CT-Rich
Contributor
This reminds me of the ditchable weight argument from a couple of years back. The logic was there were all of these dead divers being hauled up still wearing their weights. The argument went that it proved ditchable lead did nothing to save all these dead divers….You have not openly stated "don't use a pony" but you have made multiple attempts to downplay their value including trying to disparage them by quoting a bunch of BSAC. I asked earlier if you read your own posts, maybe I should ask if you read the articles you reference because in each of the reports you cited the pony was not responsible for the accident. Failure to deploy one was as was failing to orally inflate his BCD but you did not blame the BCD for the accident. The closest one could find as contributing to an issue was a dive failing to allow the the weight of the pony when they decided to dive without it. None, I repeat none got into trouble because they used a pony. So yes! I do include you with the OP as part of the problem I have described.
Where have I claimed that I would leave a buddy, you are the only one who has claimed that. If I am buddy diving then I have a responsibility to stay with my buddy if at all possible. Yes I have had to chase after errant buddies and have decided to not buddy with them in the future but I haven't just left them to join another group. What is your idea of buddy diving, your buddy should stay with you but you don't have to stay with your buddy or did he disappear because you were not watching him while expecting him to watch you. These signals that he did not respond to, did you have a briefing before the dive to go over them.
Accidents that result in no injuries or deaths are never reported to DAN. If using a pony bottle resulted dead divers, we would have Accidents & Incidents being filled with reports of divers being knocked unconscious by their Pony bottles or exploding their heads or something. Since divers are not being found dead with fully or half-deployed ponies, my guess is it is not going to kill a new diver if he chooses to carry one.
And yes, my continuing participation in this thread is a direct result of getting back from a week of diving in Belize and a lack of desire to go drysuit diving in churned up New England waters….