I recently bit the bullet and purchased a Spare Air 6cfm bottle by submersable systems inc. and was wondering if anyone had any problems with theirs or what their opinions on them are. I have done over 15,000 shallow freshwater dives in the Tennessee River as a commercial diver and would never use it there, but it seems like every time I go to Florida or in the ocean for that matter and dive with "UNFAMILIAR DIVE BUDDIES" on dive charters, they wander off while I am looking at something or taking a picture even though I stress the importance of staying together during predive planning. I have had several dreams where I have been at depth (80+ feet) and had an out of air emergency and my dive buddy is nowhere to be found. I am very, VERY comfortable in the water but have a great deal of respect for its abilities to harm me. Am I over reacting or just being a responsible diver?
Opinions on the Spare Air by SSI
- Thread starter matt_8777
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Bob DBF
Contributor
If I had dreams like that, I would start rethinking my choice of hobby and sure wouldn't go to 80'.
I have a SpareAir collecting dust because the conditions I dived in required me to tear it down and clean out sand and crud to insure it would work properly on the next dive, it was a PITA and I quit taking it. On a boat dive I'm sure it would be OK, although it is not much air. After I started using a pressure gauge, I have never unintentionally run out of air so I didn't need it to start with, but I must have had too much cash at the time.
Bob
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I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.
I have a SpareAir collecting dust because the conditions I dived in required me to tear it down and clean out sand and crud to insure it would work properly on the next dive, it was a PITA and I quit taking it. On a boat dive I'm sure it would be OK, although it is not much air. After I started using a pressure gauge, I have never unintentionally run out of air so I didn't need it to start with, but I must have had too much cash at the time.
Bob
------------------------------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.
I should have made it more clear. When my daughter was born I had this dream a couple times. It didn't rattle me any, but I thought what the heck, it cant hurt to have it. I watch my gauges and haven't had any out of air situations due not paying attention to them. I have had a hose seperate twice and had a threaded connection break off before where I lost all air in seconds. I stayed calm and went to surface, but was in shallow water where decompression wasnt and issue. But at 80+ feet, I dont want to be popping to the surface in 5 seconds either.
DevonDiver
N/A
Either member of a buddy team is capable of ensuring that buddy contact and effective distancing is retained. Perhaps the solution to a badly skilled insta-buddy is to put away your camera and stay closer to that buddy proactively?
IMHO, addressing the issue of bad buddy skills through the solution of equipping with a CESA bottle simply ignores the under-lying problem.
How to Dive with Insta-Buddies - Scuba Tech Philippines
I call Spare Air a 'CESA' bottle, because the low capacity of these cylinders doesn't provide anything more than an aid to emergency ascent. I'm not a big fan... preferring a more adequately sized form of gas redundancy, that ends an emergency, rather than protracting it.
IMHO, addressing the issue of bad buddy skills through the solution of equipping with a CESA bottle simply ignores the under-lying problem.
How to Dive with Insta-Buddies - Scuba Tech Philippines
I call Spare Air a 'CESA' bottle, because the low capacity of these cylinders doesn't provide anything more than an aid to emergency ascent. I'm not a big fan... preferring a more adequately sized form of gas redundancy, that ends an emergency, rather than protracting it.
charlesml3
Contributor
This really looks like a troll post to me. You have Fifteen THOUSAND dives? Surely someone with that level of experience would know exactly what they would need, when and where.
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At least it's a 6 CF and not a 3, or their sick joke of the Nitrox model.
I carry a 19 CF pony for deeper dives, and it strikes me as odd that I see so very few others on boats. I wouldn't suggest feeling secure with a 6 CF, but it might help in a dire emergency.
I carry a 19 CF pony for deeper dives, and it strikes me as odd that I see so very few others on boats. I wouldn't suggest feeling secure with a 6 CF, but it might help in a dire emergency.
JamesK
Contributor
OK, I will bite. What the heck, right?
Spare Airs may work great in the movies, but in reality you are not going to get a nice slow ascent from depth with one.
Like Don, I carry a "pony" on dives. Mine just happens to be an AL80.
Spare Airs may work great in the movies, but in reality you are not going to get a nice slow ascent from depth with one.
Like Don, I carry a "pony" on dives. Mine just happens to be an AL80.
bbarnett51
Contributor
Spare Air I'd not a bad idea IMO. Its better than nothing and easy to carry. Its something that would allow you to ascend of something went wrong. However, its obviously not going to help much if you are entangled etc...
The dang things are expensive for what they are.
The dang things are expensive for what they are.
I do have 15,000+ dives at an average of about 8-10 feet deep. Freshwater commercial diver. 6-8 dives per day x 160+ days a year x 18 years. You do the calculations. All these dives were done on surface supplied air. I only have about 30 ocean dives. I tried it out in thirty feet of water today and I got over 5 minutes with it. I know it will be a third of this time at 90 feet or so. It really is just for an opportunity to get to my dive buddy in an emergency. Don't want to do an emergency ascent on it but would if i had to. Trust me, I'm no troll.... I find a large pony bottle to be bulky and cumbersome. I'm not interested in diving caves or deep inside wrecks. I'll go into the wheelhouse or look into the cargo hold from time to time but I never get too far inside. Just a preference of mine. Thanks for the input though.
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