Pony bottle vs. Spare Air?

[shoredivr]

DwayneJ, why the longer hose on the SPG? A 6 inch hose will eliminate some of the hose clutter.

(Just keeping the thread going.)

 

[DwayneJ]

Good point. I did consider a small button SPG directly into the HP port. Its easy to change over to a small hose and you have me thinking I will probably shorten the hose.

 

[DandyDon]

Good point. I did consider a small button SPG directly into the HP port. Its easy to change over to a small hose and you have me thinking I will probably shorten the hose.

I tried the small spg on the first stage - difficult to see and read, easy to break - and when it did I went with the hose and regular spg.

Mine is on a longer hose too, but I kinda like the idea of it being easy to pull up to my face in a poor viz, lost mask, etc. situation. Besides, it's paid for already and not in my way.

 

[offthewall1]

What good is an SPG you can't see? The hose ought to be long enough to get it in front of your face.

I had a friend who dove a pony with a button spg on it... until the day he went to use the pony and it had no air in it. Apparently the second stage had a slow free-flow (leak) during the dive and the pony was empty. He was unaware because he never checked the impossible to check button SPG way back behind his head. He then decided to dive with his pony turned off - knowing that he would need to turn it on in a true emergency - but he couldn't reach it, so he reconfigured so he could reach it and leaves it turned off. I suppose if you're going to dive with it turned off, you can use a button SPG to check pressure before you go diving... but if you want to dive with the pony armed and ready... you ought to have an SPG hose that allows you to read it...

 

[String]

Ive seen reports of a button gauge being prone to jamming or exploding more than a normal SPG so i'd be a little wary of them.

I use a button gauge on my 3l tank but then again its side mount so i can read it without issue.

A back mounted tank thats turned on during the dive but with no way to read an SPG is just asking for trouble. When you NEED the thing you cant guarantee its actually got gas.

 

[peterbj7]

Button SPGs are intended for use when the bottle is side or front slung and the gauge can therefore be read. If it's back mounted you need both a gauge that you CAN read and a valve you can access to turn the tank on when you need it. I should have thought that was obvious.

I have found that button SPGs aren't particularly accurate nor long lasting, but I've never heard of one exploding (given normal care).

Any tank you carry but don't use initially should be pressurised (to prevent water getting into the first stage) then turned off. Again, isn't this blindingly obvious?

The level of ignorance - lack of common sense - that I see both in these threads and in real life at my dive center is really quite frightening.

 

[undRH2OdivR]

Aren't those spare air things what you use to blow the pretzel crumbs out of your keyboard?????

This is Good I like this answer
Oh and by the way I use a 30 cf with a 2nd, 1st & 2nd stage because I like having the extra / back-up air and reg. Also if I have a back-up while on vacation I don't have to miss a dive if something where to happen to my main system. we all know about the rental units that are at the resorts!!!

 

[DandyDon]

we all know about the rental units that are at the resorts!!!

Yeah: "You want me to breath thru that...?" :11:

I wouldn't mind using one of Peter's regs, but I trust Peter. Not many in the Caribe who I'd trust that well. I know, vacationers use rental regs all the time - just not interested...

 

[ahava]

What good is an SPG you can't see? The hose ought to be long enough to get it in front of your face.

...

AGREED
If the dive goes bad or you need to deco. its sure nice to know how much air you have.

 

[wired up]

Hey all, I have a large tank for diving, but am looking for a small, "quick to use" tank for emergencies when I am offshore fishing (ex. lines getting tangled in props) and was looking at either the spare air or the H2O odyssey extra air system that somebody posted a picture earlier on this thread. Is there one over the other that you all would recommend for that purpose?