Is a Pony Bottle too complicated for a beginner?

[Lorenzoid]

. . .
I bet most automotive air bag deployments are similar. Accidents are primarily caused by situations the driver could/should have avoided - but not all.

Imagine if people had to take the airbag out to their car every trip, periodically have the airbag serviced, make sure it's full and turned on, keep their airbag deployment skills sharp with regular practice, etc.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

So you carry a pony on every dive to deal with an event having a probability of, what? Catastrophic failure where the reg fails shut and nobody is around to donate gas to you and you're too deep to do a CESA.

If you're diving in near-freezing water, with unreliable buddies, I guess the probability of such an event is significant enough that a redundant gas supply is advisable. Other than that, I suspect the probability is tiny--maybe similar to the probability of other events most divers don't have a plan for dealing with, like the boat abandoning you or, I dunno, a shark attack.

I plan for events for which the probability of occurrence or the severity of the consequences or a combination of those factors is high. With conservative gas planning, and even half decent buddy procedures, I don't see catastrophic reg failure exceeding that threshold.

I guess I should've rephrased that, taking out the word, "only". I dive in water, usually in the 7C-11C range, a lot of times with restricted vis. Sometimes when one submerges, the vis is totally restricting, and your buddy would have no idea if things were going south with your equipment, even 2' away. Being self reliant gives one, peace of mind.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I guess I should've rephrased that, taking out the word, "only". I dive in water, usually in the 7C-11C range, a lot of times with restricted vis. Sometimes when one submerges, the vis is totally restricting, and your buddy would have no idea if things were going south with your equipment, even 2' away. Being self reliant gives one, peace of mind.

There are no doubt some types of diving where a pony might make sense. However, this is the New Divers forum after all, not the Self-Reliant (Solo) forum.

As I said the last time I chimed in on this thread several pages ago, I believe new divers would be well advised to focus on honing the skills they learned in the course, including buddy procedures, and not making big changes in environment or equipment. A new diver probably shouldn't be diving in 2-ft vis.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

There are no doubt some types of diving where a pony might make sense. However, this is the New Divers forum after all, not the Self-Reliant (Solo) forum.

As I said the last time I chimed in on this thread several pages ago, I believe new divers would be well advised to focus on honing the skills they learned in the course, including buddy procedures, and not making big changes in environment or equipment. A new diver probably shouldn't be diving in 2-ft vis.

I still consider myself a new diver, having only been diving since last Sept. I have also been diving and practicing with a pony since my OW. Vis I have found all over the place, sometimes not knowing what you get till you jump in. I guess it depends on how comfortable one is in adverse conditions. I find myself pretty chill in the "unknown". Launching DSMBs in pea soup, or a 4kt drift. I found total green water descents to be interesting.

 

[Hartattack]

I think the simple answer to your question OP, is it would be better to refine your fundamental skill set to include your SCR and dive planning. This will ensure the confidence needed to move on to more task loading and bigger dives that might require more gas. Do you have a community around you that can help you with this?

 

[KenGordon]

My SAC rate is still higher than most of my buddies, so now when we are deep, my pony allows me to look over at my buddies and wave cya up top, when my gas supply dictates is time for me to head up. The pony gives me knowledge that my 2nd air source is right with me the whole time, and my buddies are confident in my ability to actually be smart about how I come up by myself.

Your buddies are leaving you to ascend alone enabled by your pony? There is stuff that can go wrong other than a gas failure. They get a longer dive out of that, what do you get?

Honestly, read the bsac incident reports Annual Diving Incident Report the short version is 1 don’t be old, 2 follow your training.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

Your buddies are leaving you to ascend alone enabled by your pony? There is stuff that can go wrong other than a gas failure. They get a longer dive out of that, what do you get?

Honestly, read the bsac incident reports Annual Diving Incident Report the short version is 1 don’t be old, 2 follow your training.

I get to solo dive up in peace and contentment, unencumbered by photographers. And it is me, leaving them, not the other way around.
I just got the medical form today, to take to my Dr., so I can start the Solo course.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

If you read the BSAC incident reports and you will find one or two fatalities caused this way.

Also, if there are rookies and rookie mistakes…

I'm not going to search through years of BSAC reports to validate your claim. So I will reject it unless I stumble across it. Looking at the 2019 report (page 67), there is an incident where a diver made the mistake of breathing from his pony first, but he lived.

Catastrophic gas loss is exceedingly rare. I'm sure that the diver learned to ensure that it didn't happen again.

I get the impression that you and I differ dramatically on our views of the average new diver. I don't think they are stupid. They are typically undertrained, and I'm guessing we agree on that point.

But the idea that a new diver cannot handle a pony bottle after learning to receive gas from their buddy just doesn't make sense to me at all. The key is their reaction to a potentially stressful situation. Panic is deadly, and that applies to not just new divers.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I get to solo dive up in peace and contentment, unencumbered by photographers. And it is me, leaving them, not the other way around.
I just got the medical form today, to take to my Dr., so I can start the Solo course.

So in other words you have already been doing a little solo diving now and then, before having taken the Solo course. Not something I would advise new divers to do.

I don't mean to give you a hard time--you're apparently doing fine, and closing in on 200 dives and diving several times a week you are not really a newbie, despite what you said. Again, the OP really does seem to be a new diver. If I understood the OP, this thread is about whether a pony bottle is a good solution for a new diver to that feeling of insecurity we all felt as new divers. Even if the OP decides to carry a pony, I hope others who find this thread in the future take the full debate into account.

 

[SlugLife]

The primary reason for a pony is because you have sucked down your primary

Absolutely NOT. Any event where you need a pony should be treated as a critical incident. Anyone who sucked down their primary & relies on their pony is absolutely doing things wrong & should fix whatever reason they're running out of air, and resort to safer dives. Most of the criticism against pony-bottles comes around the idea that divers will abuse the idea of having a pony to be less safe (not check air as often, use more air on a dive, etc), which I think almost all of us would agree is using your pony incorrectly.

A pony-bottle used properly on a standard dive should be treated like an insurance-policy, seat-belt, or air-bag. You hope you never need it, but in the rare-event that you might need it, you'll be glad it's there.