spare air advice

[scarefaceDM]

EDIT - Dam u guys are quick!

Spare air...

do not waste your money.

work on your SAC rate and try and dive with a good buddy during your vacations...I know that may be hard..but trust me on that. Your buddy is your best air source in the event of an OOA

Now to answer your question..Spare air is not a sufficient bail out. If you search the forum you will find this topic has been hatched several times. I do not have time to go into the calculations..but there will surley be someone to put that into perspective.

Spare air equals a minimal amout of bailout gas. You would be best served to look into a bigger bailout set up. A nice set up is a 30 cub slinged as a stage with an independant reg. This means a little more cash to put out but the 30 poney will get you out of MANY situations if needed. On a recreational level of course. The 30 is the most used as a poney. anything smaller is insufficient, in my opinion.

Slinging the poney as opposed to having attached to you main tank is a PAIN in the ****. the sling kit is a very simple set up and can be used easily and the PONEY can be passed off to someone in need when using a sling. SOme will argue that..but hey..I been there done that and speak from experience.

I would look into a poney set up rather than the spare air...for the 200-300$ you may spend on a Spare Air, you could get a used 30 cub and a second reg.

cheers

 

[JeffG]

You made a statement with no facts OR link....gee!

So? Is it wrong? Not like you would be able to tell anyways.

 

[OceanicRocks]

man I'm glad I did not mention te 1.7 CU FT.

 

[texdiveguy]

Mostly size... 3 cubic ft is not much air. Depends on your diving, but I would suggest one at least 6 cubic ft for warm water, shallow diving.

If you look at your normal fairly new diver, their SAC rate is usually around .8 (depending on size, condition.... etc, etc.). So, at 60 ft, a full 3 cubic ft tank would last (assuming one is somewhat relaxed).....just over one minute. Assuming you are surfacing, you have just enough time to do a an accent..with a lot of "ifs".

With 6, you now have time to do a 30 ft per minute accent and have a bit left over, but still no safety stop.

20 would be more reasonable, but if you are travelling, that gets to be a pain.

Now here is a well explained response--thanks.

 

[JeffG]

Now here is a well explained response--thanks.

See...who says you can't learn on the internet.

 

[texdiveguy]

See...who says you can't learn on the internet.

...........

 

[Puffer Fish]

Now here is a well explained response--thanks.

Jeff does not play well with others, oh, and if not watched constantly, will eat the glue....we try our best to keep him away from others.. but he gets out sometimes.

 

[Puffer Fish]

man I'm glad I did not mention te 1.7 CU FT.

I carried a 1.2 for years, only used it once... tends to make you rush getting to the surface... oh, and count breaths.. and try to do the math in your head, based on depth... but it does distract you from the emergency.

 

[OceanicRocks]

woa! this board is awsome. thak you all for all of your help so far... I have seen the calculations and debate... however, we are talking about an emergency situation... is 3.0 cu not enough to surface at 60 ft/sec? from say 90 ft depth? Please advise...has anyone also been in out of air situation? scary stuff... Ithough about pony bottles but I can get the spar air for $193 and its compact enough to take along on a week vacation. Is it just afalse scence of security? some here have said 30 cu. isn't this just overkill? I know we are talking about air but 30 cu. ft.? I'm just looking to get to the surface ok without a safety stop. So, obviously I'm not figuring on a situation where too much time has elapst. I thinking of a regulator issue or sudden loss of air and want to get to the surface. Please set me straight. if I'm way off tell me.

 

[JeffG]

Jeff does not play well with others, oh, and if not watched constantly, will eat the glue....we try our best to keep him away from others.. but he gets out sometimes.

It just depends on whether I am wearing my tinfoil cap or not.