Spare Air: some thoughts

[DCBC]

As to my own actual preferences: If I need a redundant gas supply I prefer doubles...

Agreed, my point was that many new divers don't use doubles or Pony bottles. These are also not usually available when traveling.

The Spare Air offers a convenient solution. If I was a new diver, found myself in an emergency situation and had to do a free ascent / CESA and was offered the choice between having a Spare Air or nothing, we both know what the smart choice would be.

 

[idocsteve]

I just sold my Spare Air on Ebay.

Got almost as much as a new one would cost, and it's over 5 years old.

So what that it almost killed me once, it's a useful tool for those so inclined.

My 19cf has already saved my ass once.

Both times were of course diver error.

It happens.

 

[dhuskins]

I just sold my Spare Air on Ebay.

Got almost as much as a new one would cost, and it's over 5 years old.

So what that it almost killed me once, it's a useful tool for those so inclined.

My 19cf has already saved my ass once.

Both times were of course diver error.

It happens.

Might I impose a bit to suggest better gas management? :doh2:

Or perhaps, since you survived both, it was the 19cf that almost killed you once and the Spare Air has already saved your ass once?

 

[idocsteve]

Might I impose a bit to suggest better gas management? :doh2:

Or perhaps, since you survived both, it was the 19cf that almost killed you once and the Spare Air has already saved your ass once?

No the Spare Air almost killed me once and the 19 cf saved me once, like I said in my first post, and neither time was due to poor gas management; both times were screw-ups on my part.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

No the Spare Air almost killed me once and the 19 cf saved me once, like I said in my first post, and neither time was due to poor gas management; both times were screw-ups on my part.

Honest Question: If you had not been diving with redundant air - would you have made the same screw-up?

 

[idocsteve]

Honest Question: If you had not been diving with redundant air - would you have made the same screw-up?

In the situation with the Spare Air I was not diving with redundant air.

The pony bottle incident would have happened even if I hadn't been carrying the redundant air source.

The pony bottle incident happened 2 weeks ago, when I was on a cruise to Grand Cayman. After doing 2 uneventful morning boat dives, myself and one of the others who were on the cruise with me to celebrate Dad's 80th birthday, did an afternoon shore dive off of Sunset House. We were warned about the current but as always I was reckless and I wasn't going to let some current stop me from doing a dive I had been anticipating for months.

We dove in, swam out until I was at about 1300 lbs and I turned the dive..on the way back we hit some outgoing current that I was either totally unaware of or it changed at right about that time. I found us making little to no headway back to shore, I was down to about 500 lbs and I signaled low air to my buddy and surfaced. She had more gas, and she took off and descended at an angle back towards our entry point while I headed straight in towards shore.

I drained my tank on the surface and used my 19cf pony which got me in to shore, but then I had to swim parallel to the rocks because the usual entries were too high too reach..the pony allowed me to swim forward on the surface rather than on my back, and made the task manageable. The gas lasted until I was back at the entry ladder.

A snorkel would have really helped although there was LOTS of surface chop and waves close to the shore.

We found out later that there were current warnings in effect and there was no diving for days, and the cruise line canceled all water sports excursions on that day. We never should have been in the water.

 

[Thalassamania]

Agreed, my point was that many new divers don't use doubles or Pony bottles. These are also not usually available when traveling.

The Spare Air offers a convenient solution. If I was a new diver, found myself in an emergency situation and had to do a free ascent / CESA and was offered the choice between having a Spare Air or nothing, we both know what the smart choice would be.

First there is the issue of what a new diver should be capable of, but isn't.

Then there are the two cases that I remember in which Spare Airs were involved. I will grant you that I was not looking into cases in which Spare Airs were used successfully, since those only get reported in Spare Air's advertisements. In one case a diver who had gone OOA only managed to pull his Spare Air from it's holster and dropped it, rushing to the surface and suffering an AGE. He could have simply approached his buddy, who was close by and witnessed the failure; the other was a diver (who was not injured in the end) who had a second stage regulator failure and ignored his auxiliary, his buddy and his Spare Air whilst bolting to the surface. Equipment solutions that failed to solve training problems.

 

[DCBC]

First there is the issue of what a new diver should be capable of, but isn't.

Yes. You cannot blame the equipment for it's improper application by the user.

 

[Thalassamania]

I'm just saying that the inadequate training of the user is the only "excuse" for the existence of the equipment.

 

[idocsteve]

I'm just saying that the inadequate training of the user is the only "excuse" for the existence of the equipment.

Yes of course YOU would say that.

I would say that redundant equipment exists not only because of inadequate training, but because even trained divers sometimes screw up due to human nature and because primary gear sometimes fails. Sometimes mother nature throws us a curveball and sometimes we run into unforseen circumstances such as an entanglement or another diver that needs our assistance.