redundant air at less than 30'?

[Dashrynn]

wow...i read page 1...2..and hey skipped to 7 and still the same thing...some post's are childish and uncalled for...oh and hey i dive with a pony...an al40 slung on my left and barely notice it. I like my peace of mind, call it my pacifier but i don't give a rats bunghole. When im taking pictures i like to have a clear mind at 15...30...55 fsw i know the sites i dive and i have a ritual i go through before every dive. I know where everything is and what my limit is before i enter the water.

Would i carry air at 30 fsw...yes that's still deep enough to run into trouble with 10 ft of viz. My plan never stays the same but that's fine, i plan for the worst.

 

[drbill]

The vast majority of my diving has been solo dating back to 1961. I didn't start carrying redundant air until 2000 (wish I had although I never needed it back then).

One day I was too lazy to reattach my pony bottle for my second dive as I only planned to do a shallow dive to 40 ft. Near that depth I ran into a subject I wanted to film and it took me down to nearly 80 ft when my dip tube clogged and my tank valve suddenly stopped providing any air at all. My CESA was safe, but I've never failed to attach my pony on a solo dive since then.

If you are really disciplined, and not easily distracted (like we UW imagers can be), it might be fine not to carry a redundant air source if you stick to that depth limit. It you are like me, and change your dive "plan" with every new photo op, then you might not be.

 

[DaleC]

If you are really disciplined, and not easily distracted (like we UW imagers can be), it might be fine not to carry a redundant air source if you stick to that depth limit. It you are like me, and change your dive "plan" with every new photo op, then you might not be.

This is a pretty good point DrB. Since I got a camera my diving finesse has gone to sh_t (if I ever had any). Well.. maybe not that far but I am amazed at how shooting video/still can completely distract one from the basics. Sometimes I just want to leave the camera topside so I can dive "right" but then I think... what if that six gill shows up?

 

[Thalassamania]

I've got to tell you (re: six gill shows up): Twice in the last month my son and I have had a pair of Humpbacks come right up to us, I mean less than 4 feet away.

I'm so glad that we did not have any photo gear with us, we were able to fully participate in the experience instead of clogging our brains with f/stops and shutter speeds and composition of the photo (composing would be like watching a great whale video on an IPod).

 

[captain]

I used to do a good deal of photography both topside and underwater. I got tired of seeing only part of the world through a viewfinder while everyone else was seeing the whole world.

 

[vladimir]

I've got to tell you (re: six gill shows up): Twice in the last month my son and I have had a pair of Humpbacks come right up to us, I mean less than 4 feet away.

I'm so glad that we did not have any photo gear with us, we were able to fully participate in the experience instead of clogging our brains with f/stops and shutter speeds and composition of the photo (composing would be like watching a great whale video on an IPod).

A hammerhead made a very close pass to inspect me on a solo dive in PNG, back in the NikonosV days. The first thing that went through my mind was, "What f-stop, what f-stop?" I didn't really start to enjoy the moment until I realized that I had an extension tube on, so pictures were out of the question.

 

[DaleC]

Isn't it funny. I bought the camera because I wanted to share with my wife and kids the things I saw underwater but when shooting, as some of you have said, I am often distracted from the experience by trying to capture it.

 

[idocsteve]

wow...i read page 1...2..and hey skipped to 7 and still the same thing...some post's are childish and uncalled for... i don't give a rats bunghole.

Some might say that expressions such as "I don't give a rats bunghole" are childish and uncalled for too.

aranoid:

 

[Dashrynn]

Some might say that expressions such as "I don't give a rats bunghole" are childish and uncalled for too.

aranoid:

never claimed to be grown up, just know how to recognize it :mooner:

 

[Thalassamania]

Come on guys, take the fight outside, please.