An Idea Taken From DIR

[Nemrod]

I have shown these photos before but they show things well. Sorry I don't have good UW photos.

You can see in this picture that the valve and regulator of the pony are virtually in my face, that is about how it rides underwater when horozontal as well. I am just returning from a 100ish foot solo dive on this sunken 100 foot long triple decker:

Fairly low viz with many entanglements and penetration possible. No hoses can hang or dangle. That stupid LP inflator hose of mine refuses to tuck in despite my best efforts, I keep making it shorter and shorter and then I got my new wing and it still does it---arrrrggghhhhh.

Having deployed the bottle and seen how the hose hangs down when deployed fully I don't like your idea. With it tucked on the pony it does not have to be fully deployed, just pull out enough to get the regulator in my mouth.

Well, give it a try and see how your idea works, that will tell the tale.

My mind is made up on this--AIRIIs are newbish, seem like a good idea but they are really a very bad thing and generally prove so for most divers as they gain underwater time.

Are you using a BP/wing, sorry, old people forget easily--lol.

Good luck.

N

 

[Nemrod]

In the pic above you noitce if look carefully that there is a piece of inner tube on the corrugated wing hose yet the LP hose is not stowed under it as it should be. That is because it was stowed there and I got tangled somehow in a tree branch or something that was sticking into the side of the wreck and caught me by the wing hose and then slid inbetween the corrugated hose and the LP hose. Once I figured that out I just popped the LP hose off and pulled it out of the innertube and freed myself but of course did not bother with re-stowing the inflator hose as I retreated from the interior. Anything that sticks out will tangle if given the opportunity. N

 

[Dive-aholic]

I found the best place for my left arm was around the bottle (hugging it almost), so my left hand is practically fondling the valve...not long, is the answer.



It's not a stage bottle, it's a redundant air source, and I'm not most divers.



That's fine for other people, but I want that second . Quite simply, I disagree, in terms of a solo diver at least.

I solo dive and cave dive. I've done the training. I've done the dives. So have a lot of other people here that are posting. You asked a question and experienced divers are providing you with answers. Don't you think that after 50 years we'd be using techniques that are proven to work?

I've read through the thread and see you may be changing your thinking on this. As you evaluate things keep in mind what experienced divers are doing and think about why.

It's not difficult to pull a reg hose out of the bungie strap. In fact it can be done without even stopping. I do it on stage and deco dives regularly. Just pull the reg and wrap hose around neck while turning valve on. You shouldn't even miss a fin stroke.

 

[ShallowDiverDave]

Having deployed the bottle and seen how the hose hangs down when deployed fully I don't like your idea. With it tucked on the pony it does not have to be fully deployed, just pull out enough to get the regulator in my mouth.

Well, give it a try and see how your idea works, that will tell the tale.

My mind is made up on this--AIRIIs are newbish, seem like a good idea but they are really a very bad thing and generally prove so for most divers as they gain underwater time.

Are you using a BP/wing, sorry, old people forget easily--lol.

Good luck.

N

N, I completely agree with you on the AIRIIs for solo, I'm getting rid of mine. I too am going to shorten my inflater hose, blasted thing. I'm going to give my idea a couple more trys and the standard tucked away method a couple more trys before I get too stuburn about it and stick with my idea (In the pool guys). I believe in, practicing with multiple techniques in the water before considering it "my rig", and even then I'll always be changing it if I think something else is better. With solo, I think optimization is a great thing.

 

[ShallowDiverDave]

I solo dive and cave dive. I've done the training. I've done the dives. So have a lot of other people here that are posting. You asked a question and experienced divers are providing you with answers. Don't you think that after 50 years we'd be using techniques that are proven to work?

I've read through the thread and see you may be changing your thinking on this. As you evaluate things keep in mind what experienced divers are doing and think about why.

It's not difficult to pull a reg hose out of the bungie strap. In fact it can be done without even stopping. I do it on stage and deco dives regularly. Just pull the reg and wrap hose around neck while turning valve on. You shouldn't even miss a fin stroke.

I just want to say that sometimes I might come off as a stubborn newbie, and guess what I am one, but I really appreciate all the knowledge you all are trying to bestow on me. Here's the deal: we can go back and forth about it until we are blue in the face on this board, but a person can only convince them self by giving it a shot. I intend to spend hours in the pool with a couple of these methods and convince myself why one is warranted over the other. I have been proven wrong before, I'm up for it again.

 

[grazie42]

Maybe I´m in a minority (or not) but I try to change as little as possible in my config...
That means that I dive with a bungied secondry even when solo. My "pony" is connected to my left hip-dring and left chest-dring, the hose of the "pony reg" is tucked away and pressurized with the valve off.

Some people would choose to remove the secondry for solo-dives, I won´t, but even if I were to I´d still carry the pony the same way...most people can go without air for 1-2 mins (even at the end of a breath). Even if some bozo were to jerk your reg from your mouth you should still be able to calmly turn the valve on your pony and start breathing...

I´d say that if you plan your solo-diving so that you´re able to comfortably provide gas to "OOA-divers from nowhere", you´re better off keeping your bungied secondary when going solo...

As to the cold-water...we tend to have 4C (40F?) at depth even in summer and I´ve had no issues with the "common" approach to stage-bottle handling...surface temps are about -2C (30F?) right now and we still dive the same way...as long as you don´t breath the stage-reg on the surface you should be fine (my stage regs are enviromentally sealed)...

 

[Nemrod]

I think some solo divers are primarily buddy divers who occasionally solo and some are solo divers who occasionally buddy dive and this perhaps subtle distinction does impact our approaches to gear configurations and when, where, how deep and all that.

I am beginning to like this stubborn findingmylove, stubborn is good--lol. I am that way about doubles, I cannot hardly pick them up with help much less alone. Therefore my optimaztion of a single tank rig and pony. I am also that way about additional failure points caused by added equipment that provides no actual benifit to the solo diver such as AIRIIs and octapuses and air integrated transmitters and all that kind of stuff. In fact, I might just get rid of the LP inflator. I inflated my BCs manually for a nearly a decade before they had power inflators---might be good riddance to another failure point.

It is good to "argue" points because it often points out things that get overlooked--the why of things. Scuba diving is almost as dogma driven as the Catholic Church but in one case they have God on their side and the other just assorted gurus of the moment. It is always good to question things. Right and wrong were put down in stone, the rest is up for discussion.
N

 

[grazie42]

Originally Posted by Nemrod
It is always good to question things. Right and wrong were put down in stone, the rest is up for discussion.

I totally agree

 

[Timeliner]

It is good to "argue" points because it often points out things that get overlooked--the why of things. Scuba diving is almost as dogma driven as the Catholic Church but in one case they have God on their side and the other just assorted gurus of the moment.
N

:shakehead Man dude... That brings me to a scary topic.

I never remind God that I was an Alter Boy when I Solo Dive.

'No use calling attention to myself now is there ?

 

[b1gcountry]

It's probably been pretty hashed out at this point, but I thought I would throw my comments out there too...

First off, I usually dive a slung 19cf pony rigged DIR style solo/group/whatever. The Inst I work with asked me to take it off when I help with his OW classes, but other than that, I dive with it.

I use race bike inner tubes (personally flatted by yours truly) to secure my second stage to the pony. They aren't pretty, but they work pretty well. Started off with only one band, but I found the hose didn't stow very well that way, so now I have two. I agree that it doesn't take anything to pull it out. With the pony slung hip-to-chest, and the reg stowed, I can SEE the spare reg, and I can get it into my mouth without even deploying it.

I have an old sherwood regulator on the pony that has the dry-bleed first stage. I keep the valve turned on throughout the dive to keep the flow-control element from getting crapped out (for those of you unfamiliar with the sherwood first stages, they *normally* emit a slight stream of bubbles throughout the dive, and if you submerge them without pressure, the water can foul the piston's Flow-control element...) Anyway, I have never had a problem with leaving the pony full-on throughout the dive. The main reason people advocate leaving the reg charged but off is for tech divers carrying deco bottles to prevent them from getting a pete from breathing from the wrong regulator containing a mix of too much O2. If they grab the wrong regulator, the valve will be turned off, and they will only get a breath or two before realizing it. I don't see a problem with someone who never tech dives leaving the pony turned on all the time; although, if you tech dive as well, there is something to be said for doing the same in all your diving so you don't get confused.

I don't like the idea of tethering the pony reg on a necklace for a couple of reasons:
1. The pony already takes up room on your D-Rings, putting the reg on the pony is like a free D-Ring, make use if you can!
2. Taking the pony off is just that much harder. Even if you don't hand it off underwater, I sometimes like to hand it off before climbing the ladder into the boat. Even taking it off on the surface would be harder.
3. The pony is the last thing I put on when kitting up (well, maybe fins last) It's nice to have a compact package without a regulator and necklace dangling, and getting hooked on stuff.
4. A 36" hose is going to dangle between you and the bottle. Even if it is stowed perfectly, it will dangle more than one stowed alongside the bottle.

To the OP: Reinventing the wheel is not a bad thing, but it is a lot more work than following accepted procedures. If you do things the way everyone else does them, then you have everyone else to rely on to tell you what to expect; what the pitfalls are, etc. If you reinvent the wheel, you have to figure out the pitfalls yourself. On another note, dive professionals are judged by a set of "generally accepted rules" established by the dive industry. That's one reason most professional dive organizations don't like to stray from the established practices, since in doing so they open themselves up to liability.

anyway, disregard or whatever,
Later,
Tom