Spare Air: some thoughts

[Reg Braithwaite]

I was on a group trip with a local dive shop a few years back. One of the people that worked in the shop carried two Spare Airs on her tropical dives.

Stand by for twenty-eight more pages of people arguing that dual SpareAir is not an adequate remedy for skills deficiencies such a failing to monitor the available gas in your first SpareAir, with detractors heatedly retorting that sh*t happens, and you don't want to drown thinking, "If I only had one more breath after the first one more breath..."

Needless to say, the Usual Suspects will argue that now you can run out of air three times on one dive, while another faction break into a melée debating the arguments of independent double SpareAirs vs. manifolded doubles.

And naturally the pony contingent will chime in with explanations of why only pantywaists dive double SpareAirs, the Real Men dive double 19 cubic feet ponies...

Help me please, vote me off the island!

 

[BrotherBear]

NVM. This thread has reached rock bottom and begun to dig. I'm plonking it.

Help me please, vote me off the island!

You already quit this once, why not again? Never understood the people that read and post to threads they hate just to say they hate them???

Anyway, I'm having fun and learning TONs fact checking the arguments...So far the only valid argument against SA is that stupid people will think it makes them bullet proof and stop paying attention to gas management. Not much of an argument, really.

 

[idocsteve]

You already quit this once, why not again? Never understood the people that read and post to threads they hate just to say they hate them???

Or those that say "This thread is going nowhere and should be closed"

To them and others like them I say

 

[bsee65]

If they don't close this thread, maybe it will stay at the top and there won't be a need to start YASAT! (Yet Another Spare Air Thread)

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

You already quit this once, why not again? Never understood the people that read and post to threads they hate just to say they hate them???

Anyway, I'm having fun and learning TONs fact checking the arguments...So far the only valid argument against SA is that stupid people will think it makes them bullet proof and stop paying attention to gas management. Not much of an argument, really.

I changed my mind. If you are not amused or provoked into thought by my posts, you can choose to ignore me, this will save you a lot of time and grief. I am not going to tell anyone not to use a SpareAir, but it is pretty obvious to me that your summary of arguments against SpareAir is a strawman. People have made other arguments, you simply don't go along with them and declare them to be invalid by fiat.

If you want to buy one, go ahead with my blessing. But I am not convinced that you've reviewed the arguments dispassionately and reasoned your way into choosing SpareAir. It was obvious to you that it was a good idea before reading the arguments for and against, and it is still obvious to you that it's a good idea, therefore arguments suggesting otherwise are clearly nonsense.

 

[DCBC]

The following applies to the beginner and the professional diver. Training may mitigate a situation, but it doesn't always out trump it.

Show me a diver who thinks that they can control everything that will happen to them underwater and I will show you an accident waiting to happen.

I wont ask you to show me a person who needs a breath of air and doesn't want one, because that isn't going to happen. If that time comes and that breath isn't available, all the posing in the world will be insufficient.

Some have the foresight to prepare for such an eventuality, others do not. It's a personal choice.

 

[idocsteve]

I changed my mind.

If you post that you are quitting a thread and then you come back and post on it again you could get in big trouble.

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

If you post that you are quitting a thread and then you come back and post on it again you could get in big trouble.

There is a whiff of the undead zombie around this subject. Could I have been bitten by trolls and thus returned from the grave?

Now, can we please have a serious explanation for carrying two SpareAirs? Is it to handle the case where a diver and her buddy both go OOG?

p.s. Also, in that long missive about ponies, there was mention of using a pony with a twinset (British for doubles) is this redundant redundancy? What is the case for this practice?

 

[DCBC]

So far the only valid argument against SA is that stupid people will think it makes them bullet proof and stop paying attention to gas management.

I'm sure that there are those who may dive their cylinders to low pressure because they are depending upon the SA. This can be said about those who use pony bottles or doubles. It is however not the equipments fault, but the user's if it's not used as intended.

If we turn this around for a moment, the possession of a redundant air supply doesn't necessarily mean that the diver has poor gas management. The diver just needs to understand that said redundant source is for emergencies only; a spare tire if you will. Because I have one in my trunk doesn't mean I drive around looking for nails and glass. That would be a ridiculous assumption.

It's a given that a diver requires proper training in the use of any piece of diving equipment if they are to maximize the benefit they can receive from it. Just saying.

 

[idocsteve]

Now, can we please have a serious explanation for carrying two SpareAirs? Is it to handle the case where a diver and her buddy both go OOG?

I don't know, it wasn't me who carried two Spare Airs, I'm simply telling you what another diver did who happened to be on the trip with us.

If I had to give a serious explanation I'd say that if a diver isn't going to carry a pony bottle due to the extra costs involved in maintenance and initial purchase, and/or the work involved in carrying it, and/or the complexity of the equipment and/or any other reason, then regarding a Spare Air, 20-30 breaths are better than none, and 40-60 breaths are better than 20-30.

I'm sure that there are those who may dive their cylinders to low pressure because they are depending upon the SA.

How can you be sure about that?

When I carried a Spare Air I didn't change the way I dived, not one bit. Although I was aware I had it and was a bit more at ease knowing I had the redundancy, I never used it to extend a dive or push the limits any more than I already do.