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An actual legitimate use for spare air???
- Thread starter spitfiremac
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Bob DBF
Contributor
If something goes sideways, improvise.
I've been solo diving since my first dive, and have used the surface as my redundant air. I tried the SpareAir in the late '90's and found the conditions I dove in were were too rough for the unit, so I quit using it except for pool play. Around 2010 I picked up a 19 and use it for the more serious and deep dives as I am getting long in the tooth.
Bob DBF
Contributor
From the inventor:
"One night I was lobster diving in the beautiful, clear cool waters off the coast of Catalina Island. After a short time, I realized I had failed to check my air supply. As I went to check it, I took a breath and discovered there wasn't one to be had. I panicked for a moment...got myself together and swam quickly toward the surface with the unnerving sense that it was too far away and I wouldn't make it! In this rush for the precious air far above at the surface, I began to black out...my only thought was... If I only had one more breath of air.
For days after this experience I would awake in a sweat during the night. Then I began to notice a recurring thought I had...it was the last words I recalled as I blacked out.... If only I had one more breath. Why was this coming back to me over and over again? Was I given a second chance to live for a reason? Then it dawned on me. There are others that didn't, don't or won't make it...There are others blacking out and never waking up... if they only had one more breath of air!
So the story ends with the present. SPARE AIR was born, and out of it my commitment to educate the world about preventable drowning and safe diving. I feel diving is safe, but it can and should be made safer. You, too, can join the quest and become part of the story of SPARE AIR."
Larry Williamson,
Inventor - Spare Air
Spare Air - Info - Questions & Answers
Don't believe everything you read on the Internet, most haven't checked the source.
No defect it’s a unique solution to an avoidable problem.
It is an illusion of a solution, a gimmick at best, that is sold capitalizing on people's fears (and lack of skills and knowledge) who are looking for a "security blanket" to make them feel better as if they are actually using something that would enhance their safety but it is a gimmick. Not better than a "J-valve" (I have used J-valves in my days starting diving in the 70's btw).
I guess we can apply that logic to anything; no one needs a b/c it’s just a gimmick to sell excess lead, exposure protection just encourages people to dive to long, a gimmick to sell air...
False analogy. A BC and exposure protection makes every dive easier and more comfortable. A Spare Air adds nothing except in highly unlikely and easily avoidable situations.
A valid analogy would be clipping a 5lb lift bag to your BC. Or carrying a neoprene vest in a pocket on your drysuit dive.
Degenerate
Contributor
We were at nearly 120 watching some others lower on the deck of the wreck, 130 or more. One of the ladies went head down to look in a hole. popped out and swam over to the divemaster, took his spare reg and started up. On our slow trip up I started thinking about how far it was to the surface and how much I'd pay for a breath of air if I didn't have one. That lady had 1600# went head down and her gauge went to zero. Tank debris, most likely.Back on the boat she had air again. I got Spare Airs. Not figuring on using them for real. I also gave a couple to a Mexican fisherman friend of mine. One of his friends asked to borrow it for hookah diving for sea cucumbers. Prop cut the line when he was at 140 or more. He came up and wasn't even bent. Hard to get my fisherman friend to carry anything on a dive that he doesn't intend to use. This spring he had a reg failure at about 140 on a dive to hook up a lobster trap. He didn't have another air source along and got pretty bent, Went down with another tank and came out better than he went in. Should he be on doubles with a pony at those depths? Sure! But I have enough trouble getting him to carry an SMB. I had a guy on a Coz dive boat feel the need to tell me he didn't think a Spare Air was necessary. But I had one more regulator and 3 CF more air than he did.
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