AbyssalPlains
Contributor
Having just bought a pony myself, I would not want a Spare Air (besides the low volume, which would only work for very shallow depth bailout), for two main reasons: I don't trust the encapsulated system. What you want is redundancy. That goes not only for the air itself, but also for the equipment setup. I want a regular, good old, reliable setup with a valve that I can operate just like my primary tank, a first and second stage that I can use without touching (leaving alone holding) the bottle, and a pressure gauge so I can do a relaxed ascent. With no SPG, I my bets are you would go for the surface as fast as possible because the uncertainty whether any breath could be the last doesn't exactly help if you're freaked out anyway. Lastly, I have been told that Spare Airs are not that reliable. Even though I have no experience or data to confirm or dispel that, the whole encapsulated setup would leave me in constant doubt. Spare Airs are toys, IMHO. (Yeah, roast me...)