Hookahs & Spareair

[BrianM]

Couple of things I would like to discuss:
A Spareair bottle is a Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.
If I used one eg in a shallow lagoon to video the coral & fish, would
I need a current SCUBA certification to have the bottle refilled at a
dive shop. If not, how would dive shop operators feel about filling a
bottle for someone whose diving experience/skills is not recorded. Is there
a liability issue here? To take it a bit further, would I need
certification to have a standard bottle onshore, or in a boat (out of the sun)
for doing self-refills with the Spareair.

The other one is about diving Hookahs. This site is an example
http://www.seabreathe.com/
Again, should there be (or is there) some kind of certification for diving
using this type of equipment, for safety reasons.
Hookahs have been around a long time - I used one from a Navy diving
tender back in 1965 - they utilised the same pump used for hard helmet diving.
SCUBA was Aqualung with twin Heinke tanks and regulator at the back.

Comments welcome

Brian

[DavidM]

Post by BrianM
A Spareair bottle is a Self Contained Underwater Breathing

Apparatus.

Post by BrianM
If I used one eg in a shallow lagoon to video the coral & fish, would

It wouldn't last for very long at all. I'm not sure how many litres
they hold, but they are only for a few breaths...

Post by BrianM
I need a current SCUBA certification to have the bottle refilled at a
dive shop. If not, how would dive shop operators feel about filling a
bottle for someone whose diving experience/skills is not recorded. Is there
a liability issue here? To take it a bit further, would I need
certification to have a standard bottle onshore, or in a boat (out of the sun)
for doing self-refills with the Spareair.

I imagine most dive shops couldn't care less about filling it.
There's not much diving you can do on a spare air anyway... as for
keeping a standard cylinder in your boat, well I imagine they'd expect
a certification for that. But if you were going to all the effort of
keeping a full size cylinder for filling your spareair, why not didtch
the spare air and just use normal scuba?

Post by BrianM
The other one is about diving Hookahs. This site is an example
http://www.seabreathe.com/
Again, should there be (or is there) some kind of certification for diving
using this type of equipment, for safety reasons.
Hookahs have been around a long time - I used one from a Navy diving
tender back in 1965 - they utilised the same pump used for hard helmet diving.
SCUBA was Aqualung with twin Heinke tanks and regulator at the back.

I don't believe there is a cert process for hookah. Funnily enough,
AFAIK the risks are greater, and there are more of them. On hookah,
that is. Ultimately, do a scuba course - it's only $200-300 and a
small price to pay.

Cheers
David M

[BrianM]

Post by BrianM

Couple of things I would like to discuss: A Spareair bottle is a Self
Contained Underwater Breathing

Apparatus.

If I used one eg in a shallow lagoon to video the coral & fish,

would
It wouldn't last for very long at all. I'm not sure how many litres
they hold, but they are only for a few breaths...

Approx 60 surface breaths. If you breathe relaxed, it lasts about 6 mins.

Post by BrianM

I need a current SCUBA certification to have the bottle refilled at

a

dive shop. If not, how would dive shop operators feel about filling

a

bottle for someone whose diving experience/skills is not recorded.

Is there

a liability issue here? To take it a bit further, would I need
certification to have a standard bottle onshore, or in a boat (out

of the sun)

for doing self-refills with the Spareair.

I imagine most dive shops couldn't care less about filling it. There's
not much diving you can do on a spare air anyway... as for keeping a
standard cylinder in your boat, well I imagine they'd expect a
certification for that. But if you were going to all the effort of
keeping a full size cylinder for filling your spareair, why not didtch
the spare air and just use normal scuba?

Got a problem there in that I can no longer equalize and limited to
around 4M. Flying can be a pain sometimes as well.

Post by BrianM

The other one is about diving Hookahs. This site is an example
http://www.seabreathe.com/
Again, should there be (or is there) some kind of certification for

diving

using this type of equipment, for safety reasons. Hookahs have been
around a long time - I used one from a Navy diving tender back in 1965
- they utilised the same pump used for hard

helmet diving.

SCUBA was Aqualung with twin Heinke tanks and regulator at the back.

I don't believe there is a cert process for hookah. Funnily enough,
AFAIK the risks are greater, and there are more of them. On hookah, that
is. Ultimately, do a scuba course - it's only $200-300 and a small
price to pay.

Would love to if I could David but I'm realistic about further damage to my
eardrums. I skin dive and snorkel, and the bonus of being able to stay down
for a few minutes without a scuba rig is very attractive.

thanks for your input.

Brian M