA is applicable.
The buddy assigned to me just stared at me and backed away when I gave him the out of air sign. At that point I made the decision to surface on my own.
I would have chosen differently. My buddies's AAS is mine. If they are panicking, then take control of the situation. As you say..you can't rely on your buddy to
supply the AAS.... but then again, you are taught on OW course to help yourself to the air.
Get contact (grab them), locate and secure the AAS. Breath. Communicate with your buddy and direct the ascent. Take control.
One or two more breaths would have made things quite a bit easier. (And might have given the "buddy" time to settle down and donate some air.)
In this case, Spare Air would be a 'crutch' for bad drills and hesitancy in taking control of an emergency.
Yes, my wife and I each own a spare air and if I'm deep and NOT diving with my wife I will clip hers to the other side of my BCD. That provides more than enough air to get to the surface and is very unobtrusive. With a single spare air at any recreational depth I still have enough air to relieve the stress on the ride up. Two just makes it easier.
There is no argument on earth that could suggest that multiple SA are an
appropriate gas redundancy source...when compared with other options.
If you've calculated your air requirements (accelerated SAC, ascent time, depth etc) and you have enough Spare Airs festooned about your person...then yes, you can make an ascent with them. However, that is just a compromise based upon a
financial decision to not spend your cash on an appropriately sized AAS cylinder.
Hell, you could do the complete dive on Spare Air, if you cluttered yourself with enough of them. It'd be shockingly irresponsible though.
Frankly, given the attitude you have expressed towards spare air devices I expect that you also eschew things like motorcycle helmets and seat belts because they interfere with movement and vision and give a false sense of security. If you were a cop would you pass on a small caliber BUG just because that would give you too many choices, "might" fail to stop your opponent and might slow down your decisions if your primary jammed?
I'd use the appropriate tool for the task. That is what I am advocating. I do not see Spare Air as an appropriate tool for the task. Even your posts illustrate the need to improvise and compromise because you use them. You don't need to make those compromises if you opt for an
appropriate redundant air system.
Using your analogy, I am not arguing against the benefits of a BUG. I am debating which calibre is needed to be effective. The SA equates to a one-shot .22. A pony is a 7 round mag 9mm. A set of doubles is a .45 In this instance... your assailant is wearing body armour. Is the one-shot .22
appropriate?
Just like I respect the right of folks to ride a motorcycle without a brain bucket, I like to think they respect my right to wear one. Similarly I have no problem if you have the skills and confidence and feel no need for a spare air. I, on the other hand, have unexpectedly fallen on my face a few times.
I do respect you
right to wear one. This isn't a question of rights. It is a question of 'best practice' scuba skills. When I've run dive centres, I have no issue with customers who turn up with SA for open water recreational dives. Where I lead dives that
require an alternative air source (deep and/or penetration/overhead) then I would advise them that I don't accept the SA as fit for that purpose. I am always happy to explain why, or even demonstrate why, those micro-capacity cylinders are
not fit for the purpose.