H2O Odyssey Spare Air

[grilla]

I'd like to know if anyone has any actual experiences, good or bad, about a mini-bail out bottle with stages and reg like the spare air. Almost everyone has an opinion, but again I'd really like to hear from someone with first-hand experience.

Not trying to be a jerk, but once, on another dive forum, I asked if anyone had experience with Force Fins. One of the replies I got was from a "gentleman" who just went ballistic on me. I went round and round with this guy over several posts and ultimately got him to admit he had never used them, never dove with anyone who had used them, and would never try them because "they look funny". He swore he would only use "brand X" fins because thats what all his heros wore.

I'm looking for something a little more concrete than that. My main goal is a little safety margin for some unforeseen catastrophic failure, especially while solo diving. I don't want to do doubles and not really interested in slinging or mounting a pony. It just seems like the 6 or 13 cu ft bail out bottle would be plenty of air in an emergency by me or a dive buddy.

Thanks again

Don

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

I'd like to know if anyone has any actual experiences, good or bad, about a mini-bail out bottle with stages and reg like the spare air. Almost everyone has an opinion, but again I'd really like to hear from someone with first-hand experience.

Not trying to be a jerk, but once, on another dive forum, I asked if anyone had experience with Force Fins. One of the replies I got was from a "gentleman" who just went ballistic on me. I went round and round with this guy over several posts and ultimately got him to admit he had never used them, never dove with anyone who had used them, and would never try them because "they look funny". He swore he would only use "brand X" fins because thats what all his heros wore.

I'm looking for something a little more concrete than that. My main goal is a little safety margin for some unforeseen catastrophic failure, especially while solo diving. I don't want to do doubles and not really interested in slinging or mounting a pony. It just seems like the 6 or 13 cu ft bail out bottle would be plenty of air in an emergency by me or a dive buddy.

Thanks again

Don

Fasten your seatbelt.

Spare Air, Force Fins, Pony (Bailout) bottles, and Solo Diving are all hot topics here as well. If you do a search on any of those topics you'll get more reading material than you would ever hope for.

In summary, the actual Spare Air is a 3 cu ft tank that will not get you to the surface from more than about 50 ft. and forget about a safety stop. The 6- or 13 cu ft bottle you mentioned by H2O Odyssey is more like a pony bottle, another hot topic that you could search for. Most people here don't like ponies, and those that do recommend at least a 19.

Assuming, of course, that you are serious, and not a troll just trying to get a lively discussion going... If you are a troll, you hit all the right buttons in a single post.

 

[JustinW]

So you are only looking for responses from people that have either died, nearly died or are irresponsible with gas management enough to ever need to use the one they had, supposing they had one?

Just want to be clear.


Disclaimer: I don't use a BP/W, don't have a 7 foot long octo, use split fins part of the time and I will likely not ever take a GUE class, but yes, I still think the spare air by H20 is over-hyped by their own marketing.

I am curious as to why you think you would need one, please give a hypothetical situation in which you are both being responsible and will need this gadget. You may enlighten me.

 

[Damselfish]

I'd like to know if anyone has any actual experiences, good or bad, about a mini-bail out bottle with stages and reg like the spare air. Almost everyone has an opinion, but again I'd really like to hear from someone with first-hand experience.

Not trying to be a jerk, but once, on another dive forum, I asked if anyone had experience with Force Fins. One of the replies I got was from a "gentleman" who just went ballistic on me. I went round and round with this guy over several posts and ultimately got him to admit he had never used them, never dove with anyone who had used them, and would never try them because "they look funny". He swore he would only use "brand X" fins because thats what all his heros wore.

I'm looking for something a little more concrete than that. My main goal is a little safety margin for some unforeseen catastrophic failure, especially while solo diving. I don't want to do doubles and not really interested in slinging or mounting a pony. It just seems like the 6 or 13 cu ft bail out bottle would be plenty of air in an emergency by me or a dive buddy.

Thanks again

Don

Pony/spare air size is actually something direct experience is not so much needed on to comment - it's simply a math problem.

 

[wedivebc]

I'd like to know if anyone has any actual experiences, good or bad, about a mini-bail out bottle with stages and reg like the spare air. Almost everyone has an opinion, but again I'd really like to hear from someone with first-hand experience.

Not trying to be a jerk, but once, on another dive forum, I asked if anyone had experience with Force Fins. One of the replies I got was from a "gentleman" who just went ballistic on me. I went round and round with this guy over several posts and ultimately got him to admit he had never used them, never dove with anyone who had used them, and would never try them because "they look funny". He swore he would only use "brand X" fins because thats what all his heros wore.

I'm looking for something a little more concrete than that. My main goal is a little safety margin for some unforeseen catastrophic failure, especially while solo diving. I don't want to do doubles and not really interested in slinging or mounting a pony. It just seems like the 6 or 13 cu ft bail out bottle would be plenty of air in an emergency by me or a dive buddy.

Thanks again

Don

I never say this but "do a search". This is the grand daddy of all dead horse flogging topics.
BTW I tried force fins for about 6 dives and I still hated them.

 

[grilla]

These responses were too much! It took me nearly an hour to get a grip after I read them. As you all took the time to answer me, I'll take the time to answer you individually.

To 3dent: Thank you for your response, I appreciate it. No, I'm not trolling - but you may find that even harder to believe after this. I have done searches about the fins and about the spare air/bail-out bottles. Yes, there is a lot of message traffic about these subjects. But it's mostly unvalidated opinions and almost no first-hand experience, which is why I phrased my original post the way I did. I have been looking at the 6 cu ft model and will probably opt for the 13 cu ft one (its only a few dollars more). Seriously, thanks

To Justin 699: I guess you missed the part where I asked input from people with actual experiences. Unless you personally know a lot of divers who have died or nearly using an alternate air source. If that's the case, I'd say you are a jinx. I'm not interested in formulating hypotheticals - you don't have any first hand knowledge and that's what I asked for. Hypothetically, that's all I need to know. Have a nice day.

To Damselfish: Thank you. Good input. What I was really looking for was something specific about the equipment in addition to the tank size. Something like "I had one and it failed, it was hard to manage, it ws prone to free-flows, it leaked, yada yada yada" or "I've used one and found it handy when my hose blew off the first stage" or "I handed it off to a diving buddy when he had an uncontrollable free-flow and it worked great"

To wedivebc. Thanks for the recommendation - but like I said above I've plowed through dozens of inputs but found almost none by people with actual first-hand experience. Speaking of first-hand knowledge, thanks for the input on the force fins. My first impression is that I don't like them much either. I've only used them 4-5 times. I think its the "sloppy" feeling due to the design of the foot. They've never fallen off but they do seem to move around a lot. And they definately require a different style kick.

Thanks again

 

[aquaoren]

Well, if it took you almost an hour to get a grip because you didn't hear what you wanted to hear, than maybe you should seek counseling? :11:
These were good answers and you would have noticed it, if you only would have spent the hour it took you to calm down and write your response with thinking about these answers.
Again, I don't know you or your experience level but it can not be that high if you show up and ask about the suitability of the spare air as a bail out for Solo Diving.
If you want to consider doing Solo Diving, than may I suggest taking the appropriate course where the concept of same quality redunadancy will be explained. Every dive has it's requirements and if you're not willing to accept and comply with those requirements, than maybe this kind of diving isn't for you?
Oh, and do yourself a favour and lose that attitude. It will lead to a long and lonely life and will result in everybody considering you a jerk and paying no attention to you. Pretty much what happened here.

 

[wedivebc]

These responses were too much! It took me nearly an hour to get a grip after I read them. As you all took the time to answer me, I'll take the time to answer you individually.

To 3dent: Thank you for your response, I appreciate it. No, I'm not trolling - but you may find that even harder to believe after this. I have done searches about the fins and about the spare air/bail-out bottles. Yes, there is a lot of message traffic about these subjects. But it's mostly unvalidated opinions and almost no first-hand experience, which is why I phrased my original post the way I did. I have been looking at the 6 cu ft model and will probably opt for the 13 cu ft one (its only a few dollars more). Seriously, thanks

To Justin 699: I guess you missed the part where I asked input from people with actual experiences. Unless you personally know a lot of divers who have died or nearly using an alternate air source. If that's the case, I'd say you are a jinx. I'm not interested in formulating hypotheticals - you don't have any first hand knowledge and that's what I asked for. Hypothetically, that's all I need to know. Have a nice day.

To Damselfish: Thank you. Good input. What I was really looking for was something specific about the equipment in addition to the tank size. Something like "I had one and it failed, it was hard to manage, it ws prone to free-flows, it leaked, yada yada yada" or "I've used one and found it handy when my hose blew off the first stage" or "I handed it off to a diving buddy when he had an uncontrollable free-flow and it worked great"

To wedivebc. Thanks for the recommendation - but like I said above I've plowed through dozens of inputs but found almost none by people with actual first-hand experience. Speaking of first-hand knowledge, thanks for the input on the force fins. My first impression is that I don't like them much either. I've only used them 4-5 times. I think its the "sloppy" feeling due to the design of the foot. They've never fallen off but they do seem to move around a lot. And they definately require a different style kick.

Thanks again

Fortunately diving is such a safe sport that very few of us have had to have first hand experiences with OOA scenarios. I have been involved in a couple of close calls but your original question was about spare air. You don't need first hand experience, just a little basic math knowledge to know they are a waste of time. From 100ft if I was perfectly controlled and my breathing rate remained consistant with my usual dive consumption, I would need 9cuft to do a safe ascent and a safety stop. So I would run through a spare air (3cuft) pretty fast. I would explain the math but I say again, use the search it's been done to death.

 

[JustinW]

my question to grilla would again be that we need more input, why do you need one, what would you use it for? When would it ever come in handy? The answers to all of these questions are generally reflective of irresponsible gas management or other irresponsible mistake that divers were warned about the first day of their OW class.

And even if I had used one, I would never tell anyone. (really, i haven't)

 

[grilla]

Thanks Dave
I appreciate the input. Today I ordered a 13 cu ft pony which I'll carry in a pony bag clipped in front, with the first stage/second stage/reg unit from the odyssey. The set up allows me to add a hose to the reg and bungee the looped hose to the tank. That way I can leave it clipped in place and use the reg if there's ever a need. Or it can be unclipped and handed off if that need arises. Thanks again

Don