Is a Pony Bottle too complicated for a beginner?

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

I
I guess some agency could develop a “Pony Bottle Diver” card, charge them $300 for a pool dive to go though the basic skills with a DM and their Extra Large Spare Air.

I see your point and agree that some new Divers should never have been issued a card, but I tend to give most instructors, even the resort instructors, the benefit of the doubt. I'd like to think all the students I have helped could adapt to a 13cf pony bottle without much trouble.

Jay

A " Pony Bottle Diver" course does exist. Two agencies have it: PADI Self Reliant and SDI Solo.
I am SDI Solo now, a yr ago, I was a brand new OW diver, slnging a 13cu pony.

 

[Hartattack]

If you need a redundant gas source for your planned dives, why not learn to dive back mounted doubles? However, single tank dives can be planned with a minimum gas requirement to get you and your buddy to the surface safely in the event of an emergency. As always, plan your dive and dive your plan. Cheers.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

If you need a redundant gas source for your planned dives, why not learn to dive back mounted doubles? However, single tank dives can be planned with a minimum gas requirement to get you and your buddy to the surface safely in the event of an emergency. As always, plan your dive and dive your plan. Cheers.

Or sidemount.

Buddy separation occurs. There was an incident written up and shared on FB where some highly trained divers (GUE T1+ if I'm not mistaken) got separated and had some other issues (not gas loss). If people that well trained can get separated, what hopes do the rest of us have? Hence single tank limits the conditions in which one can dive. And yes, I'm not as good of a diver than someone with GUE T1 certification. That should be obvious.

 

[Marie13]

And here we go again. I’m guessing someone on my ignore list is pushing doubles.

If someone doesn’t want to dive doubles or SM, if they’re slinging a pony, at least it’s good they’re aware of the need for some redundancy. I think a 19 is useless and a 40 is better, though.

 

[Hartattack]

Or sidemount.

Buddy separation occurs. There was an incident written up and shared on FB where some highly trained divers (GUE T1+ if I'm not mistaken) got separated and had some other issues (not gas loss). If people that well trained can get separated, what hopes do the rest of us have? Hence single tank limits the conditions in which one can dive. And yes, I'm not as good of a diver than someone with GUE T1 certification. That should be obvious.

Accidents and buddy loss do happen, but your story does prove my point. Suppose one plans their dive to include a minimum gas calculation, SCR, and waypoints of the dive to check those things. In that case, one significantly mitigates the dive's risk and does not need to lug around a dead raccoon (pony bottle) with them unless required for decompression. Moreover, if additional gas is needed to conduct the dive, one should learn how to dive in a doubles configuration adequately.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

There are three options. Pluses and minuses to each. As long as they have sufficient redundancy, that's all that matters.

 

[Hartattack]

And here we go again. I’m guessing someone on my ignore list is pushing doubles.

If someone doesn’t want to dive doubles or SM, if they’re slinging a pony, at least it’s good they’re aware of the need for some redundancy. I think a 19 is useless and a 40 is better, though.

Marie, they wouldn't need doubles or a redundant gas source if they were taught how to calculate their gas consumption and plan a dive correctly.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Accidents and buddy loss do happen, but your story does prove my point. Suppose one plans their dive to include a minimum gas calculation, SCR, and waypoints of the dive to check those things. In that case, one significantly mitigates the dive's risk and does not need to lug around a dead raccoon (pony bottle) with them unless required for decompression. Moreover, if additional gas is needed to conduct the dive, one should learn how to dive in a doubles configuration adequately.

In a word, no.

 

[Hartattack]

In a word, no.

In a word, no.

Can I have a bit more context to your reply, please?

 

[Lorenzoid]

The conclusion I recall drawing from the first 160+ posts in this thread before it went dormant in June was that "it depends"--on what kind of diving one is doing. Needless to say (but I will anyway) others may have different conclusions. The OP was a "beginner" and should be diving for a while in benign conditions and using the buddy system as taught. (This is the New Divers forum.) With proper gas planning for single-tank diving, this is all most of us in the middle of the bell curve of dive complexity need. To probably reiterate what I probably said upthread, in my opinion faithfully lugging along a pony on every dive as standard gear, having to practice with it to keep skills from getting rusty, having to get it inspected periodically, fill/transfill it occasionally, etc., all for the vanishingly low likelihood of it truly being needed because all that gas planning and good buddy procedures somehow failed, offers diminishing returns on safety. Outside that zone of doing fairly simple diving in which most divers fall, sure, there are solo divers (and those who are effectively solo divers) and people who dive in freezing water and stuff like that who need more than a buddy for their redundancy. If I were one of those divers, I'd choose backmount doubles or sidemount before a pony, but that's just me.