spare air? i use one and i get laughed at

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Super Divers will be dumbasses, no matter what you do or use, because if you don't do it their way, you're doing it wrong and therefore you "BAD DIVER". If you want to use your spare air, use it, it's not up to them.

As it seems, that cure for stupid still hasn't been found.

Just ignore them.

For crying out loud, my apologies for the Grammer errors. Is this really all you got?

Now, can we debate the post? You know, about Diving?
 
Oops, my bad, fixed... How will I ever go on now, the horror, knowing I made a simple errors. All is lost, all is lost.....
 
Super Divers will be dumbasses, no matter what you do or use, because if you don't do it their way, you're doing it wrong and therefore you "BAD DIVER". If you want to use your spare air, use it, it's not up to them.

As it seems, that cure for stupid still hasn't been found.

Just ignore them.

For crying out loud, my apologies for the Grammer errors. Is this really all you got?

Now, can we debate the post? You know, about Diving?

So why come here and ask for opinion? Why don't just go diving and not bother listening to what other much more experienced divers and instructors have to say?
 
Most Divers do just that, actually.

Being an "Instructor" or "Experienced" regardless of dives, doesn't make you an "Expert" on all types of diving.

Everyone seems to equat quanity of dives to quality. That being said, what do I know? I have less then 200 dives lifetime.
So that makes me an "inexperienced" diver, according to you, therefore my "opinion" doesn't matter anyway.

To the "OP" use what gear "YOU" feel safe in using, only you can do this. Get the proper training in its use and know the limitations of the gear and yourself.
 
Spare Air is a joke, and a placebo, to use for diving especially considering how much it costs vs. a real out of air independent air source, the pony bottle, regardless of the truth of this story.

I am truly agnostic about the utility of Spare Air but your comparison is a little off, you can't just compare the cost of a Spare Air to a pony bottle, you have to compare it to a pony bottle and spare regulator set up.
 
10 years without getting serviced...at some point, you're just lugging around an expensive paper weight.

Spare Air - Info - Questions & Answers



How do shops that refill these verify that they've been serviced?


Im not sure there is a required servicing such as a VIP to be done. I think spare air because of the min diameter size tank is exempt from vip and recertification. I would have to recheck that to be sure. Some where in the regs there is a statement like ,,,,,,,,,any container greater than 2.5 inches is subject to the routine inspections and testing covered in this regulation. And shops generally do not refill these tanks.

I do have to say that IMO spare air was never intended to be used. It is like a fire extinguisher where in a few years you hope to throw it away after never being used.
 
Im not sure there is a required servicing such as a VIP to be done. I think spare air because of the min diameter size tank is exempt from vip and recertification. I would have to recheck that to be sure. Some where in the regs there is a statement like ,,,,,,,,,any container greater than 2.5 inches is subject to the routine inspections and testing covered in this regulation. And shops generally do not refill these tanks.

I do have to say that IMO spare air was never intended to be used. It is like a fire extinguisher where in a few years you hope to throw it away after never being used.
I don't recall the exact dimensions for the hydro exemption, but Spare Air definitely does NOT qualify. (I checked closely into it a few months ago.)
So yes, they have the same legal requirement for hydros at 5 years, at which point the regulator should also be rebuilt. Annual VIP is expected also, but let's face it - since divers are filling it themselves, what are they chances that they will self enforce visuals or even hydros?

Edit: quick search found the exemption. Smallest Spare Air cylinder is 2.25" OD.
"Any cylinder not exceeding 2 inches outside diameter and less than 2 feet in length is excepted from volumetric expansion test."
 
They didn't price them that way. Anything with the acronym "S.C.U.B.A" attached to it or remotely implied, the cost goes up by 200 percent or more.

I do know Military pilots and Air Crews use them, or they used to anyways. I'm about 15 yrs out of date..
 

Back
Top Bottom