How to safely ascend with Spare Air

[The Kraken]

In regard to the Spare-Air . . .
It has no regulator, correct?
All it does is contain air that can be inhaled? Does it have an exhaust port?

Regardless from where the air comes, you must allow it to be expirated as you ascend to the surface. With a regulator you are constantly breathing in and out, therefore keeping the air that is in your lungs from expanding to the point of rupture.

I've never used a Spare-Air, but if one can inhale from it only, then at some point during your ascent, you must let the expanding air escape from your lungs or suffer the consequences!

 

[cornfed]

The inexperience diver (like me), would be the one most likely to forget about proper emergency ascend procedure, or never taught how to do it in OW training (like me).

So, to prevent the stupid inexperienced divers (like me) from blowing his lung, even in a shallow dive, spare air might encourage him to keep on breathing, right??

Stop throwing equipment at the problem.

You're trying to justify a piece of equipement based on gross incompetence. This isn't playing devil's advocate it's using a strawman argument.

 

[OneBrightGator]

The Spare Air has a combo 1st and 2nd stage screwed onto the top.

Fisher, please, go take an OW course from any agency through any LDS and pick your instructor's brain, asking "What should I do if I end up in China, naked, with a penguin on my shoulder and Ghengis Khan asks me in latin how to integrate sin(x)*e^cos(y)?" on messageboards ain't gonna help you.

 

[The Kraken]

To me it sounds as if a Spare-Air is a last ditch effort to keep from dying when all other plans and resources have been exhausted (pardon the pun).

I can see how perhaps these devices can impart a false sense of security to the diver employing the device.

If you have one, leave it in your car in case you run off a bridge or take it along if you're riding with a Kennedy.

 

[fisherdvm]

Onebrightgator suggested taking my questions to any LDS agency and give them to the instructor. I was hoping that there are instructors browsing through here that would read my arguments. I never trust the words of one diving instructor, thus I am presenting my arguments here.

Yes, incompetence is admitted here. Yes better dive planning is required. No, you can't throw equipment at the problem. But can't you see - you can't stop incompetent stupid divers like me from diving. Just like you can't stop stupid drivers from getting driving license or kids from getting pregnant or STD's...

The point I am stressing is that not enough dive shops check your dive logs before you fill your tank, not enough dive boats care when your last dive is, and not enough instructors taught their students to practice emergency ascend in real OW environment. (remember that I took both basic OW and advance OW through PADI in 93).

If throwing equipment at an incompetent diver can save his life - why not let the stupid guy blow $200 to $300 on a spare air. If he saves his life, then he is not too stupid, is he??

My argument here is that the injury most likely suffered by incompetent diver is a bad ascent and blowing his lung from air emboli, and not from DCS. So why carry a 20-40 cf pony tank, when the incompetent diver can carry a 3 cf spare air.....

Now, if you are talking about solo diving, or repeated deep dives where true concern of DCS is realized, then the pony tank won ..... There is no place for spare air.

But we are talking about a weekend diver who probably never get close to his no decompression dive limit, who is only at risk for an out of air situation at shallower depth, whats wrong with the stupid spare air.

Perhaps you have been so ingrained in the spare air - pony tank battle that it is starting to sound more like a Bush-Kerry debate....

You can't make people wear seat belts, use a , etc... How do you expect to make this dumb troll buy your arguments.

 

[Snowbear]

You're asking the same things over and over and getting pretty much the same answers. So... are you just arguing for the sake of arguing or what?

If throwing equipment at an incompetent diver can save his life - why not let the stupid guy blow $200 to $300 on a spare air. If he saves his life, then he is not too stupid, is he??

If the incompetant diver realizes his incompetancy and spends the $300 on quality training instead of a useless piece of gear, his intelligence will not be so much in question, don't you think?

 

[lamont]

I don't know if this guy is actually a troll...

he reminds me of all the concerns that I had right after I got out of my OW class. i was pretty fixated on the fact that if anything went wrong I had that CESA in my back pocket which 'probably' wouldn't get me bent. that was my little warm safety blanket.

i really think that what he needs to do is take an AOW course and a Rescue course at a minimum. he also needs to practice valve drills, out of air shares, get comfortable with a reg out of his mouth, be able to breathe off of a free-flowing reg, get good with gas management and develop buddy skills.

once you get to that point you'll see that there are very few situations that you will encounter where you'll suddenly without warning suck your tank dry...

 

[fisherdvm]

This incompetent diver realized that he is incompetent, that is why he is going to seek quality diving training again.

But I am arguing for the thousands of other incompetent divers who do not realize that they are incompetent, and who truly believe in the advertisement about spare air. Why tell them to throw it away?? The next time you'll talk to them, they might be comatosed.



This discussion made me think about what I have read about Snuba, and using Spare Air for "recreational" snorkling/diving. This is scary stuff.

Can you imagine someone using Snuba, and the motor conks out. Without scuba instruction, these people can injure their lung too. As for using the spare air for "recreational" snorkling, that is scary too. As Gator had said, he can free dive to 20 ft. And pearl divers go to 100+ ft. These divers are safe from air embolism as their lung just collapses as they go deeper. Now if a snorkler went down to 50 feet with his spare air, and he has not had scuba training...... What a disaster that would be. As his lung is now filled with pressurized air, he would blow his lung if he did not exhale as he goes up....

I think scuba training should be required for Snuba, and spare air should never be used for recreational snorkler....

 

[fisherdvm]

In the same way, as MD, RN, social workers, vets and other professionals are required to take continuing education.... Why not require it for divers...

You proved your points again and again, I need a refresher course. No, no, no.... a complete open water course...... again....

I am sure that after completing it, I will still argue the place for spare air..... Because we will never require CME for divers. Because we will never check dive log before refilling tanks. ....

That's why the Army require annual training for their chemical mask..... That's why BCLS and ACLS expires annually an semiannually.....

If I did 1000 dives, and never have OOA situation, wouldn't I forget my basic dive skills too??

 

[boomx5]

How do you expect to make this dumb troll buy your arguments.

You are not seeing the big picture here and you're not going to get it on a message board. You are trying to learn (or relearn) a sport that takes you into an alien environment, and demands proper skill and execution if you want to make it home safe to the wife and kids. Reading about it over the internet is not the way to learn those skills. Please (for your sake) get some quality instruction and when you've gotten the answers that you seek continue this debate, but until then you may be waisting your time.

Regards,