Is there a valid reason for a pony bottle

[MaxBottomtime]

Not if you're diving off a boat that prohibits pony bottles.

Are you done yet? It is a private boat. I do not take out paying customers. I reserve the right to expect my friends to dive in a safe manner that includes not running out of air. When one of my friends broke that rule, I told him he was no longer allowed to bring his pony because he does not use it as an emergency backup. Instead, he used it to extend his dives, surfacing with two empty tanks. I put a lot of time and money into my boat and will not risk losing it due to a lawsuit from anyone who can't dive in a manner I feel is safe. If you buy a boat, you can invite all your friends to board looking like a Christmas tree with gear hanging from every D-ring if you want.

 

[caruso]

Unless that particular boat has absolute monopoly on the site, there will be others available.

I just wonder if anyone else has this bizarre rule yet doesn't advertise it on their reservations page, and I'll show up for a dive in the midst of a vacation and be told "sorry you cannot use that potentially life saving and dive extending equipment because once a diver used it wrong" and here I will be last minute having to conform to stupid rules or be out one or more dives.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Do you argue with restaurant owners who require shirt and shoes as well?

 

[caruso]

Do you argue with restaurant owners who require shirt and shoes as well?

No, but if a restaurant owner told me shoes weren't allowed because one time someone tracked dog
ѕhit inside, I'd eat my dinner elsewhere.

 

[Centrals]

I just wonder if anyone else has this bizarre rule yet doesn't advertise it on their reservations page, and I'll show up for a dive in the midst of a vacation and be told "sorry you cannot use that potentially life saving and dive extending equipment because once a diver used it wrong" and here I will be last minute having to conform to stupid rules or be out one or more dives.

Go somewhere else or leave the pony behind.
I would be very surprised if any dive operator would forbid the use of pony. But I have NOT dived with every operator in the world. So I could be wrong.
However, I do know one operator in Thailand(Koh Tao) requires their DM to carry a pony on guided deep dive.

 

[Coztick]

Since we are going way into the weeds of when, why and how to use a redundant gas supply, one might at least reflect on types of diving where this is common, or even required.

At the end of the day, we are talking about gear and gas management.

Also crisis management and buddy reliability. My life will not depend on circumstances beyond my control nor do I need a physical task before regaining an gas supply. Nope, you can if you want.
I have never mismanaged my gas and have been trained to properly manage 2 tanks through a sm course.
You're a fool if you implement gear you don't fully understand in a lethal environment.
It's what you don't know that will surprise you. (Bet someone said it before me...)

Thanks, Kevin

 

[TMHeimer]

Instabuddy = instant valid reason.

Yeah, that's it--I'm not reading any further. I have a 13cf one that I can attach to my tank but rarely use it. Depends on depth and how I asses my instabuddy. I never use it on my shallow solo shore dives because I can CESA if need be.

 

[caruso]

Depends on depth and how I asses my instabuddy.

That brings up another answer to the question asked in the title of this thread.

Many Dive Ops recognize the solo diver certification but typically a second fully redundant gas supply is required. So having the solo certification + pony bottle = being able to say "No thanks" when given an instabuddy of unknown training, skill, reliability, and liability.

 

[flyboy08]

Are you done yet? It is a private boat. I do not take out paying customers. I reserve the right to expect my friends to dive in a safe manner that includes not running out of air. When one of my friends broke that rule, I told him he was no longer allowed to bring his pony because he does not use it as an emergency backup. Instead, he used it to extend his dives, surfacing with two empty tanks. I put a lot of time and money into my boat and will not risk losing it due to a lawsuit from anyone who can't dive in a manner I feel is safe. If you buy a boat, you can invite all your friends to board looking like a Christmas tree with gear hanging from every D-ring if you want.

What happens at say 80 feet and your friends first stage O Ring gives up the ghost and your occupied trying to get that elusive nudi Branch picture! What would you tell next of kin ....too bad he left his pony topside?

 

[caruso]

What happens at say 80 feet and your friends first stage O Ring gives up the ghost and your occupied trying to get that elusive nudi Branch picture! What would you tell next of kin ....too bad he left his pony topside?

Let's take it one step further. The deceased diver's next of kin does an investigation including reading posts here on SB where they find written proof that the boat captain refused to allow the diver to take his pony bottle because of some stupid reason and the death would have been avoided completely? How's that for liability?