Posted by Dave on January 21, 2001 at 10:16:21:
In Reply to: Re: Spare Air malfunction posted by Eric S on January 21, 2001 at 08:54:29:
If I'm not mistaken the spare air only holds 2.6 ft3 of air. Depending on your SAC rate and depth might only be a few breaths, especially if you have a big set of lungs like me. I agree that they are a serious accident waiting to happen. I have two pony bottles, a 6 and a 13 depending on where/how I am diving. The 6 is not much bigger than a spare air, mounts out of the way and gives you almost 2.5 times as much air. Great for beach dives. The 13 is a little heavy and I generally use it overseas. I had a o-ring blow at 100 feet once, switched over, casually swam over to my wife and grabbed her second, no panic on my part..and since I came over calmly she didn't panic also. It's such a romantic time, floating at 15' locked together so we don't float apart..wink wink. As a side note, I hate using AIR IIs.
The downsides: extra costs (don't cheat too much on the reg, you may need it), extra clean up at the end of a dive, extra annual service, more gear and weight, finally you must practice using it so the switch is automatic and you don't panic.
The Upside; your life