40cf too big for pony?
- Thread starter sh0ck1999
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Was he a diver?
I have lost quite a few dive friends over the years. All were diving in a fashion that differed from industry standards and or against everything they knew to be safe. One in particular whom I made fifty dives with insisted on using gear that boggles the mind. He preferred double 120s with a twenty foot hose wrapped around his manifold and held tight by a bungee. His weights were permanently attached to his harness and he always carried two game bags full of extra gear...several lights, tools, reels...he was a floating dive shop. He was the nicest guy in the World but loved to dive in a way that everyone else told him was wrong. He died while making an extreme dive.
I've seen many other divers, including several here on Scubaboard who insist that they prefer to dive in a way that is not the norm. It's a free country, do as you please but ask yourself why you stopped following what you were taught in OW class.
I've seen many other divers, including several here on Scubaboard who insist that they prefer to dive in a way that is not the norm. It's a free country, do as you please but ask yourself why you stopped following what you were taught in OW class.
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@doctormike
Exactly. Plan the dive and dive the plan!
Recall what dive book that was from ? The author began in SoCal and lived a while on "Avon on the Hudson"
SDM
Exactly. Plan the dive and dive the plan!
Recall what dive book that was from ? The author began in SoCal and lived a while on "Avon on the Hudson"
SDM
caruso
Banned
No divers dive exactly the same way. Regardless of which book they read, and which instructor they had or which company's logo is on their C-card. The subject of this thread, which is a pony bottle on a recreational dive, isn't even covered in the Open Water course. If I'm on a dive boat with 20 other divers, none of whom have a pony, and at the end of the dive I surface with a full 19cf pony and they surface with 500 psi, who has the larger margin of safety? Don't need a book to tell me that according to the math I've got a lot more gas. In addition to the redundancy of a second regulator throughout the entire dive.
It blows my mind that some boat captain would say "I've seen divers use a pony bottle in the wrong way therefore you cannot take yours on my boat". So a diver that makes the unwise decision to dive off such a person's boat, who carries a pony bottle for an extra measure of safety (such as Id o of course), must sacrifice their own safety for no other good reason than "The captain says so". Ridiculous.
Most divers dive the same way. Some dive better some dive worse. I feel that a diver who monitors his/her air supply properly and maintains their gear is going to be safe. Gear failures are extremely rare, even more so if they diver routinely checks hoses and other equipment. Monitoring your gas supply is the easiest thing in the world to do. I believe that the divers who surface with 500 psi are just as safe as the diver carrying a pony. The only difference is that the diver with the pony has to carry more gear, has a new entanglement possibility, has to get another tank VIPd every year and a hydro every five years and has a second reg to maintain, all in the hope that it is never needed.
For the divers who use their ponies to extend dives, perhaps they should learn to use doubles or rebreathers. Just like the Air2 threads, throwing money and gear at a skills problem is not the answer.
For the divers who use their ponies to extend dives, perhaps they should learn to use doubles or rebreathers. Just like the Air2 threads, throwing money and gear at a skills problem is not the answer.
Gear failures are rare, but they do happen. The two main ones I would be concerned about if I was diving below a comfortable CESA depth would be a blown LP hose or an unrecoverable free flow. That's really what the pony is for - or for donating to another OOG diver.
I don't think that a stage bottle is such a bad solution for a big diver with a high SAC rate diving in a team. Many people have a hard time with doubles in terms of carrying the weight on the surface. Also, it's is usually easier at a dive destination to rent a 40 to go with the 80 than to rent doubles. Larger tanks aren't always available either. It's not a perfect solution - sidemount might be better in that situation - but it's not unreasonable either. Just as long as it's part of the plan.
Bob DBF
Contributor
If your safety depends upon a pony bottle, you might rethink your dive plan.
As an aside, the pony bottle and its use was discussed on page 58 of the PADI OW manual back in '80 as an alternative to using a second second stage, which was just catching on at the time. Never seeing them teach a class, but I could list a number of instructors on this board who, I would bet, discuss pony bottles in their OW class.
When you have a good point, let it stand on its own. Making up facts and exaggerating dosent help unless you get credit for folks rolling their eyes while reading.
Bob
caruso
Banned
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