Is a Pony Bottle too complicated for a beginner?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

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.

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.
Wow, you must be hilarious at parties. You realize a lot of dives are done on the fly. I know where I am going, but not necessarily what I am going to do when I get there. The “learn to dive doubles” argument makes no sense for 90% of divers. Not every diver is interested in wearing doubles and might not expect to be within arms reach of their buddy at all times. The idea of a pony is not about having enough air but having redundancy in the event of a catastrophic failure. I would never dive if I was going to plan every dive like it was the Andrea Doria. If you enjoy the complexities of being a tech diver and like to calculate and plan every dive, god bless, but there is plenty to see on a single tank.
 
Wow, you must be hilarious at parties. You realize a lot of dives are done on the fly. I know where I am going, but not necessarily what I am going to do when I get there. The “learn to dive doubles” argument makes no sense for 90% of divers. Not every diver is interested in wearing doubles and might not expect to be within arms reach of their buddy at all times. The idea of a pony is not about having enough air but having redundancy in the event of a catastrophic failure. I would never dive if I was going to plan every dive like it was the Andrea Doria. If you enjoy the complexities of being a tech diver and like to calculate and plan every dive, god bless, but there is plenty to see on a single tank.
Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou. I have been tempted to join in but reluctant as I get a little agitated when I get into a discussion of pony bottles with a GUE diver. I am sure that either GI3 or JJ must have been frightened by a pony when they were children.
 
Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou. I have been tempted to join in but reluctant as I get a little agitated when I get into a discussion of pony bottles with a GUE diver. I am sure that either GI3 or JJ must have been frightened by a pony when they were children.

OK, you win the internet for the week! :rofl3:
 
I am sure that either GI3 or JJ must have been frightened by a pony when they were children.
This is a newbie forum, those considering diving shouldn’t be expected to go tech before AOW.

I am so stealing this line. It may take a years to find the right moment to use it, but I am stealing it.
 
Wow, you must be hilarious at parties. You realize a lot of dives are done on the fly. I know where I am going, but not necessarily what I am going to do when I get there. The “learn to dive doubles” argument makes no sense for 90% of divers. Not every diver is interested in wearing doubles and might not expect to be within arms reach of their buddy at all times. The idea of a pony is not about having enough air but having redundancy in the event of a catastrophic failure. I would never dive if I was going to plan every dive like it was the Andrea Doria. If you enjoy the complexities of being a tech diver and like to calculate and plan every dive, god bless, but there is plenty to see on a single tank.


I am a hoot at parties, sir, lol. Nevertheless, you proved my point(s) with this statement: "The idea of a pony is not about having enough air but having redundancy in the event of a catastrophic failure."

1. Doubles are much easier to carry and create a balanced rig for weighting. (Considering most divers are over/underweighted anyways, imagine now adding an AL40 to that configuration on one side, oof.)

2. If a recreational diver knows how to calculate their minimum gas correctly, they would know how much gas they would need in a case of an emergency to get them or both them and their buddy to the surface. E,g a single AL80's minimum gas to 80ft would be ~ 1000psi with a ~ distressed SCR. So, to be safe, the buddy team would call the dive when one of them reached 1000psi in their tank as a level of conservatism, risk mitigation, and psychological safety


* "~" = according to the hypothetical diver team's surface consumption rate E.g. 0.75, 0.80. 1.0 cuft per minute.


Folks can dive however they want; I don't care—but when there is a better solution to a common problem, I'll share what I have learned that might help in a forum such as this.
 
This is a newbie forum, those considering diving shouldn’t be expected to go tech before AOW.

I am so stealing this line. It may take a years to find the right moment to use it, but I a. Stealing it.

No one is saying to go tech. Learning how to calculate your gas is open water skills 101; why folks in this thread are against this is a little concerning. Moreover, diving doubles is not Tech diving.

However, IMHO, "pony's" are considered "Tech" because now one has allowed themself to pick up a single staged tank at a shop that might not have been analyzed correctly or analyzed at all. Let's consider that the open water diver does not know about analyzing their gas or diving different gas mixtures. This mistake could lead to picking up a tank that has the possibility of deadly consequences more so than having one set of doubles or a single 80 filled, especially at a busy shop that also does tech and rec diving.

Nevertheless, all I am advocating here in a New Diver thread is for those who ask essential questions, as OP has, to continue asking these questions and urge on the side of human factors and safety. If that makes me uncool, so be it.
 
Folks can dive however they want; I don't care—but when there is a better solution to a common problem, I'll share what I have learned that might help in a forum such as this.
Well, this is the forum for new divers, and for those who are not even certified yet. Many things you've learned are just not yet applicable. I suggest that doubles are among them.
One old but good rule is to tell someone what they need to know, not everything you know.
 
I am a hoot at parties, sir, lol. Nevertheless, you proved my point(s) with this statement: "The idea of a pony is not about having enough air but having redundancy in the event of a catastrophic failure."

1. Doubles are much easier to carry and create a balanced rig for weighting. (Considering most divers are over/underweighted anyways, imagine now adding an AL40 to that configuration on one side, oof.)

2. If a recreational diver knows how to calculate their minimum gas correctly, they would know how much gas they would need in a case of an emergency to get them or both them and their buddy to the surface. E,g a single AL80's minimum gas to 80ft would be ~ 1000psi with a ~ distressed SCR. So, to be safe, the buddy team would call the dive when one of them reached 1000psi in their tank as a level of conservatism, risk mitigation, and psychological safety


* "~" = according to the hypothetical diver team's surface consumption rate E.g. 0.75, 0.80. 1.0 cuft per minute.


Folks can dive however they want; I don't care—but when there is a better solution to a common problem, I'll share what I have learned that might help in a forum such as this.
Doubles are much easier to carry? I dive steel 120s just so I DON’T need doubles.

Most divers are over/under weighted? Well, that covers just about everybody with exception for a five minute period mid dive.

I wear a seatbelt as redundancy to my safe driving skills. I also don’t know how the other drivers on the road will behave in all situations. I don’t keep a bicycle or a can of gas in the trunk. I could, but for most driving the seatbelt be adequate precaution. Knowing how long my air cylinder SHOULD last is less important than knowing how it IS lasting.

Doubles don’t add redundancy, unless they are independent doubles. The freak out factor of a blown out o-ring or free flowing regulator isn’t going to be better if you double the weight of your kit. It will however give the careless diver plenty of air to go into deco. If they aren’t watching their pressure, they aren’t watching their depth or time. I don’t bother with a pony unless I need to, I don’t have a problem saying to the OP you can learn to sling a pony early as long as you understand the why and the how.

If they want more air, no extra or special training is required to bring a bigger tank in the water, but a pony isn’t more air, it is an extra air source (should not be included in gas planning).
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom