Spare Air

[LavaSurfer]

Being that there is no way to search on the word "Air" and Spare comes up with thousands of hits I have to ask this question that has probably been asked a hundred times.

Is it worth the investment into a Spare Air 3CF tank for me and my wife?
Is there really enough to get you from 100 FSW?
My thought is this, it might be enough to get me to my buddy and prevent a panic situation.

 

[Vie]

Being that there is no way to search on the word "Air" and Spare comes up with thousands of hits I have to ask this question that has probably been asked a hundred times.

Try typing “Spare Air*” into the “Search” box.

 

[ianr33]

Is it worth the investment into a Spare Air 3CF tank for me and my wife?

No

Is there really enough to get you from 100 FSW?

No

My thought is this, it might be enough to get me to my buddy and prevent a panic situation.

Maybe. Maybe Not. Feel Lucky?

 

[cdennyb]

here's alittle excel spreadsheet you can play with. Input the size andpressure and depth, then you decide if you want to depend on "spare Air" at 100'

 

[LavaSurfer]

here's alittle excel spreadsheet you can play with. Input the size andpressure and depth, then you decide if you want to depend on "spare Air" at 100'

Thanks for the spreadsheet. I did do some calcs on my own and did not like the results. The Ads say 50 breaths at Sea Level but those must be gerbel breaths.

Seems like the consensus is a big no. I have yet find any real possitive comments about them.

 

[scubatoys]

This has been debated many times out here... And the obvious answer is 40 cubic feet is better than 30, and 30 is better than 19, and 19 is better than 13 etc...

But I have done an ascent from 100+ feet with a 3 cubic foot spare air.

In the spread sheet, you are showing a SAC rate of 1.74. I'm not sure where that number came from... If that is your SAC rate, you could not do a 66 ft dive for more than about 15 minutes... If that is indeed your Sac rate... perhaps you need to work on your breathing technique a bit... mine is nearly 1/3 of that...

The other thing I have found is traveling with a 30 cubic foot pony is, today, a royal pain... My spare air fits in my bag easily, I fill it down there, no fuss... no muss... and when ending my trip, I use it up on my last safety stop... 3 minutes, and have air left over. But your mileage may vary.

 

[markfm]

I looked at Spare Air, it was just way too small for me. I went with a 19CF pony -- that's equivalent to 750 psi in an AL80, enough to get me up comfortably, with safety stop. As a purely recreational, open water, non-obstruction, diver, it buys some redundancy and I carry it 100% of the time.
A pony does travel fine, at least a 19 -- just unscrew the first stage, put a baggie over the bottle, send it through checked luggage. All my gear fit in an Aeris bag, for a one week vacation -- just carried regs, mask, computer, camera in a carry-on daypack. When you bleed the pony for travel, before removing the first stage, do it fairly slowly, so you don't get condensation (ice forming, water in the tank).
This is a real "hot button" topic, really harsh negative responses often. Where's my popcorn...

 

[LavaSurfer]

The real reason I ask is two fold.

1- Function
2- Portability

If I lived in Hawaii full time, which I am currently working on, I would just dive with an extra 30 or maybe some dual configuration and start doing deco dives but as it stands, I have to travel with any solution and I already exceed the 50 LB luggage limit as it is and that's carrying on my regs and computers.

Thanks scubatoys for your input. You guys have yet to steer me wrong and I realize the 3CF is nothing more than a bailout plan but is it a cost effective one? I can buy an extra reg and a 19 CF tank for cheaper than the cost of a 3CF Spare Air so I need to consider that option plus I could fill the 19 CF with EAN 36 or 40 and use it on safety stops as an added precaution.

I knew this probably had been debated before but I was unable to find it otherwise I never would have asked because it just smelled controversial :05:

 

[Narcd_dvr]

Being that there is no way to search on the word "Air" and Spare comes up with thousands of hits I have to ask this question that has probably been asked a hundred times.

Is it worth the investment into a Spare Air 3CF tank for me and my wife?
Is there really enough to get you from 100 FSW?
My thought is this, it might be enough to get me to my buddy and prevent a panic situation.

Get a 19CF tank, this will surely get you to the surface and will give you time to do your safety stop as well. Traveling with a 19CF is not a big deal, doesnt take up that much luggage space.

Enrique

 

[Charlie99]

Get a 19CF tank, this will surely get you to the surface and will give you time to do your safety stop as well. Traveling with a 19CF is not a big deal, doesnt take up that much luggage space.

And doubles will even more surely get you to the surface. Why are you satisfied with merely 19cf. I can imagine many, many situations where a 19cf pony is inadequate.

Perhaps we should start calling those puny 19cf tanks "death tanks".