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John McKenny writes:
[All Gone Horribly Wrong scenario deleted]  
> 
>Surely the cons such as, accidental discharges, rusted cartridges  etc.,
>don't outway that one in a million chance that you could get a free ride to
>the surface, a bit crooked, but never the less not face down at 160 feet
>with algae in your mouth. Does anybody out there still use them? 

You'll probably get replies about CO2 cartridges not having enough gas for
meaningful lift at depth (which is true), and from UK divers telling you
about the 0.4l air cylinders carried commonly for that reason (also true),
but the key point IMHO is: when does the balance of the drawbacks of "just
in case" gear outweigh its advantages? I see many divers who construct
"what if?" situations of incredible implausibility to justify festooning
themselves with n+1 backups for <x> (where <x> is a *capability* rather
than an *object*). Carrying backup gear *must* have a negative as well as a
positive effect on your survival chances - get's in the way of other stuff,
restricts manouerverability, potential of getting hung up, increases drag,
materially increases chances of failure of something else - CO2 cartridge
is a case in point, and I'd add "extra BC bag fitting" to your list of -ve
points. Granted, careful arrangement *can* minimise the disadvantages, but
they are still present to some degree. At what point does the -ve outweigh
the +ve? Ultimately, that's up to you and those you dive with, but my own
view is that if your life would be seriously threatened by losing <x>,
carry a backup unless the available equipment to provide <x> is inherently
unreliable (if it's just *your* equipment that's unreliable, replace it),
in which case you can probably justify two. In the case you mention, I'd
add that "dumping your weights and swimming for it" is a viable alternative
- OK, you'd have a bit less control but then we are talking really extreme
emergency here.

Neal "wondering if he *really needs* that knife to backup those shears:-)" 

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