Do I want a Spare Air

[wetb4igetinthewater]

those types of dives need to be considered solo dives and you have to approach it from a solo diving mentality, which is not appropriate for the beginners forum and is a completely different approach. If someone came in and said "hey, I do a lot of solo photography at 100ft, would you recommend a pony because I can't/don't want to work with doubles/sidemount, then sure a 40cf bailout bottle is appropriate". That wasn't this discussion though.

But this is how many beginner divers dive throughout the world. It is just the reality of the market.

 

[tbone1004]

But this is how many beginner divers dive throughout the world. It is just the reality of the market.

then as an industry we need to fix that...

 

[tursiops]

I just went through my SDI solo course manual and didn't see that, they recommend a pony over backmount doubles, but couldn't see any mention of a spare air

SpareAir is mentioned on p78 under "Different Types of Redundant Air Sources." Elsewhere in that chapter a 40 cuft pony is recommended, and on page 33 a 30-35 cuft pony is described as a minimum. Somewhat unclearly, the manual gets into risk mitigation, and puts H-valves in that category because at least you have a redundant first stage. So the manual fluctuates between risk mitigation and actual full redundancy. It points out that the most common problem is a free-flow, so if you can shut down a free-flowing first stage with an H-valve and breathe off your other first stage you are covered. But you are NOT covered for the rare event of neck o-ring failures. The manual states: "Having a completely redundant gas system is a fundamental rule in solo diving and a diver attempting solo dive without backup gas supply fitted with a redundant first and second stage regulator is courting disaster."

 

[woodcarver]

I am soliciting opinions on carrying a Spate Air secondary air source for emergencies. I am a relatively new diver that is starting to dive down 70 to 90 feet. My primary fear is equipment failure and needing to rely on a buddy. How common are equipment failures at depth? Is the Spare Air a good option for deeper dives?

Kudos for asking this. It shows you are thinking beyond your initial training and trying to find information. Always a good thing.
SB is a great place to find information, but you often have to wade through the chafe to find the answers. There are quite a number of very knowledgeable and experienced divers on this board. Some of them enjoy sharing their knowledge. Others think you should have been born knowing all this stuff like they were, . Learning to find the former and ignore the latter takes some patience and sometimes a thick skin.
It's worth the time to try and find those good resources. And it can be fun watching the bickering between the old salts that disagree or don't like each other so they argue, sometimes from the same side.
Have fun, keep diving and learning!

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

then as an industry we need to fix that...

I think world peace is easier to achieve.

In all seriousness, Andy Davis's blog post on the industry here: An Evaluation of the Modern Scuba Diving Training Industry % is a starting point for this conversation.

Given the desires of the largest number of customers, I don't see how they are going to be forced to dive a certain way. They simply won't dive as much as a result.

 

[broncobowsher]

This just popped up.
For Sale - Pony bottle with regulator and safety valve + gauge
Hurry before it is gone.

 

[UTscuba]

SpareAir is mentioned on p78

I just checked, you're correct. I had even been reading the same page and still missed it, my bad

 

[MichaelMc]

then as an industry we need to fix that...

A strobe light on the HP port triggered at 500 psi. If you surface above 500 psi you get brownies instead of just cookies. Those that hit 500 at depth skip the next dive. Like a radio controlled collar solution. Or the more modern view of training from the start....

I’d suggest making divers more resilient with redundant tanks (side or back), that are no more trouble when small than a single, but that only helps if you don't just drain one then the other.

For the OP, I’d suggest the backmount version, but their other posts suggest travel to warm water and a 50 lb. limit. A pony seems more easily configured for ready use than a spare air, even at 6 cu.ft.
- grab regulator, put in mouth, v.s.
- open pouch, take out, do not drop, put in mouth.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I just checked, you're correct. I had even been reading the same page and still missed it, my bad

Fortunately this has been corrected in their online docs: https://www.tdisdi.com/elearning-main-pages/carrying-a-redundant-gas-source-for-security/ where the discussion of SAC comes into play for determining appropriate redundancy size.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

A strobe light on the HP port triggered at 500 psi.

Do you think that such a requirement is even remotely realistic?