Posted by Gerry Smith on September 13, 2000 at 15:31:10:
In Reply to: Secondary Air source question posted by JRM on September 13, 2000 at 08:38:06:
JRM,
Spare Air is a waste, unless you're driving a helicopter.
Modern high quality SCUBA is almost fail safe, and a high quality buddy is still your best alternate air source. Note the "high quality" part, that's important.
ESA (Blow & Go) works fine in open water and non-decompression dives. You need not fear an embolism unless you forget the "blow" part. The Navy puts ALL of it's sub crewmen thru sub escape tower training which is essentially a 90 fsw free ascent - and these arn't trained divers, just swabbies with big brass ones. They yell ho ho ho all the way up and don't embolize. (of course there is a diver present to make SURE they don't forget to blow.) Yeah you increase your risk of a bends hit, but only slightly if you're well within the tables like you were taught.
So, within the normal recreational limits - no OE, no deco - You're probably better off if you spend your hard earned money on higher quality regulators and better maintenance. If money is not a consideration, buy a pony set up and watch it gather dust after the new wears off.
GS