ATTENTION UW PHOTOGRAPHERS:

[tursiops]

since my SAC is 0.5 cfm at safety stop

Presumably your SAC doesn't depend on your depth?
You were not OOG, you were not stressed, you were just irritated.
If stressed in an OOG situation, best to assume your actual breathing rate will be 2x or 3x your SAC. Planning for at least 1 cuft/min and better 2 cuft/min is not silly, and at 60 ft that could be 3-6 cuft/min...and it takes a minute to get to the surface.. A SpareAir will maybe get you to your buddy, but don't count on it getting you to the surface. I know, you've never been OOG and you are super careful. Cool. So why then do you carry a SpareAir?

 

[Dan]

Presumably your SAC doesn't depend on your depth?
You were not OOG, you were not stressed, you were just irritated.
If stressed in an OOG situation, best to assume your actual breathing rate will be 2x or 3x your SAC. Planning for at least 1 cuft/min and better 2 cuft/min is not silly, and at 60 ft that could be 3-6 cuft/min...and it takes a minute to get to the surface.. A SpareAir will maybe get you to your buddy, but don't count on it getting you to the surface. I know, you've never been OOG and you are super careful. Cool. So why then do you carry a SpareAir?

I thought I explained it before:

My problem one time was going into a few minutes DECO that I had to clear it at 10’ below the surface to keep my SUUNTO D4 from locking out that forced me to stay 10’ underwater for freaking 6 minutes to clear it. So, having 3cf of spare air would give me that extra 6 minutes...

Anyway it’s a moot point now that I get Teric, which is more reliable than D4. Teric clears my DECO sooner than D4.

Also:
1, it’s small, easy to carry,
2, easy to fill from any SCUBA tank,
3, even if your SAC is 1.5cfm, it will get you 2 minutes of breathing time than none. You can then CESA at shallower depth afterwards.
4. It’s enough to get you to your buddy, as you said.

 

[tursiops]

even if your SAC is 1.5cfm, it will get you 2 minutes of breathing time than none.

Not at depth. Remember the 3ATA multiplier on your SAC if you are at 66 ft.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

In 16 years of diving (930 dives), I never got into OOA. My problem one time was going into a few minutes DECO that I had to clear it at 10’ below the surface to keep my SUUNTO D4 from locking out that forced me to stay 10’ underwater for freaking 6 minutes to clear it. So, having 3cf of spare air would give me that extra 6 minutes (since my SAC is 0.5 cfm at safety stop).

Anyway it’s a moot point now that I get Teric, which is more reliable than D4. Teric clears my DECO sooner than D4.

Diving a SpareAir and using a Suunto dive computer, you really did have a death wish!

RGBM is really unsuited for technical diving. I wish the entire industry would switch to Buhlmann ZH-L16c with GF.

 

[Dan]

Not at depth. Remember the 3ATA multiplier on your SAC if you are at 66 ft.

Let’s use 6x multiplier, so I’ll consume the 3cf Spare Air in one minute to get me from 66 feet depth to 33 feet depth then CESA from 33 feet depth to the surface, which I have practice it before. Wouldn’t it be safer than CESA from 66 feet depth?

 

[Dan]

Diving a SpareAir and using a Suunto dive computer, you really did have a death wish!

RGBM is really unsuited for technical diving. I wish the entire industry would switch to Buhlmann ZH-L16c with GF.

That’s why I finally get Teric. Even with GF Medium Conservative 40/85 set on Teric, that D4 is still asking me to do safety stop 1-2 minutes longer than Teric’s

 

[Dan]

2, easy to fill from any SCUBA tank,

 

[Scottsfire]

I arrived SJD on 10/31. Before I even press the red/green button, the lady watching the machine asked me what do I have in my bags.

"Diving gear and clothes", I replied.

"Do you have any camera housing or zoom lens?" She asked.

"Only GoPro..." I replied, hoping she will wave at me and let me go.

She asked again and I admitted I do have an underwater housing. So she asked me to go in front of X-ray machine.

The guy watching the X-ray machine asked me the same question about underwater housing and zoom lens again, And asked me to show him what I have.

I opened my camera bag and show him my new Olympus PT-58 housing, TG-6 camera, GoPro, and Sony compact camera. He looked at the PT-58 housing in his hand with interest. He also took a look at my Olympus UFL-3 flash and SeaLife Sea Dragon light, but didn't seem to be too interested in both.

Finally, he decided to let me go without paying tax. That's a big relief!

BTW, he also asked me about how many laptops I have, I told him one and he is fine with it. He didn't ask me to show him the laptop.

I recently spent 3 weeks in Cabo and I got the same questions as I travel there several times a year and have a Pelican case with all my GoPro and dive computers.......then I got the new question as well "How many laptops do you have". I did some checking around with my DM local friends that work in a few of Cabos dive shops and they said the "laptop" questions are because people returning from Mexico city don't have to pay a tax on laptops if they dont live in Mexico City but they have to pay a state tax (Baja Sur) at home. So lots of people go to Mexico City, buy their lapstops and a few more, take all the tags off of them and packaging and say they have been traveling with them the whole trip. Then they sell the extra laptops in the Cabos. Apparently the tax on lapstops is anywhere between 15-25% tax. Of course I haven't verified this but they seemed to be pretty certain. So, I guess if someone is going to Mexico City they are asked to buy an extra laptop for people.

 

[LoveOceanicGears]

I recently spent 3 weeks in Cabo and I got the same questions as I travel there several times a year and have a Pelican case with all my GoPro and dive computers.......then I got the new question as well "How many laptops do you have". I did some checking around with my DM local friends that work in a few of Cabos dive shops and they said the "laptop" questions are because people returning from Mexico city don't have to pay a tax on laptops if they dont live in Mexico City but they have to pay a state tax (Baja Sur) at home. So lots of people go to Mexico City, buy their lapstops and a few more, take all the tags off of them and packaging and say they have been traveling with them the whole trip. Then they sell the extra laptops in the Cabos. Apparently the tax on lapstops is anywhere between 15-25% tax. Of course I haven't verified this but they seemed to be pretty certain. So, I guess if someone is going to Mexico City they are asked to buy an extra laptop for people.

Interesting info. I wonder how many people actually get taxed for their laptops.

On that trip, I actually had two laptops with me. At end of trip, I gave one to a young college student who works in a restaurant because of pandemic and college closing. He was so happy to receive the gift.

I am just glad I did not tell the custom I actually have two laptops with me.

 

[uwscuba]

Sorry to be raising an old topic, but this thread was super helpful and I haven't seen many posts about this issue since 2019/early 2020. I am wondering if anyone has traveled to Cabo recently or knows if this is still an issue? I just upgraded all my camera gear--including my housing--and it will be fairly new looking so if I do get pulled into an inspection, I doubt I can pull the "oh I bought this all used" trick that others seem to have employed to great success.

Edit to add: I flew into Cancun in August with my (very old and not expensive-looking) Ikelite housing for my Nikon D800. I got the red button, had to pull everything out of every single bag, and they inspected the housing but didn't seem particularly interested. I wasn't taxed, and no tax was mentioned. However, it does seem like the tax issue might be limited to Cabo, so I wanted to confirm before considering other strategies.