75 ft out of air, What do YOU do?

[Mario S Caner]

Walter,
There are other factors to take into consideration here. Just how much is left in the primary cylinder is a variable, it's not a number or amount that's a known... further, we're talking about a completely independant redundant amount of air that would be unaffected by a catostrophic air emergency. In that case the Spare Air is the perfect little companion to travel with. Otherwise, if you're not traveling pick up a pony!

Mario

 

[Remora]

keep those ponies rollin...Rawhide!! Sorry, lost it there for a min. When I purchase gear, like most I go for the most my money can buy. In this case, I see Spare air as a highly overrated redundant air source that when used for Scuba could possibly instill a false sense of security in the diver. If you are looking for a redundant sys that will not only take you safely to the top but allow for a safety stop as well, go for a pony (min 30 cuft AL). I will concede Mario 1 point though; for travelling the Spare Air may be the only viable option. Good size for an Argon bottle though .

Just my .02

 

[Walter]

.......I personally don't consider them cost effective. A pony is a much better alternative.


Walter

 

[Warhammer]

I thought I had been hit with a knock out punch, but Walter saved me! LOL! I see the benefits. No question, it does have it's strong points. If only they'd drop the prices a tad.

 

[Mario S Caner]

There's no question that spare air products are incredibly overpriced. It's much more cost effective to pick up a 6cuft pony bottle and a $100 reg to put on it. It will give you more than twice the air of a 2.7cuft spare air. But what we were discussing are the undeniable benefits of the spare air, not cost.

Two facts remain:
1) The spare air travels better than anything else.
2) You can fill it right off of an existing cylinder whenever you want.

Mario

 

[sisterJ]

Mario S Caner once bubbled...
There's no question that spare air products are incredibly overpriced. It's much more cost effective to pick up a 6cuft pony bottle and a $100 reg to put on it. It will give you more than twice the air of a 2.7cuft spare air. But what we were discussing are the undeniable benefits of the spare air, not cost.

I can appreciate you looking at pony bottles and spare air as redundant gas supplies. But have you viewed them from a practical stand point? How long will a 6cft bottle last at 75ft or 60ft. If you were calm and collected it might last you 3 to 4 mins if you had a SAC rate of 0.5cft/min. In reality chances are that you are not calm and collected as you just ran out of gas. Therefore a 6cft bottle would last less then 3 mins. This would leave you with one option; to bolt for the surface.

My best redundant gas supply is my buddy. Not only does he reserve enough gas for me incase of emergency. He also is monitoring the gas supply as well. If either of us are reaching our turn pressure we call the dive. We never infringe on the reserve gas. This is a simple system. It does not involve additional task loading, such as trying to locate a regulator on a second bottle. It allows adequate time to make a controlled assent. Which in turn reduces the likely hood of a DCS hit or other damage. It just works well. Two divers can work together to keep the ascent under control and on time.

The undeniable benefit comes from having an adequate reserve gas supply. I do not see either a 6cft pony or a 3cft spare air can as doing either.

Cheers
sisterJ

 

[Diver0001]

J.P. once bubbled...
I was asked this by my boss and the answer I gave he said was wrong...although it was out of the book. I need to know by professional people. Please give real serious answers so I may show him.
You are at 75 feet and OUT OF AIR. Your buddy is out of site, and neither of you have any comm gear on. What do you do

CESA.

R..

 

[Diver0001]

DEEP SEA once bubbled...
Hey, anyone ever think about diving with a Spare Air? If your in the habit of not paying attention to your air supply or you have an equipment failure, they come in handy.

JP, you going to tell us about something new you have to solve this problem? Another $100,000 challenge?

If you are in the habit of not paying attention to your air supply then spare air will not address the root problem. It's a solution to the wrong problem in that case.

R..

 

[Grajan]

I simply cannot see the point in using spare-air at all. For a non-deco dive there are so many levels of redundancy as follows:

1 - The dive plan
2 - The pressure gauge
3 - Breathing resistance increase
4 - Buddy breathing
5 - OOA ascent

You want another one? KISS. Spend the money on some more training.

Deco diving is another thing altogether and spare-air is not going to be of any use there.

 

[sheck33]

Spare Deaths are useless devices that cover up lacking skills.
There is no excuse for running out because you werent paying attention.
If you run out because of an equipment failure there should be your buddy not too far away.
I have done a lot of stupid stuff but i have NEVER been anywhere near running out of breathing gas.
Spare Deaths just try to fight symptoms rather than addressing the underlaying problem.