"Spare Air" - Experience in its use

[AbyssalPlains]

Deleted.I misunderstood the post I was about to respond to.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

I'm not saying I would own a Spare Air but it has a specific purpose. That purpose is DIFFERENT that a pony.

This statement has cropped up in various shapes on this board, and I would like to point out that it plays into the hand of spare air marketers and new divers who lack the experience and/or the ability to calculate depth-dependent air consumption rates, but it simply isn't true. The purpose and the way a spare is advertised and being used by the divers I have seen who have one, is EXACTLY the same like a pony. Therefore it is perfectly legimitate to compare the two in theory and practice. We need to call a spade a spade here.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

Wow. Here we are, 14 pages of comments later, and still no experience about actually using a Spare Air in an emergency. I guess they all drowned or somethin'...

 

[Lone Frogman]

Wow. Here we are, 14 pages of comments later, and still no experience about actually using a Spare Air in an emergency. I guess they all drowned or somethin'...

 

[4sak3n]

This statement has cropped up in various shapes on this board, and I would like to point out that it plays into the hand of spare air marketers and new divers who lack the experience and/or the ability to calculate depth-dependent air consumption rates, but it simply isn't true. The purpose and the way a spare is advertised and being used by the divers I have seen who have one, is EXACTLY the same like a pony. Therefore it is perfectly legimitate to compare the two in theory and practice. We need to call a spade a spade here.

I think what Splash-X meant was that the SpareAir was originally designed to be used as a bailout bottle for airmen in helicopters when their aircraft enacted an unplanned and catastrophic landing into the sea.

If you go by the theory that a device's "purpose" is to do what it was designed for then, yes, the SpareAir is not being used for the correct purpose. It is being used for what it is marketed for, but not it's purpose.

But then again that is just an argument over meaning or semantics. All I know is that I wouldn't touch a SpareAir with a 7' hose ... er, pole.

 

[TGreene]

I'm still interested in finding a woman that can blow up a bicycle tire..............!

 

[DevonDiver]

In terms of marketing...here is what Spare Air state....

SPARE AIR is the smallest redundant SCUBA system available with enough air to get you to the surface in an out-of-air emergency.

Complete hogwash. Enough Air? How do they know that? To get to the surface? From what depth?

The patented SPARE AIR should be a standard piece of SCUBA diving equipment for the safety minded diver.

I think they use this to play on diver's fears. It irritates me considerably.

How much air will Spare Air give me? Spare Air's initial concept by Larry Williamson, after the night he nearly drowned, was to give divers one more breath.

That's fair. 'One more breath' is a concept that you could not discredit them for marketing. Of course, this does not put it in a performance/capability bracket with a real pony....

Basically, it makes Spare Air a 'CESA Assist Bottle'.

That idea evolved into giving divers enough air in a compact system to safely get them to the surface from 100 feet with several extra breaths

Yep...that is still a 'CESA Assist Bottle'. 2-3 sneaky breaths on the 2 minute CESA from 100ft.

Over time, a larger model was made, and Spare Air now has 57 breaths at the surface, or 3.0 cubic feet of air (approximately two - five minutes). In most diving situations, rising to the surface from recreational depths takes only a few breaths and no more than a few minutes.

This still sounds like a 'CESA Assist Bottle' to me.

A "few breaths" over a "few minutes" certainly does not sound like a normal breathing cycle!

I also think there is a distinct 'small print' issue with this.... as they seem to be marketing in the (cynical?) assumption that most divers would not understand the implications of the words "surface breaths"... and would not think to calculate how those "57 surface breaths" would translate as higher pressure (greater depth) increased the consumption used by each breath.

In many cases, customers reported that because they had Spare Air with them they felt more prepared, remained calmer than they thought they would be in an emergency and therefore made a much more controlled ascent.

Speculative advertising?

I am sure that a Spare Air would make an unknowledgable diver feel more prepared.

I would wonder the psychological impact on an OOA diver when, on ascent, their redundant air ran dry on them.....

 

[Ze_Abron]

So, this guy reviewed and tested the SpareAir: Spare Air Scuba Diving Safety Tank - Gadget Review With Video - Popular Mechanics

The SpairAir gave the reviewer two and a half mins of air at 35feet and about 90 seconds at 60feet.

Now I am not an experienced diver at all, but if I had an OOA situation at 60feet - and for some reason my buddy was out of reach - I would be grateful for the 90 seconds of air to assist the CESA. (I remember how hard it was at only 30feet during OW training on a single breath).

Agree that it should not be seen as a panacea or a confidence boosting tool, or an excuse not to take your buddy skills seriously - but rather as a '**** hits the fan and I just need a few breaths to reach the surface' tool for recreational divers.

I also understand that if you have great skills, great awareness and hundreds or thousands of dives logged, you may think differently, and are probably right in that case. But not all of us have the time logged underwater that it takes to develop those skills (no one is an expert straight after certification). Most of my dives are in Monterey in 30-50 foot region.

Personally, I would prefer 90seconds of air at 60feet, and since I only dive recreationally and have no interest in doing any more - I would not need a safety stop in an emergency - so straight to the surface for me!

Having said that, I don't own a SpairAir, but this thread is making me think I should get one for both myself and my wife.

 

[OldNSalty]

Having said that, I don't own a SpairAir, but this thread is making me think I should get one for both myself and my wife.

Were you not listening
Seriously, I think a pony is a great idea and if you dive typically to 35 feet max then a large spare air might be OK but a small pony would be better.

 

[Ze_Abron]

Ok, maybe a H2Odyssey...