Ways you can use a spare air tank other than as scuba redundancy

[brandon429]

yea man I'd call it diving, a little bent sideways, as the only difference is that I have to resurface every 16 mins or so. I have just as much fun as you do man unda! All the same skills are required to micro dive as they are in your luxury world of reefdiving which I have enjoyed buy can't get back to... remember I'm not selling you on why you should do this, I'm selling you on why I keep doing it. don't get all scubarestrictive on me steve and if you pass a brutha up on the way down toss up an octo for a sec or two
B

 

[brandon429]

and remember pools is what has to tide us over in between outings, originally I wrote that I wasn't interested in getting back into full diving but this is changing, another neat aspect of using spare airs as primary air sources. when it gets boring we'll stop and only go for the outings. This thread is actually becoming a discussion around ways I'm using multiple spare airs strapped to my extremities as primary air sources, and yes I know what can be spliced and diced in that quote I just laid out but again it's the truth and there's no other way to say it. If it wasn't fun and didn't have appeals separate of full scale diving we wouldn't be doing it.

When we were at the east end of the Caymans in the isolated barrier reef in the 90's, that would have been the perfect spot on the planet to jump in with extremities bound to micro air tanks, wish I could go back on the small scale so I just mentally superimpose that imagery into the glimmering waters of the public pool. The point is you could reasonably use this in tidal lagoons, I'm sure, safely, if the constant refills and short duration aren't exclusive to ya.

It's more of a lifestyle man.

 

[muddiver]

So the new question is: can one get a PADI Confined Water SCUBA Certification using a SpareAir?

Also, if one can dive to or past 15', does it count as a loggable dive?

 

[muddiver]

This thread is actually becoming a discussion around ways I'm using multiple spare airs strapped to my extremities as primary air sources, and yes I know what can be spliced and diced in that quote I just laid out but again it's the truth and there's no other way to say it. If it wasn't fun and didn't have appeals separate of full scale diving we wouldn't be doing it.

Would it not be more practicle to un-screw the SpareAir regulator off the little cylinder and screw it on to a little-bit large cylinder, like a 6 cubic foot or 13 cubic foot? I have not inspected a SpareAir, but it seems to just be a single stage regulator that might have standard SCUBA threads.

 

[brandon429]

and for that I thank you a third time! I never thought of that but wondered about it. if it is as simple as screwing the reg onto a 6 cf $80 aluminum pony I'd do that. Maybe the factory, or a licensed dealer, would just sell me some spare air regs and let me build my own chimeras...I figured there'd be some type of proprietary threading or something, glad that's open. Now that I have softened em all up to powersnorkeling, they wil certainly not mind a doubling of mass, thanks for the heads up and yes 6.0 cubes would be far better
B

 

[brandon429]

I justified my post increase, and subsequent self promotion to class c- microdiver, because in searching hard (really hard likely to no avail) for dive legitimacy I have decided that the minute you take a breath below your first val salva equilization level you are diving! Your dive count is only negatively impacted if for some reason you can't bring yourself back up, or if you come up injured, or if you come up being yelled at by an old lady who you can tell is angry that you may be some kind of freak aquatic voyeur, because people just shouldn't be underwater that long. If you can pass all that, why not increase your dive count and call it a day>?

That seems to me a fine arbitrary boundary for one to draw since starting from that point you must consider locks, docks, and props (all figuratively speaking at my advertised depth ) and not panic when some swimmer kicks your mask off or knocks the air out of your mouth with their ever-so-lately-unfurled cannonball.

you buyin' that? he h

 

[muddiver]

I justified my post increase, and subsequent self promotion to class c- microdiver, because in searching hard (really hard likely to no avail) for dive legitimacy I have decided that the minute you take a breath below your first val salva equilization level you are diving! Your dive count is only negatively impacted if for some reason you can't bring yourself back up, or if you come up injured, or if you come up being yelled at by an old lady who you can tell is angry that you are some kind of freak aquatic voyeur. If you can pass all that, why not increase your dive count and call it a day>?

That seems to me a fine arbitrary boundary for one to draw since starting from that point you must consider locks, docks, and props (all figuratively speaking at my advertised depth ) and not panic when some swimmer kicks your mask off or knocks the air out of your mouth with their ever-so-lately-unfurled cannonball.

you buyin' that? he h

Actually breathing compressed air when your chest passes two and a half or three feet of depth is the point where you can embolize by holding your breath and ascending to the surface.

 

[brandon429]

I can tell you there was a few instances of inappropriate bubbling, like I can control my exhaust going up someone from below

I think that's what set her off, this lady was very mad at me for some reason and I did my best to stay away from her! What do you think that potential great grandmother in a one piece thought of that unexpected tickling sensation coming up from the abyss? I imagine it was startling at first, intriguing at best, and likely an instant guilty pleasure but either way I did not mean for my hobby to offend, these are just things I'm discovering, and relaying to you all, post facto

I knew that about the depth, I showed my child the cool trick of blowing up the balloon at the bottom of the pool and then bringing it to the top, this should be done more often in dive schools imo because it's exceptionally visual, even I was amazed at the changes near the top
B

 

[ScubaSteve]

Not even a letter of it but we all have choices we can make . That's the beauty of life.

I justified my post increase, and subsequent self promotion to class c- microdiver, because in searching hard (really hard likely to no avail) for dive legitimacy I have decided that the minute you take a breath below your first val salva equilization level you are diving! Your dive count is only negatively impacted if for some reason you can't bring yourself back up, or if you come up injured, or if you come up being yelled at by an old lady who you can tell is angry that you may be some kind of freak aquatic voyeur, because people just shouldn't be underwater that long. If you can pass all that, why not increase your dive count and call it a day>?

That seems to me a fine arbitrary boundary for one to draw since starting from that point you must consider locks, docks, and props (all figuratively speaking at my advertised depth ) and not panic when some swimmer kicks your mask off or knocks the air out of your mouth with their ever-so-lately-unfurled cannonball.

you buyin' that? he h

Posted via Mobile Device

 

[brandon429]

to get it to pop at the surface you have to fill it up most of the way at depth by the way, but the expansion is really illustrated if you just fill it up fist size at depth and then bring it up to talk about the physics. I guarantee you my child will know more about diving when she gets certified than 99% of the people in the classes because of the convenience of this device, giving us the ability to dive together with no special accomodations like a big trip somewhere...no I haven't let her try it, nor anyone else not certified, but she follows me w snorkel and is learning by observation and familiarization. The spare air made scuba something that is in hand/up close, and commonly discussed at our dinner table whereas exclusive full gear would not have. I imagine she will get full cert'd when I save up 300 bucks and she gets a bit older (I don't agree with ten year old certification, not enough reflex control practice for my taste, I'll let her at 13)

for now shes mastering mask clearing, grr sounds 100% of the time even on held breaths for good habit, and being able to answer questions such as: What's worse on ascent->holding your breath, taking in a long steady breath when coming up and releasing it at the surface, or letting it out slowly? The discussion that follows really makes sure someone can understand and not just recite, and she saw me diving because of this great pool toy-- that was just the role it took in getting her interested in diving which up until then she had not seen live.