Spare Air field test

[Sounder]

During one of yesterday's dives at 3 Tree, I got the chance to test out a "Spare Air."

Bassman, working for the airlines, obtained a spare-air (the large version) after someone tried to check it without removing the valve... evidently our fearless TSA folks didn't know what it was but knew Keith is a diver. In addition, it's marked for Nitrox... we found that interesting.

It was empty, so we filled it off one of my 130's and Keith offered me the chance to try it at depth. Filling the bottle was quite easy. Enigmatic (Matt) and I were buddies for both dives, and on our second dive we stopped at 75fsw to try the Spare Air bottle. Breathing from the bottle was tough to say the least... it was NOT effortless... on the flip side, it never leaked or "vented" during either of our two dives. Taking a breath required significant effort "sucking" the breath out of it.

At 75fsw breathing normally and being calm/relaxed while holding my primary reg at the ready and having my buddy "right now" with me... I was able to get 7.75 breaths. I say the .75 because the 8th breath was exceptionally difficult and I found myself straining to get that last bit of gas from the bottle.

Would it have got me to the surface? Yes. Would I have done it too quickly and blown my safe ascent rate & safety stop? Yes.

Following the chance to test it out, if I were to go for a completely seperate alternate air source, this would not be what I choose. I believe I would carry a 30 or 40 cu' slung pony. There are valid arguments to be made for having your own redundant gas system, but in my opinion stronger arguments can be made for being "right now" with your buddy... but that's the pony bottle discussion/thread.

All in all it was quite fun to try one out and "see for myself." In doing so, I CAN think of one siuation where it might be a perfect solution - for sports like whitewater kayaking and big-wave surfing, I can see the benefit of being able to "get that one breath you need" while you're "righting" yourself back to the surface... in my opinion, this would be perfect for that application. It's small and compact, plus you get many more breaths at the surface than you do at depth.

Thanks for the chance to try it out Keith! I really enjoyed trying it out.

[diver-dad]

Thanks a lot for sharing this real-world test with us.

I had looked at Spare Air units one some time ago, then started reading about how limited they are for actually getting you to the surface and have been considering a pony bottle instead.

('course, nothing beats having properly serviced & mainteained equip & diving with a reliable buddy - but there is a lot to be said for redundancy too)

[sparky]

Sounder :
Thanks for the info Bro I had been thinking of getting a pony bottle for a while and this just ferms up my destion to get one even more

I agree there is nothing that beats a good Dive buddy but not every dive emergency will come under perfict condictions I would rather have the Pony and not need it then to need it and Not have it

Sparky

[Aquanautchuck]

Thanks Sounder for the real field test. It reminds me that I need to test my 19 cuft pony again and see how long it lasts me. It has been years since I have.

What size was the spare air you tried. I hear they make them in several sizes.

Charles

[CaptnJack]

The hard breathing part is interesting to hear.

So now what are you going to do with it?

[Joshua Smith]

Interesting post. I don't remember where I read it, but I saw this one recently:" Spare air- so you can run out of air TWICE. "

[argot]

It it the Spare Air 170 or 300? Did you fill it to 3000 PSI?

I poked around the Spare Air site a bit and found this advice about testing:

The original Spare Air, which sold for the first 10 years, contained approximately 30 breaths at the surface, or 1.7 cubic feet of air.

..

Over time, a larger model was made, and Spare Air now has 57 breaths at the surface, or 3.0 cubic feet of air (approximately two - five minutes).

..

Finally, on a normal dive, we recommend that you do a practice ascent* with Spare Air from recreational depths so you know how many breaths it will give you (will vary depending on your lung capacity, weight, temperature of the water, activity level, etc.) Remember, in an emergency, you should begin your ascent to the surface immediately so testing Spare Air in this manner, as opposed to testing how many breaths it gives you at a specific depth, is more realistic.

* To avoid flooding, do not breathe the unit completely dry in a practice ascent underwater.

It sounds like you tried it at depth, how many breaths do you get out of it while ascending?

[Tom Nic]

Thanks Sounder for the real field test. It reminds me that I need to test my 19 cuft pony again and see how long it lasts me. It has been years since I have.

What size was the spare air you tried. I hear they make them in several sizes.

Charles

Thanks Sounder for the test results. I like my pony!

Whatever you use, you should test it and practice!

For my deep dive specialty we did a simulated decompression stop at 20 ft. and breathed from our ponies for 8 minutes. I breathed my 19 cu ft. pony from about 2900 to 390 PSI. Good exercise... it breathed just fine, though my breathing rate went up as a result of a fumbly exchange between my primary and the pony reg (my hood came up over my mouth and made it difficult to insert the pony reg at first.)

Practice Practice!

[Sounder]

As far as what I'm going to do with it now... nothing, it belongs to Bassman who was offered it after someone couldn't take it with them on a plane. He owns it, and I imagine won't be doing a whole lot with it either... other than lending it out so other people can experience it too. But you'd have to ask him.

Regarding how many breaths you'll get while ascending... I held my depth at exactly 75 fsw for the entire test. At 75fsw, I got 7 and 3/4 breaths... while calm and relaxed (not paniced, actually OOA). That's just over 3 ATA. Knowing your SAC, calculating your ascent rate, etc will give you that answer. Here's the plug for Grateful Diver's gas management class ... attend it, listen and take notes, ask questions, and practice what you learned - it'll change your outlook on dive planning. I'm hoping to attend it again soon to ensure I didn't miss anything... it's all about redundancy, right?!

As I said, it was very tough to breathe from - if my primary regulator required that much energy and force to get a breath, I would become dangerously fatigued quite quickly... it was MUCH worse than ANY rental regulators I had limited experience with. It's down-right offensive if you're used to a well made regulator... course, there's something to be said for getting a breath when you need one... a breath is better than no breath, right?

I do think it has a place - I think it'd be great for getting something out of the water someone dropped if you needed to "bounce" to 15-20' and look around for a few seconds like, ahem, a crowbar and hammer (thanks to Mrs. Sounder's father), or for big wave surfing or kayaking. In my opinion, it's not a dive-safety tool my wife or I will be using.

It was very interesting to try though, and I'd like to try it at 33fsw and 66fsw to see if it preformed consistently. It was fun to test out a piece of equipment that is so contraversial, but I was glad I had my primary reg in my right hand, and Enigmatic right beside me.

Nailer - I too have heard someone recently say, "Spare Air... so you can run out of air, TWICE!" I would say that is fairly accurate if your buddy wasn't near by. Would it allow you to get to your buddy? Maybe, maybe not. Better than nothing? Sure. Are there much better options? In my opinion, yes.

Bassman - bring it to Hood Canal! We'll fill it up before each dive and let folks see for themselves! FYI - on the note of filling it: it was quite easy to fill from a yoke rig... and it doesn't take much gas to fill it (because it doesn't hold much gas!). I would be interested to read (and hear) what Calvin has to say about it after he tries it and can write a review along the same lines as his other equipment reviews - fair and honest.

The bottle was the 300PK-N (3cu' Nitrox ready), was filled to 3000 or slightly higher. It sells for $320 - you can put together a nice pony rig for just about that. :rr:

[DiverDown]

Thanks for the report on the "spair joke".. I have always thought it was a waste of money. After all, a pony set up would cost you close to the same with more piece of mind.

I know that if I needed it in an emergency I could "hoover" 3cf real fast..

[Scubak]

Sparky,
Just buck up and get into twin tanks with a manifold...(Doubles)
No need for a pony...you're just buying another set-up twice...
K

[argot]

Yeah, thanks for the report. I was just relaying what the site said.

If I were to pick a emergency spare like that, I would probably pick a pony too (especially for a newbie like me who would likely just keep sucking down that air).

[BASSMAN]

I actually have two of these 3 cubic ft Spare Air's, I will bring them to the Hood Canal dive week end so anyone can play with them.
Personally, I would spend the money on a Pony before I would spend money on the "Spare Air" My cost was "Free" although I did pay $10.00 for the fill adapter I got from one of Diver Daves friends up in Sitka.

I have not experimented with it yet, I think it might be a good "Bail out" bottle to get you or a buddy to the surface with no safety stop. But definetly not somthing to replace a buddy with.

I have noticed the "harder to breath" off them. even at the surface. It gives you a whole new appreciation for a good breathing reg!

Right now I'm not sure what I will do with them Maybe trade them for a good Pony set up? Or how about a new dry suit? (Joking)

I may decide to keep them if I Learn to Use them properly and I'll have one for a buddy or Mouse, my daughter.

[CaptnJack]

if I Learn to Use them properly

The proper sequence is...

Step 1: Deploy spare air
Step 2: Suck dry











Step 3: Ship to unsuspecting ebayer

[Aquanautchuck]

if I Learn to Use them properly

The proper sequence is...

Step 1: Deploy spare air
Step 2: Suck dry










Step 3: Ship to unsuspecting ebayer

Step 4: Sell on Ebay.

[diver-dad]

Saw this in a newsletter I got from Undercurrent:

New Emergency Breathing Device
If you've got the money -- $1700 - you'll soon be able to purchase an emergency breathing device that weighs only five pounds, but at 50 feet will deliver up to 55 minutes of air. Created by HSG International for military and law enforcement personnel, it will appear in the sport diving market early next year. It's a 13-inch long sealed tank filled to 9400 psi. To use it, a diver pulls a ring to break the seal and then breathes through the attached regulator. The downside is that the tanks are nonrefillable, so a diver in trouble will face a $1700 question. http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_ht ... _id=175840

Personally, I don't see a market for this one-time-use $1,700 gadget - for the same $$ (actually much less!) you can easily set yourself up with a proper pony bottle & reg - that can be refilled with air or the mix of your choice.

(On the other hand, Barnum was right.)

Once activated, you can't turn it off, it has a pressure "indicator" (no gage), and it is not a demand regulator - it is positive flow 100% of the time.

The only thing going for it is size.

[Sounder]

It'll sell if Haliburton has a contract for it! Then we'd have to schedule a war with Atlantis... I heard a rumor that they've got WMD too! Who needs proof?! Let's saddle up and smoke'em out! ](*,)