spare air advice

[OceanicRocks]

Honestly.. it is far better than nothing.. if it is all you have...

But a H2Odyssey is not a lot more.. and it is, at it's smallest 6 cfm...

can you attach it to your tank? or is it one with a short reg. (no hose) I'll take a look. I guess if I hae to go bigger that I would not want it mounted to my BC but rather to the tank. do you agree? and what is the very next size after 6 cu?

 

[OceanicRocks]

Come on man. You have over 3600 posts here. This can't' possibly be the first Spare Air thread you have seen. I've suffered through at least a dozen.

Spare Air
Stressed SAC-1cft/min
Available air-3cft
3ATA=1 minute of air

Pony bottle
available air-19 to 40cft (depending on size)
3ATA=6 to 13 minutes of air (probably longer as you will have a chance to calm back down)

Which one will give you the opportunity to evaluate your situation and react?

Thank you for allowing me to see that. its sobering!

 

[OceanicRocks]

I have rad some stuff about buddy breathing that there are high statistics that when this has been done that there are more double fatalities due to this. has anyone read this? Unfortunatly my wife does not dive so my buddies on vacation are all strangers. The ultimat question is that you never know what a stranger will do at depth with only say 800 PSI in his tank. you really are on your own.

 

[John_B]

is it safe to say that spare air is better than nothing. Or is it the same as nothing?

Worse than nothing if it lulls you into a false sense of security.

John

 

[John_B]

I have rad some stuff about buddy breathing that there are high statistics that when this has been done that there are more double fatalities due to this. has anyone read this? Unfortunatly my wife does not dive so my buddies on vacation are all strangers. The ultimat question is that you never know what a stranger will do at depth with only say 800 PSI in his tank. you really are on your own.

If you -- and your buddy -- have two second stages (a primary and backup, or a primary and octo) you shouldn't need to buddy breathe. (It wouldn't hurt to make sure they both work before splashing in.)

Even better would be to vigilantly monitor your remaining gas, and also your buddies remaining gas. Yes, it would be bad if a low pressure hose burst, but I think most low gas issues are just poor gas planning and management.

If you really want to read some sobering information, do a search for "Rock Bottom" here on SB.

John

 

[OceanicRocks]

Worse than nothing if it lulls you into a false sense of security.

John

you are right... I guess itlik anything else. you must know your equipment. The thing to do is practice with it, I think.

However, I honestly don't think that anyone in an out of air situation would be lulled int a false scenseof security... do you? I do think that the asend rate must be realized in a relaxed state and than guestimate your breathing rate in an emergency.

 

[John_B]

owever, I honestly don't think that anyone in an out of air situation would be lulled int a false scenseof security... do you? I do think that the asend rate must be realized in a relaxed state and than guestimate your breathing rate in an emergency.

No. With a Spare Air, etc. you may be lulled into a false sense of security that may get you INTO an out-of-gas situation! ("No problem, I have a backup. Uh oh...") Accidents tend to come from small problems that snowball into large problems.

I did the Rock Bottom search for you here. It really is worth reading. I should warn you though, what's in that link changed my whole outlook on diving.

John

 

[John_B]

Duplicate post.

 

[OceanicRocks]

thanks I skimmed it but now I want to read it carefully. thanks again.

 

[DepthCharge]

Because its better than a 3cuft Spare Air POS.

I know its a tough concept to grasp.

How true. Spare Air give about 1 min more to realize you're gonna die