ZombieZombie
Registered
OK. I got through the first 12 pages of this onslaught and I get it... Spare Air is a terrible system if you are having problems far inside a cave, on your own, at 130fsw. 
I also get it that my dive buddy and I should practice perfect communication and be connected by a short mental umbilical chord that ensures we are ALWAYS within one breath of each other.
Meanwhile in my imperfect world, my dive buddy- my wife- likes to look at fish and coral heads when we do our 2-3 dive vacations per year (usually about 20 dives a year). While she is photographing that giant green turtle or that Goliath grouper, she is not always facing me and might not notice for as much as 10 seconds if I was in trouble. Sometimes on night dives we both have to look around to find each other. If losing track of the exact position of my buddy coincides with some rare mechanical failure- say fatigue on a poorly maintained rented tank in some third world tropical paradise causing rapid loss of pressure- then those few breaths will be quite welcome.
I know this makes us really bad people and terrible divers- and that these failings NEVER! happen to any of the excellent people who contribute to this thread, but for us occasionally flawed mortals, a Spare Air that even provides 2-3 breaths at 100fsw can allow us to make contact with our dive buddy and get his/her octo without too much drama. I sleep and dive more easily knowing that I have some limited contingency.
Some say that I will never need this and that there is no combination of circumstances where I can lose air so quickly that I cannot get to my buddy. This might be true, but I haven't had the opportunity to participate in a detailed failure mode analysis with design experts on every component to really understand this for myself. I watch Air Disasters on TV and it seems that most crashes today come from strange and unanticipated combinations of circumstances. Hubris is usually a factor in most disasters.
My choice is to trust some guys on the internet- some of whom sound as if they really do know what they are talking about- but I cannot know for sure, or I can invest a few hundred bucks in a Spare Air and feel better that despite my cautious approach to checking my SPG that I have a plan B to get to my buddy in the event of a catastrophic equipment problem.
Most of this debate has focused on the false premise that people will need or want to reach the surface on a Spare Air or a Pony. To me it seems that the obvious benefit is simply to reach another diver with functioning equipment- ideally your buddy. I also get it- a contingency option is not an excuse to expand your operating envelope. I have not read anyone saying that it should.
Contingency planning is about having options in a pinch. You maintain equipment such that it should never happen. You need to understand and practice your emergency drills- but other than the very dedicated people on the messageboard- I rarely see anyone outside an OQ/AOW class practice CESA, air sharing, or any of the other techniques that apparently make redundant air redundant.
The ferocity with which people decry ANY use of Spare Air on here is potentially persuading less perfectly disciplined divers, who might be hooked up with a new buddy on a boat- to not bring a contingency option with them. To be so adamant about what is good for everyone in every situation seems a tad presumptuous.
I also get it that my dive buddy and I should practice perfect communication and be connected by a short mental umbilical chord that ensures we are ALWAYS within one breath of each other.
Meanwhile in my imperfect world, my dive buddy- my wife- likes to look at fish and coral heads when we do our 2-3 dive vacations per year (usually about 20 dives a year). While she is photographing that giant green turtle or that Goliath grouper, she is not always facing me and might not notice for as much as 10 seconds if I was in trouble. Sometimes on night dives we both have to look around to find each other. If losing track of the exact position of my buddy coincides with some rare mechanical failure- say fatigue on a poorly maintained rented tank in some third world tropical paradise causing rapid loss of pressure- then those few breaths will be quite welcome.
I know this makes us really bad people and terrible divers- and that these failings NEVER! happen to any of the excellent people who contribute to this thread, but for us occasionally flawed mortals, a Spare Air that even provides 2-3 breaths at 100fsw can allow us to make contact with our dive buddy and get his/her octo without too much drama. I sleep and dive more easily knowing that I have some limited contingency.
Some say that I will never need this and that there is no combination of circumstances where I can lose air so quickly that I cannot get to my buddy. This might be true, but I haven't had the opportunity to participate in a detailed failure mode analysis with design experts on every component to really understand this for myself. I watch Air Disasters on TV and it seems that most crashes today come from strange and unanticipated combinations of circumstances. Hubris is usually a factor in most disasters.
My choice is to trust some guys on the internet- some of whom sound as if they really do know what they are talking about- but I cannot know for sure, or I can invest a few hundred bucks in a Spare Air and feel better that despite my cautious approach to checking my SPG that I have a plan B to get to my buddy in the event of a catastrophic equipment problem.
Most of this debate has focused on the false premise that people will need or want to reach the surface on a Spare Air or a Pony. To me it seems that the obvious benefit is simply to reach another diver with functioning equipment- ideally your buddy. I also get it- a contingency option is not an excuse to expand your operating envelope. I have not read anyone saying that it should.
Contingency planning is about having options in a pinch. You maintain equipment such that it should never happen. You need to understand and practice your emergency drills- but other than the very dedicated people on the messageboard- I rarely see anyone outside an OQ/AOW class practice CESA, air sharing, or any of the other techniques that apparently make redundant air redundant.
The ferocity with which people decry ANY use of Spare Air on here is potentially persuading less perfectly disciplined divers, who might be hooked up with a new buddy on a boat- to not bring a contingency option with them. To be so adamant about what is good for everyone in every situation seems a tad presumptuous.
