Info Are Pony Bottles Dangerous?

[34109411]

Recreational divers on the Great Lakes will commonly carry a pony for deeper dives. Note they are recreational divers with single tanks. They maybe do a few charters a year. Do warm water trips, too, plus other diving such as quarries and inland lakes. Why should these divers who have no interest in tech diving go to the expense of setting themselves up with doubles or sidemount for a few dives a year? A pony is a lot cheaper and a lot lighter to carry than a set of doubles.

I used to be one of these single tank divers slinging a pony - 40cft in my case.

And there’s no need to bother with nitrox in your pony. Air only.

i thimk you nail it this is exactly my situation.

 

[34109411]

A pony bottle, is not intended to solve skills problems. They can however, do that by the simply being available when you need it; in that case, usually due to diver error. A pony bottle, is NEVER included in one's dive planning.
A rec diver, does not always have to dive with a buddy; it's called Solo or Self Reliant certification. A self reliant dive buddy, makes the best buddy. I have been slinging a pony bottle, since my 1st dive as a cert OW diver. I even slung it during my AOW course. 1st pony was a 13cu Catalina; sellers regret for selling it when I got a 30cu Catalina I know, when I am at 130', my 30cu pony, when full, will bring me safely to the surface. I also knew, my 13cu pony, if I was below 60', would get me to a buddy, not the surface. Either way, it was only to be used, during a primary gear failure, and never used to extend a dive.

exactly

 

[Angelo Farina]

double are for technical diving and require a technical training. I don't need double for the recreational diving that i do. I carry a pony bottle for redundancy. i don't do wreck i don't do cave or deep dive or deco dive. Why should i use double ?

???
Properly sized doubles are great for rec diving. At my first diving course we only used doubles.
They are more streamlined and well balanced than a single of same capacity.
My twin tank is a Technisub Aralu, 9+9 liters at 200 bars. My single tank is 15 liters Cressi at 232 bars. Same capacity, same weight.
I am not a tech diver.
But, for selected, demanding dives, I also used an additional 3 liters pony tank...

 

[34109411]

???
Properly sized doubles are great for rec diving. At my first diving course we only used doubles.
They are more streamlined and well balanced than a single of same capacity.
My twin tank is a Technisub Aralu, 9+9 liters at 200 bars. My single tank is 15 liters Cressi at 232 bars. Same capacity, same weight.
I am not a tech diver.
But, for selected, demanding dives, I also used an additional 3 liters pony tank...

i dont know any agencies who will let you dive with double in regard of obtaining a open water certification for recreational diving from 0 to 42m. If you know one let me know.

So in that sense no matter what, you need to go to some sort of technical diving in order to dive with double. (if i am wrong let me know but far as i am concern this how it goes).

In my case i did intro to cave diving both with IATD and NACD but didn't finish the full course will i did practice a lot after that with double.

I think padi offer the tech 40 course in order to use double. prerequisite is AOE if i am not wrong.


Personally i find that double are not for everyone anyway.. Unless you are very skills and complete diver.

 

[FishWatcher747]

Even easier to fly with sidemount gear.

Serious question. If someone was interested in trying sidemount and already had regulators what would be the investment in gear enough to fly to a destination to use it?

 

[Bloody Marvelous]

Serious question. If someone was interested in trying sidemount and already had regulators what would be the investment in gear enough to fly to a destination to use it?

A sidemount harness and a rigging kit for two cylinders. About 800~1,000 bucks. Maybe a couple of LPI hoses if they don't come with the harness.

 

[SlugLife]

double are for technical diving and require a technical training.

I don't agree. Doubles, can be little more complicated than your standard open-water configuration, if it's simply manifolded and you use the same regulator. The only real difference is twice the weight and gas. If your dive plan uses a lot of gas, there's little reason one cannot use doubles.

If you start getting into configurations with a little more complexity, like independent doubles, it helps to seek out additional information and advice, and practice. For example, practicing manipulating the valves of each tank, and making sure you can flawlessly switch regulators. It can also be helpful to learn about hose-routing and ways of retaining regulators when dealing with multiple tanks, which don't require a class, but are likely to be covered in some technical classes.

Where it gets a little sketchy would be self-teaching SideMount. I did "self teach" SideMount, using the materials at SideMounting.com and a lot of free time, though I don't recommend that. (If a brand new open water diver, put on a sidemount kit, and with no training of any kind jumped off the side of a boat, I'd consider that dangerous.)

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Instead, the "things that catch [his] attention" make a lot more sense if someone that is highly judgmental about someone else's diving choices. "Look at Joe with his pony bottle, he must suck as Scuba diving, which is why he needs training wheels." "Doesn't bob know swivels are failure points?" "Split fins? Lol, what a newbie!" "Yoke? What a joke! Doesn't he know Din is superior?" He lumps that in with "poorly fitting" "rookie mistakes."

Dang it!!! Musta been a rookie poster yer quoting there! Totally forgot the MOST telling factor: SCHNORKELS !!! Dang it man! Everybody knows that anybody with a schnorkel is a bad/inexperienced/uninformed diver! Or anybody that has anything except a Shearwater DC!

 

[34109411]

I don't agree. Doubles, can be little more complicated than your standard open-water configuration, if it's simply manifolded and you use the same regulator. The only real difference is twice the weight and gas. If your dive plan uses a lot of gas, there's little reason one cannot use doubles.

If you start getting into configurations with a little more complexity, like independent doubles, it helps to seek out additional information and advice, and practice. For example, practicing manipulating the valves of each tank, and making sure you can flawlessly switch regulators. It can also be helpful to learn about hose-routing and ways of retaining regulators when dealing with multiple tanks, which don't require a class, but are likely to be covered in some technical classes.

Where it gets a little sketchy would be self-teaching SideMount. I did "self teach" SideMount, using the materials at SideMounting.com and a lot of free time, though I don't recommend that. (If a brand new open water diver, put on a sidemount kit, and with no training of any kind jumped off the side of a boat, I'd consider that

Il

 

[SlugLife]

Serious question. If someone was interested in trying sidemount and already had regulators what would be the investment in gear enough to fly to a destination to use it?

Your biggest cost would probably be training. As mentioned in my previous comment, I did "self teach" SideMount, though I did pay about $200 for the SideMounting materials, and had a LOT of free time, patience, and a location to practice those skills.

A "gear you'll need" list would be covered in a SideMount course, but essentially you need:

• SM BCD: Ideally, you want a BCD designed for SideMount. There are ways of modifying a backplate BCD, and "slinging" 2 tanks, but it won't be as streamlined, or the "real" experience. Since you mention travel, it might be worth starting a thread asking which sidemount BCDs are good for travel. My "DIY" SM BCD is great for travel, but it's not very repeatable. My "nicer" commercial one is terrible for travel.
• 2 regulators, configured for SM. If you have 2 regulators, you may still want to buy hoses the proper lengths for a proper sidemount experience.
• 2 tank rigging, configured for SM. SideMounting.com goes over tank rigging. It's not as simple as slapping on a "stage sling kit" if you want your tanks to sit right.
• Butt-Pouch - Technically not required, but many sidemount divers have one.