Bail-out bottle question.

[Meng_Tze]

I have no octopus, rather a pony second stage bungied on my neck. Wonder why he thinks this is bad? My pony is fixed and can not be handed off.

Let me clarify.

Like I said, there are no hard and fast rules. But you DO have to think and talk things through with your buddies. If you agree that the buddy can come and grab the pony reg, they should have access to it. That is what I meant by 'being in a scenario where a buddy can come and grab the pony reg'

If you are diving with buddies and carry a pony/bail out bottle. Is it intended to be used by your buddy as well? If it is, then a bungeed second stage of the pony around your neck is a problem for the buddy out of gas....unless you have two second stages on your pony. One around your neck, and the other on the tank.

If you however have the second stage of the pony readily accessible to both yourself and a buddy, then there is no issue. In this instance if a buddy is OOG, you can done/they can grab the second stage, you can unclip the pony (provided it is slung) and both can go up independently.


If you decide that you will not grant pony access to your buddy, then a bungeed second stage around your neck is not an issue. Or you could hand them your primary and go to pony yourself......

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

Let me clarify.


If you decide that you will not grant pony access to your buddy, then a bungeed second stage around your neck is not an issue.

Or you could hand them your primary and go to pony yourself......

That leads me back to the independent doubles theory again with no way to share enough air to handle a problem.

 

[Meng_Tze]

That leads me back to the independent doubles theory again.

I don't disagree there.

My view is that a pony is an independent backup gas supply and should be available to all who need it. To me that means ample gas, the right gas, reg easily accessible, flowing reg when needed and detachable. But that is ME, each diver needs to decide why and how they carry their pony.

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

I don't disagree there.

My view is that a pony is an independent backup gas supply and should be available to all who need it. To me that means ample gas, the right gas, reg easily accessible, flowing reg when needed and detachable. But that is ME, each diver needs to decide why and how they carry their pony.

Agreed, however I can't see deleting part of the original redundancy, namely the octo no matter how the pony is carried or deployed.

 

[fl-diver]

I usually dive on my own boat but today all of my buddies were busy and I wanted to dive. I jumped on the afternoon trip with one of our local chater boats. (West Palm Beach area.) Everybody had buddies except me and another guy. When I asked if he wanted to buddy up he said "I'll be taking video and probably won't make much of a buddy." I was welcomed to hang out with other pairs on the boat but I was still like a third wheel. I have dove solo before so I was not overly concerned. I did give my pony bottle an extra check and take a test breath after I got to the bottom. I felt much better knowing my backup emergency gas was not in my buddy's tank since he was off taking video and ended up seperated from the rest of the group on both dives.
I did end up diving with somebody unofficially and I had 2 great dives. I was confident knowing that I had my own backup.

 

[all4scuba05]

Ok, so now I wonder...
I'm swimming along with the fishes. I go to inhale and get water. I reach for my pony reg. It's slung, charged, but with valve off. When I quickly place that reg in my mouth, how can I breathe nothing but air before opening the valve?
Keep in mind, if valve was open, I would've purged but it's closed. I have "empty" lungs when I quickly reached for that reg.

 

[Meng_Tze]

Ok, so now I wonder...
I'm swimming along with the fishes. I go to inhale and get water. I reach for my pony reg. It's slung, charged, but with valve off. When I quickly place that reg in my mouth, how can I breathe nothing but air before opening the valve?
Keep in mind, if valve was open, I would've purged but it's closed. I have "empty" lungs when I quickly reached for that reg.

You never truly have empty lungs. A strong push from the lungs (diaphragm) can clear a reg. Secondly, you will have quite a few seconds before CO2 forces you to breathe. Put the reg in the mouth, while doing that open valve. Purge the reg, exhale the water in mouth (if it is a small amount, you can breathe with it) and inhale. It sounds easy on the internet and will be a challenge under water. But it is doable.

 

[all4scuba05]

I understand it's doable. Was thinking of the guy that went to inhale his back gas and finds himself coughing from inhaling a little salt water from the wet reg. There's also the case of a buddy or stranger who already exhaled, is swimming up to you and grabbing the pony reg but having no air to purge the reg with. When a diver like that shoves that reg into his mouth he WILL inhale.

I prefer to have the valve open. That's just my preference. Not saying others are wrong. As of now I would rather not add ANY delay to air delivery. I might change my mind someday though.

 

[charlesml3]

I use this system with the following exceptions:

1) I mount it on the right instead of the left. They mistakenly mounted it on the left in this photo which would put the 2nd stage upside down in your mouth. Not life threatening if it happened, but annoying.

2) I use a 13 foot pony instead of a 20. Easier to travel.

The valve is right at the bottom edge of my BC and I can get to it easily. I still turn it on at the beginning of the day and off after the last dive of the day.

 

[Meng_Tze]

I prefer to have the valve open. That's just my preference. .

Mine too