I am new to scuba diving with only a couple dives under my belt. I am a little OCD and tend to pay attention to my gauge more than enjoying the dive as I am always worried about my pressure. I have a 13cf pony bottle. Would being a new diver and having the pony tank connected to my main tank for the piece of mind confuse me and be tougher for me starting out? When I started paramotoring, they recommended not flying with a reserve because it is more likely to accidentally deploy and cause more problems.
Is a Pony Bottle too complicated for a beginner?
- Thread starter Seville
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As a beginner you don’t want anything which is not essential. A pony is quite an awkward thing that messes with balance and adds extra ways to get things wrong. For your first dives you want everything to be as simple and easy as possible. As your experience increases you will get past the point where 110% of your brain is used up just being there and begin to have spare for extras. For a while that extra will be what you have available for when things don’t go perfectly. Eventually you will get to a place where you can manage all the stupid little things that bother beginners as second nature, all your dives will be uneventful and just be about whatever you are there to see. At this point adding a camera or other extra complication is fine. Maybe consider a pony then.
Having said all that, a pony is not actually a perfect solution to any problem. It is useful in a narrow set of circumstances mostly involving not having a decent buddy. It introduces extra and perhaps surprising ways to screw up, now and again people start on the wrong reg, some of those fail to figure out what is happening when they run out of gas a few minutes into the dive and switch to the full cylinder.
As a beginner, in 1975 I was introduced to employing compact twin tanks. They are light, streamlined, you mount two independent regs providing you great safety, and the management is not complex. Much easier than using a pony tank hanging around.
Compact twin sets were the standard entry-level scuba system here in Italy until around 1981, when the first 15 liters tanks appeared. For diving in the Mediterranean sea, a standard AL80 or LP72 is definitely too small..
Compact twin sets were the standard entry-level scuba system here in Italy until around 1981, when the first 15 liters tanks appeared. For diving in the Mediterranean sea, a standard AL80 or LP72 is definitely too small..
FishWatcher747
Contributor
Welcome to the adventure of scuba diving. You have some homework to do and Scubaboard can be very helpful for you on this journey.
Use the search function for Pony bottle and you will find several useful threads.
A beginner should not back mount a pony bottle. Several people have died confusing their back mounted pony regulator with their primary back tank regulator. Instead sling it from the shoulder D ring to the hip D ring on one side (usually the left). The regulator and hose gets bungeed to the pony and there can be no confusion which regulator one is using. It is literally right in front of your face.
Here is an example of how to sling your pony.
Use the search function for Pony bottle and you will find several useful threads.
A beginner should not back mount a pony bottle. Several people have died confusing their back mounted pony regulator with their primary back tank regulator. Instead sling it from the shoulder D ring to the hip D ring on one side (usually the left). The regulator and hose gets bungeed to the pony and there can be no confusion which regulator one is using. It is literally right in front of your face.
Here is an example of how to sling your pony.
In my opinion, yes. You need to focus on mastering the fundamentals without the added skill & task loading of a pony bottle, camera, or any other nonessential equipment. Focus on the fundamentals for your first 20-30 dives before you consider adding anything. Buoyancy, trim, situational awareness, positional awareness, fining techniques, breathing technique.
If you want a really good source for (1) what are the fundamentals and (2) how to master them, I would highly recommend two books:
- Simon Pridemore’s Scuba Confidential. This book is focused on the newish diver and how to transition to being a good diver.
https://www.amazon.com/Scuba-Confidential-Insiders-Becoming-Better/dp/1491049243
- Steve Lewis’ The Six Skills and Other Discussions. The target is future technical divers but none of this content is technical. It’s all about mastering the fundamentals. The 6 core skills are buoyancy, trim, movement & position, breathing, situational awareness and emotional control.
https://www.amazon.com/Six-Skills-Other-Discussions-Solutions/dp/098122802X
Both books are exceptional.
If you want a really good source for (1) what are the fundamentals and (2) how to master them, I would highly recommend two books:
- Simon Pridemore’s Scuba Confidential. This book is focused on the newish diver and how to transition to being a good diver.
https://www.amazon.com/Scuba-Confidential-Insiders-Becoming-Better/dp/1491049243
- Steve Lewis’ The Six Skills and Other Discussions. The target is future technical divers but none of this content is technical. It’s all about mastering the fundamentals. The 6 core skills are buoyancy, trim, movement & position, breathing, situational awareness and emotional control.
https://www.amazon.com/Six-Skills-Other-Discussions-Solutions/dp/098122802X
Both books are exceptional.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with you carrying a Pony Bottle. If it gives you an added comfort under the water do it.....
I do not know what water and diving conditions you are diving in. Most OW dives in S. FL it is not needed, but head up to Jupiter where they drop OW divers off at 85 feet, and sometimes bad viz, I can understand it.
Do you need one... That is debatable. Most OW dives, a diver should be able to make the surface in a catastrophic failure scenario. Again, Should. The reality is these rarely happen. I have had medical insurance through my employer for 17 years, never once used it... But there may be that day, it saves my life.
Now, if you are going to do it. Find an instructor or LDS to make sure you are educated about it. Many Jacket BCD's do not have proper D-rings to handle a pony, make sure yours does. Shifting and dropping weight to adjust for the pony bottle. Making sure the rig is secured properly is a key. Using a pony is pretty simple, Grab regulator put in mouth.
If you are a hunter, I would mount it to my main tank. I do not like a sling while carrying a Speargun, but that's just me. Its also the only time I mount. Again, do not do this without training. Talk with the LDS about what's best in your area.
Another option is take an AOW class and make sure they train you on it. All of my AOW students are trained to carry a pony, as I will not dive under 80 feet without one.
With most things in life, there is no 1 way to do something. Evaluate yourself, your environment, and your dive team. Then make a good decision.
Just to pile on to echo the thoughts before ...
1) Sling it.
2) Gets some competent training and assistance on getting it configured/mounted correctly and on how to use it. As suggested by @Micheal , AOW is a good opportunity - talk to the instructor in advance. If possible, practice switching to the pony reg in the pool (or pool-like conditions) where even a no air at all situation is just "stand/go up and breathe" until it becomes muscle memory. As a side benefit it is a great opportunity to practice shallow-water buoyancy control, where it is toughest, under task loading.
3) Especially, early on, treat a pony as solely an alternative to air-sharing from a buddy in an Out Of Air (OOA) emergency. It is not for extending your dive time. A 13 is really only a "get me safely to the surface" bottle from any significant depth. There are a ton of arguments on here about the correct pony size: dependent on personal air consumption, depth, and assumptions of reaction time, maximum safe ascent rate, safety stop, etc. where a 19 or even a 30/40 is considered the minimum safe ascent option.
4) Exception to #3: Practice! With an experienced buddy that you trust and have confidently practiced air-sharing with, right there, working with you; with sufficient air to make a normal ascent on your main tank; switch to your pony reg and make your ascent and safety stop. It is not hard, but it is different. Of course that means refilling the pony, so factor that into the plan of when to practice.
5) Consider putting your primary reg on a necklace to keep it "right there" when you switch to the pony instead of flopping around "somewhere".
1) Sling it.
2) Gets some competent training and assistance on getting it configured/mounted correctly and on how to use it. As suggested by @Micheal , AOW is a good opportunity - talk to the instructor in advance. If possible, practice switching to the pony reg in the pool (or pool-like conditions) where even a no air at all situation is just "stand/go up and breathe" until it becomes muscle memory. As a side benefit it is a great opportunity to practice shallow-water buoyancy control, where it is toughest, under task loading.
3) Especially, early on, treat a pony as solely an alternative to air-sharing from a buddy in an Out Of Air (OOA) emergency. It is not for extending your dive time. A 13 is really only a "get me safely to the surface" bottle from any significant depth. There are a ton of arguments on here about the correct pony size: dependent on personal air consumption, depth, and assumptions of reaction time, maximum safe ascent rate, safety stop, etc. where a 19 or even a 30/40 is considered the minimum safe ascent option.
4) Exception to #3: Practice! With an experienced buddy that you trust and have confidently practiced air-sharing with, right there, working with you; with sufficient air to make a normal ascent on your main tank; switch to your pony reg and make your ascent and safety stop. It is not hard, but it is different. Of course that means refilling the pony, so factor that into the plan of when to practice.
5) Consider putting your primary reg on a necklace to keep it "right there" when you switch to the pony instead of flopping around "somewhere".
I too started carrying a slung pony several months after certification. I cut my teeth in my early 20's sinking a nuclear reactor on a regular basis. Redundancy and knowledge of the systems you are working with were drilled into me and it has stuck with me to this day.
I'd say it depends on your skill and comfort level. Not all newly minted divers are the same from either perspective.
I'd say it depends on your skill and comfort level. Not all newly minted divers are the same from either perspective.
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