Do I want a Spare Air

[scubadada]

I'm not a fan of this statement. It is like trying to jump across a chasm in two jumps. Sometimes, a little bit is no help at all, and may even give false confidence.
A lot of people who use SpareAirs says they only need enough air to get to their buddy. Right. Even that is suspect; at 66 ft (3 ATM) a 3 cuft SpareAir might last one minute while you looking for and going to your buddy, but more likely if you are somewhat excited and breathing hard, it will last half a minute. At 99 ft (4 ATM) I wouldn't count on more than 20s.
If you actually run low on gas, don't spend any more time at depth...get shallow where a little gas will last longer!
Equipment failures are VERY rare. People failures are much more common.

OK, you realize that I have never been an advocate for Spare Air. However, somehow, you run out of gas at depth and have no buddy available. Personally, I would prefer a few breaths while I beat it to the big gas supply at the surface over no breaths at all. With the 3 cu ft model, you would have about a minute to ascend from 66 ft with a prodigious RMV of 1.5 cu ft/min, not too bad, sure beats dead

 

[BRT]

People always say "get a real pony". Problem is that in over 20 years of vacation diving in Mexico I have seen exactly one person with redundancy except for our Spare Airs. That guy was a cave diver on a tourist boat and side mounted both his 80's. It's kind of like being told that the .32 caliber handgun you are carrying isn't enough gun for self defense by a guy who left his .45 in the car.

 

[tursiops]

OK, you realize that I have never been an advocate for Spare Air. However, somehow, you run out of gas at depth and have no buddy available. Personally, I would prefer a few breaths while I beat it to the big gas supply at the surface over no breaths at all. With the 3 cu ft model, you would have about a minute to ascend from 66 ft with a prodigious RMV of 1.5 cu ft/min, not too bad, sure beats dead

My point is that enough air is fine, but not enough is, well, not enough. A little bit doesn't help; it is enough that helps. A few breaths doesn't necessarily help; it is enough breaths that helps.
If someone is going to buy a piece of safety gear, it should actually help them, and not just make them feel better, or be almost enough to be helpful.
SpareAirs are oversold to the naive. They are a bad solution to a very rare problem. IMHO, of course.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

There are other questions that need to be asked as well that are often overlooked:

Have you practiced with it? Regularly?
Have you tested how long it lasts at various depths?
Do you maintain it properly?

If you can't answer Yes to the above questions for your alternate air source than you're fooling yourself if you think it will help you in a true emergency. Having been involved in several OOA incidents (not me but my buddy), things get chaotic and can go to crap in a heartbeat. Proper equipment AND training/practice are absolutely essential. The former without the later won't help you.

 

[agilis]

People always say "get a real pony". Problem is that in over 20 years of vacation diving in Mexico I have seen exactly one person with redundancy except for our Spare Airs. That guy was a cave diver on a tourist boat and side mounted both his 80's. It's kind of like being told that the .32 caliber handgun you are carrying isn't enough gun for self defense by a guy who left his .45 in the car.

I agree. I've never dragged my 6cf pony on holiday in the Caribbean or elsewhere. I sometimes took it along on deeper local solo dives. It's a neat little package, but the trouble involved in air transport of cylinders and the improbability of refilling it after arriving at a remote island destination makes lugging the thing a non-starter. I agree about the .32 as well.

 

[Marie13]

I dive locally with an AL40 when I’m doing dives 60ft or deeper single tank. I’ve never seen a Spare Air on the Great Lakes. Lots of ponies 19cft and bigger.

 

[rhwestfall]

Bottle sizes:

a 13 cf is my suit bottle....

Emergency air supply (pony) is a 19 or 30.

Deco is a 40.

My use of a pony in single tank recreational (NDL) diving is to get a freeze-flow under control without stressing my or my buddy's stage. It will be large enough to comfortably surface. The 3 and 6 cf bottles do not meet my needs.

SpareAir is not for me. You like it, fine....

YMMV

 

[Scraps]

Speaking as someone who has made a few imprudent gear purchases, I'd like to offer some thoughts on dive accessory purchases:

The following are not good reasons to consider purchasing a specific piece of gear:
--It looks cool.
--It's shiny.
--The ad features fit and attractive models looking amazing while wearing or using it.
--A more advanced diver you know owns one.
--It's on sale, or the more advanced diver you know wants to sell it to you.

Instead, before buying any piece of gear beyond the basic kit of mask, fins, snorkel, bcd, regulator set with pressure and depth gauges, ask yourself a few questions:

--Is there a safety issue I need to address? If so, what's the best way to address it? I can pretty well guarantee that this line of questioning will not lead to the purchase of a Spare Air. (Unfortunately, it also won't lead you to the purchase of a Crocodile Dundee-sized titanium survival knife, which is a shame because I'd look awesome with one of those strapped to my leg.)

--Is there something I want to do underwater (within my training and experience limits) that I could do with better or additional gear? If so, what's the best way to accomplish this? This line of questioning also will not lead you to the purchase of a Spare Air, but it might point you toward a computer or compass or light or some other useful accessory.

Start with a problem you need to solve, not with a gadget that made your pupils dilate and whose purchase you want to justify.

This approach will save you money and keep you from being the guy with twenty pieces of gear clipped on for a shallow warm water rec dive.

Best wishes,

 

[Ovahimba]

I pretty much use a spare air all the time on dive vacations now. Its a compromise like most things in life. Carrying a pony bottle is a bigger compromise, in my opinion, lugging it around on a dive boat and in luggage. The spare air is easy to pack and can be mounted unobtrusively in a holster on the lower edge of a BCD.

I get the sense that many who responded here do cave diving, and are accustomed to lots of redundant gear. For me I'm a recreational diver with a big camera, and often get separated from buddies, where heading to the surface is often a better option than kicking to another diver.

The spare air is not common. In the last three trips I was the only diver carrying one. I did use it on my last trip when the tank slipped out of the strap and yanked all hoses back, ripping the regulator out of my mouth. I hovered with the spare air in my mouth knowing the DM was somewhere near, and on seeing him, flashed him with my video lights to come over and fix it.

I sucked it dry once sitting in the sand at 30 feet and got 30 breaths, easy breathing. Ideally if you can borrow one, you can test it out and decide for yourself, your compromise between weight and amount of air for, as others have said, that a rare event.

 

[Marie13]

I get the sense that many who responded here do cave diving, and are accustomed to lots of redundant gear. For me I'm a recreational diver with a big camera, and often get separated from buddies, where heading to the surface is often a better option than kicking to another diver.

Haha. That's funny! Just because someone takes a sense of responsibility for their own uw safety doesn't make them a cave diver. Where I dive, there are no DMs to lead a group about by the nose. You're responsible for yourself.