Uncle Pug:
Redundancy isn't a bad thing. Responsible diving sets limits beyond which redundancy is required. For some of us having the redundancy of a buddy starts at the waters edge and the redundancy of a set of doubles starts at a certain depth, ect.
But tell me Karl... you've heard the *my pony came to my rescue* stories... hasn't it bothered you that most of the time the conclusion folks come to is that they are sure glad they have a pony rather than addressing the issues that caused them to *need* the pony in the first place.
Who says they didn't address the issue(s)? My friend certainly understands what he did wrong - having your life flash before your eyes has a way of doing that. He has openly admitted that what he did was stupid.
Nonetheless, how many "stupids" do you get before you cack yourself? If the answer is "zero", then leave ALL your redundancy at home. You don't need any of it. No octo, indeed, not even an SPG (you DO know your breathing rate, right?)
Now at some point the amount of additional equipment you need to carry in order to get an additional layer of redundancy gets overwhelming. For example, a set of doubles CAN fail catastrophically (e.g. both crossbar connections failing, or both tank neck O-rings.) So do we bring a stage to counteract that? No, generally (unless we need the gas!) because the additional weight/drag/hassle outweighs the risk. I
could have a triple light failure, but I could also get tangled in the sixteen lights to cover the "N"th light failure too.
As for the "your buddy has the extra gas", that's a nice sentiment. We've been over it in another thread; I believe that there are both risks and benefits to buddy diving, and that expecting mechanical levels of reliability from
people is foolhardy. As such, I equip myself with my own redundancy - for shallow (under 60fsw) dives its typically the surface, between that and 100' in open water with a single tank its a pony, and below that, or for an overhead (virtual or real, or if I just feel like it) its a set of doubles.
I don't mind buddy diving with people who are competent and safe divers, but I will dive solo rather than not dive at all, because I simply don't find the presence of a buddy to be a
significant safety factor.
This would not be true if I did not carry my own redundancy though.