"Spare Air" - Experience in its use

[DevonDiver]

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

Two points....

1. The test is conducted by a calm, evenly-breathing diver, with a minimal SAC rate. If it were a real emergency, you can expect your breathing to accelerate by a (conservative) factor of 4. This would mean less than 25 seconds of air. i.e. not enough to reach the surface...

2. Given the size and cost of a SpareAir - then you could get a much more capable alternative (pony and regulator). SpareAir may be smaller than a pony cylinder, but you don't have the mounting/attachment options. A proper Pony and Reg is more reliable. Pony and Reg can be bought cheap second hand.

 

[halocline]

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.

It's bizarre to me that someone could get that impression from reading this thread, but I guess we all read differently.

Really and truly, you need to figure out what problem you are trying to solve with the spare air, not just some vague fear of somehow running out of air. Doing this will in itself make you a safer diver. Almost all OOA situations are due to diver carelessness, and learning how to specifically avoid creating the potential for an OOA emergency is a much safer option than carrying a bailout bottle and pretending the problem is solved, when you don't even know exactly what the problem is.

Situations that reasonably call for a redundant independent air source or more than one tank are, by their nature, situations that call for a bigger bottle than 3 cft.

 

[MSilvia]

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).

I'm not arguing that you shouldn't be grateful for 90 seconds of air to assist with a CESA, but why limit yourself to 90 seconds worth when you could get 5 or 10 minutes worth for less cost? Would you PREFER to have to rush and skip your safety stop, or know that you have time to ascend safely?

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).

You don't have to be an expert to understand that, given the choice of several redundant air systems that cost about the same, the safer, more versatile, and higher capacity one makes more sense unless you have a compelling reason to choose otherwise.

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!

Just for the sake of argument, assume you were diving in a moderate current, and were low on air because of the extra work of swimming against it. If the mooring line to the boat were 100' ahead of you when the time came to switch to your backup, would you rather do a CESA as the current carried you further and further from the boat, in the hope that you would be spotted at the surface and tracked until all the other divers were aboard and they could come get you, or would you prefer to have enough gas to get you back to the line and still do a safety stop before coming up right at the boat? How would you feel about that if there were 2 or 3 foot waves at the surface? Sometimes, a CESA is a terrible option, and it seems foolish to me to limit yourself to that single bailout plan.

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.

By all means, get redundant gas supplies, but please at least consider getting AL19s with a regulators instead of Spare Air.

 

[Ze_Abron]

I agree with everything you wrote 100%. Your scenario makes sense too.

However a spare air is easier to transport abroad by plane than a pony, and it wont play havoc with your trim, it is also less work to take with you to Monterey. ponies are heavier and more effort, there is somethign to say for a a solution, however limited, that simply clips to your BCD. Better the solution that you actually use.

If I start diving beyond 60feet, I think I may well opt for a pony. Either way I think there is no danger of me getting complacent I understand that the spareair is very limited and I regard it as a cesa assist device.

 

[TheScubaBOB]

However a spare air is easier to transport abroad by plane than a pony, and it wont play havoc with your trim, it is also less work to take with you to Monterey. ponies are heavier and more effort, there is somethign to say for a a solution, however limited, that simply clips to your BCD. Better the solution that you actually use.

If I start diving beyond 60feet, I think I may well opt for a pony. Either way I think there is no danger of me getting complacent I understand that the spareair is very limited and I regard it as a cesa assist device.

Can I ask, just what perceived problem are you trying to address/solve with Spare-Air?

Shallow diving with a competent buddy shouldn't require any sort of redundant air source. You have your buddy's back gas.

Save your money & spend it diving, not buying a useless piece of gear.

As for the "It's heavy and havoc on your trim" comments I'd say try it before you say such things. My AL30 Pony is in the neighborhood of 13.5lbs full Buoyancy is from -.5 to 2.5. To offset the Pony on my right side I put an additional 1lb of lead in my left dump pouch. My trim is spot on.

Basically, if you can't justify a Pony Bottle then you can't justify a Spare Air either.

BTW, I like your contradiction, "there is no danger of me getting complacent". Isn't "getting complacent" thinking that there is no danger?

 

[MSilvia]

However a spare air is easier to transport abroad by plane than a pony, and it wont play havoc with your trim, it is also less work to take with you to Monterey.

As for the "It's heavy and havoc on your trim" comments I'd say try it before you say such things.

In my experience, aluminium ponies are next to un-noticabel underwater. Steel ponies might very well screw your trim up, but I sometimes use multipl AL40 bottles on the same side without it impacting my trim noticably, so I highly doubt you'd have trim issues.

As you said, it's best to have a solution you'll use, but be careful not to shelve a good idea because of imagined shortcomings.

 

[fisheater]

I can't tell if my AL19 is on my rig while underwater. I've made no adjustments to my weighting, either in total or side to side distribution.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[TheScubaBOB]

I can't tell if my AL19 is on my rig while underwater. I've made no adjustments to my weighting, either in total or side to side distribution.
Posted via Mobile Device

Yeah, it's not about the "dry weight" but really the buoyancy. My AL30 is slightly larger than your AL19.

I have it side-mounted on my LP Steel 120 and find that 1 additional pound is just enough to keep me trim.

 

[SCUBA482]

The best use I found for a Spare Air was to strap it on my Pony as a joke.

Now that's funny!

 

[SCUBA482]

Just can't imagine ending a dive where I needed to use one thinking "Whew - thank god I didn't have more than 6cf of air!"



You can buy a 13cf (or even a 19cf or 30cf) and a pony reg for about what a 3cf Spare Air costs.

Yup just bought a new 19cf pony for $114 and a new 1st & 2nd stage for $149...probably can even get a better deal if really hunted for one