Tiny air tank

[UnderwaterPoet]

Hello everybody.

Let me just start off by saying that I'm totally new to the whole diving thing, so you can safely assume I have next to no knowledge regarding diving equipment.

There is an item I am looking for, but I don't know what it is called. This makes googling it pretty difficult (as well as searching this forum), so I hope someone here can tell me what I want to know.

Normally, scuba divers have large air tanks on their backs and breathe through an attached hose. The air tank I'm looking for is much smaller, and comes with an attached mouth piece which you keep in your mouth. I saw this item in a Baywatch episode some 10-15 years ago and again on a Mythbusters episode just last week.

I imagine this is a pretty common piece of equipment. Does anyone know what they are called? How much do they cost? How long do they last? Can they be refilled like normal tanks?

Thanks for reading!

 

[The Chairman]

Spare Air is the name of the device. Please get certified before you try to use it.

 

[Cavs42]

Google "Spare Air"

I dont think I've ener seen anyone say anything positive about this system on Scubaboard.

Welcome, by the way!

 

[UnderwaterPoet]

Woah, that was quick!

Thanks for the answer and the safety warning. Rest assured that my plan is to be certified before I do anything under water. Luckily I'm so smart I'm scared of danger! :cool2:

Thanks again!

Edit:
And thanks for the welcome.

 

[DevonDiver]

I heard they were nicknamed 'Jap Killers' after they went on sale in Japan, through regular leisure shops without any warnings that they required scuba training. People were buying them for fooling around in pools and on the beach. There was a spate of lung-expansion injuries.

 

[H2Andy]

a poem in honor of Underwater Poet

a spare air i bought
and the fever i caught
to try the device in the sea

right away i did see
that the sport was for me
when cool air in my lungs i did feel

oh behold the green eel
and the banana peel
some boater cast down to the deep!

these memories i'll keep
when i reboard my ship
with the aid of my awesome spare air!

but wait! oh, despair!
i can't breathe! say a prayer!
all is dark! all is gloom! will i wake in my room?

or drink of the sea my fair share?

 

[dannobee]

...and I thought he was going to say he saw one in a James Bond movie.

 

[UnderwaterPoet]

I googled and read the information on the spare air tanks and they were nothing like I thought they were. I thought the spare air was a device that enabled you to breathe about 15-20 minutes under water, and could make you swim around easily. But that was not the case. :depressed:

Furthermore I intend to take my diving license in January, and have no plans of diving before I am licensed, because I know that it can be dangerous if it isn't done correctly. So rest assured: I won't do anything stupid and dangerous with the spare air.

PS Thanks for the poem! I think maybe you are more deserving of my nickname than I am.

 

[Graeme Tolton]

Do a search of spareair on Scubaboard. Redundancy is great, but anything less than 13cf or so will give a false sense of security. I carry a 30cf on any dives of any considerable depth. (Spare air is max 3cf). However, it is one of the only things on the market that allow you to run out of air twice.

 

[charlesg3]

You should probably look in to "pony bottles" if you're looking for some redundancy in your setup.