Anyone actually dive with a 6cf pony?

[Mr.X]

I mirror Soggy's statement. I use mine for a drysuit.

Additionally, when I learned to dive a zillion years ago my partner on my checkout was a large fella who drained his 80 cu. foot tank dry in about 10 minutes at 30 feet. I ended up having to give him my octo. Luckily, people started selling octo's in the early 70's.

A 6 cu. in a tense situation would not be of much value. It would be drained so fast that the user would probably not be able to get their wits about them.

The bailout I prefer to carry is a 40, or an 80. You just never know and insurance is always a good thing.

X

 

[bigfrog23]

i have used both a 6 and a 13 CF tanks and there is not much difference in size i like the 13 CF bottle better the the 6 CF bottle because it will give you enough time to do a safety stop at deeper depths. the 13 CF bottle is also negative at full and empty. i have very good air consumption and the 6 CF bottle is great if you are diving in 50 of water or less. at 50 -/+ 10 feet i get about 9-13 min which is plenty to come up from 50 and do a safety stop i know i have tried it several time and this is what the average is. under duress it would give me probably half that amount of time. i gave that away and got the 13 CF bottle sense a lot of the diving that i doing now is between 75-140 feet. and there is not enough in a 6 CF bottle to do a safety stop. i mounted the 6 cf bottle under the wing of my zegal bcd and could not even tell it was there. i now mount my bottle on the tank and like this better than under the wing of my BCD. i think what it comes down to is that if you get the 13 cf and wont take it on every dive than get the 6 cf bottle and but you must realize that you may not have enough air on a deeper dive.

 

[bogrady]

Thank you all for the calm and reasoned answers to my question. My intention for this 6 cf is redundant backup for lake and quarry solo diving above 60ft, no NDL viloations, bad gas management, entablement, or overhead hazards. Based on what I'm reading in this thread I think I'm OK.

If I get comfortable solo above 60ft and decide to go lower - I'll get the 19cf bottle. For now I see the 6cf as adequate for my dive plan.

Thanks again.

 

[diver 85]

At the extreme personal risk of starting another religious war, I have question on pony bottle size. I’ve read all the threads on ponies and I’m not interested in starting another discussion about good/bad gas management, redundancy, the perfect size etc.

I would like to hear from anyone out there that actually dives with a 6 cf pony bottle.
I’m looking at the Zeagle Razr on the 6 cf bottle. I really don’t want a lecture about how this will kill me – I’ve read all of the previous ones and I’ve done the spreadsheets about how long it will last.

I’d like to hear from anyone out there that actually dives a 6 cf and what they use it for. Are you still alive? What conditions do you dive it?

I have a 3.0 & realize it's not going to help out much in any overhead diving... I use it to get to my buddy in a major 1st, 2nd &/or octopus stage breakdown, or get to the surface from as deep as 130 (with no little pinky up--3 min. safety stop)......If you keep in mind it's not the best invention since sliced bread, it'll work just like you're thinking it will work, FINE.....Also use it for snorkling/swimming our pier @ Roatan....also very handy to have for our swimming pool, ex. checking the liner etc........we're talking long shots as most recreational divers dive, I'll take those odds anyday(life is a gamble but a lot of folks don't realize it...lol).......


EDIT...true story....a friend of mine bought a 6.0 Odyssey(new on EBay, $250 & it had the little pressure gauge on it) specifically for a trip we made on The Fling last month......FIRST dive----he lost it---it came out the little shoulder holder he had it in & never realized it till the end of the dive........lmao, I told him for a buck fifty he could have bought a pretty good lanyard to go with it, in fact I had an extra one sitting in my dive bag that trip......lol.......(remember, he's an engineer- & not the train kind either)

 

[captain]

Thank you all for the calm and reasoned answers to my question. My intention for this 6 cf is redundant backup for lake and quarry solo diving above 60ft, no NDL viloations, bad gas management, entablement, or overhead hazards. Based on what I'm reading in this thread I think I'm OK.


Thanks again.

Ruling out the possibility of all the above as not being an issue for carrying the pony then the very, very low probality of equipment failure with well maintained, streamlined basic gear makes carrying the pony almost useless and a more or less non issue to me.

 

[bogrady]

Captain - excellent point. My major reason here is to cover equipment failure especially when solo or with a clueless buddy. Are you saying that the very low odds of an equiptment failure, coupled with the abilityto make a CESA from <60' depths makes the pony a poor return on investment?

I like to look at things like this in the framework of the ROI. If my odds of dying under the dive conditions I have described are pretty much the same with or without the pony, I can understand skipping the pony.

 

[captain]

Captain - excellent point. My major reason here is to cover equipment failure especially when solo or with a clueless buddy. Are you saying that the very low odds of an equiptment failure, coupled with the ability to make a CESA from <60' depths makes the pony a poor return on investment?

I like to look at things like this in the framework of the ROI. If my odds of dying under the dive conditions I have described are pretty much the same with or without the pony, I can understand skipping the pony.

The choise is yours and I wouldn't look at it in a dollar and cents way if that is what you mean by investment.
Personally I don't carry a pony or any other type of redundant scuba, solo or not. I do carry redundency in the form of cutting devices and and other items as the dive demands and manage the other risks.
If you are renting gear then in that case it might be a good thing to bring the pony along.
But this is from someone who does his own gear maintenance, so I am not trusting someone else to do it right.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

The ROI on the pony is supposed to be terrible! If you are lucky it is a total and complete waste of money, at least until you need it.