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snip... > > I think that means they were ok, but they weren't great, and they > won't be back. > > Dave Smith I think it was accidental that CO2 cartridges were ever used for scuba in the first place. People started using military surplus "horse collar" life preservers originally designed for pilots. These had to be flat with essentially no air in them to expand as a plane climbed in altitude. They also had to be worn over a parachute harness without obstructing the parachute's operation, hence the horsecollar design. They also had an oral inflation tube. These features also worked well for buoyancy compensation when diving with a tank on your back and as an emergency flotation device for skin divers and scuba divers. These life preservers were never intended to be routinely used in the water. They were stored dry and the CO2 cartridges had a fairly long shelf life. When the dive equipment manufacturers began making BC's, they started out as essentially copies of the standard horsecollar. People were used to CO2 inflators, so they put them on. It was more a case of inertia than anything else. Rick
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