Bail-out bottle question.

[syntaxerrorsix]

My pony is slung so I can see if I'm venting. I leave mine on through out the dive as well. I can understand not leaving a back mounted pony on (if you can reach the valve) as you may not be able to see/hear a leak.

Typically the 2nd is attached somewhere you could see a free flow occur, if the pony was charged and off you would not lose a lot of gas. If it is back mounted and you cannot reach the valve to stop a 2nd stage failure or you do not notice the leak you would effectively lose redundancy.

I feel that if you treat the pony like a true stage/bailout bottle and sling it accordingly you gain more than you lose. You will also be prepared to stage larger bottles for deco diving if you advance in your training. Lastly you remove one more possible entanglement hazard, if slung in the front you can see your problem and remove the entire unit if needed.

 

[sheck33]

Some folks dive solo. Some folks get assigned buddies that are not reliable so just like solo diving.

The point of redundant air is not because one has poor gas management, it's there in case of equipment failure.

My 19CF pony tank mounted is not even noticeable, and hardly unbalanced. My buddy carries his slung, and he reports no issues from a trim/balance standpoint.

Gas management does not eliminate the potential of equipment failure. I generally don't carry my pony diving with buddies I know, but I do use it on most wrecks I dive over 60', while on vacation.

True, but this is not the thread to discuss whether solodiving is a smart thing to do or not. Yes, I have had unreliable buddies assigned to me, in some cases I have simply refused to dive all together.

Certainly, gas management does not eliminate potential equipment failure.

I was merely voicing my opinion based on my own experiences with tank mounted pony bottles and on experiences with buddies carrying them. I just wonder why people carrying ponybottles don't just dive doubles instead?

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

True, but this is not the thread to discuss whether solodiving is a smart thing to do or not. Yes, I have had unreliable buddies assigned to me, in some cases I have simply refused to dive all together.

Certainly, gas management does not eliminate potential equipment failure.

I was merely voicing my opinion based on my own experiences with tank mounted pony bottles and on experiences with buddies carrying them. I just wonder why people carrying ponybottles don't just dive doubles instead?

Because you do not need all the additional weight/equipment or expense to have a redundant gas supply.

All you are asking is why don't we all have manifolds between our pony and primary bottle.

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

True, but this is not the thread to discuss whether solodiving is a smart thing to do or not.
?

I figure if an astronaut can do a solo space walk, with the proper mindset and experience a diver can do the same. This is quite common on boat dives, especially in regards to the insta-buddy phenomenon where "same ocean diving" tends to be more the norm. Once again, you cannot make this a "team thing" because it isn't. Of course this isn't the thread to discuss said "team thing" either.

 

[all4scuba05]

I just wonder why people carrying ponybottles don't just dive doubles instead?

Some don't have thousands to spend coming out of open water. That's one reason.

Some prefer to take baby steps with equipment and training. I for one understand why some don't think "newbies" should jump in the water with a new drysuit and doubles with only 6 dives on their belt. That's another reason.

 

[jeraldjcook]

I just wonder why people carrying ponybottles don't just dive doubles instead?

Cost is one issues that has been mentioned. The other reasons for me are practicality and portability. For vacations, I can easily fit my 19cf in my carry-on. If all my diving was local I would definitely dive doubles. But taking doubles (just for a redundant gas supply when you only need 80cf per dive) on vacation makes little sense and most of the boats I've been on are not setup to deal with doubles anyway.

 

[charlesml3]

My pony is slung so I can see if I'm venting.

I've heard this argument time and time again and I still can't make sense of it. Your primary gas is on your back so you effectively "can't see if it's venting." I know I can hear a leak because it's happened once or twice.

Is there some reason I wouldn't be able to hear my pony leaking just the same?

-Charles

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

I've heard this argument time and time again and I still can't make sense of it. Your primary gas is on your back so you effectively "can't see if it's venting." I know I can hear a leak because it's happened once or twice.

Is there some reason I wouldn't be able to hear my pony leaking just the same?

-Charles

The first stage of your back gas is about 1 inch from your head. Not the case with your pony. Could you hear it anyways? Maybe, but I can see mine and it is no different from deco /stage bottles in configuration so I have no gear changes.

The real bonus for slinging the pony is the ability to pass it off to someone else to use in an OOG situation.

 

[jeraldjcook]

I've heard this argument time and time again and I still can't make sense of it. Your primary gas is on your back so you effectively "can't see if it's venting." I know I can hear a leak because it's happened once or twice.

Is there some reason I wouldn't be able to hear my pony leaking just the same?

-Charles

You probably could hear it leaking just like you could with you back gas. But I think the crux of the argument is that should you need to use the bail-out, you really NEED it, and that's not the time to find out it's been leaking for 45 minutes and you 500psi left.

 

[micklock]

I have a pony back mounted upright left on and use it with a spg on a 30" hose. The other day I dove with one of my new steel 40's and a hp 80 mounted with velcro double bands and I was surprised how balanced it was, I couldnt even tell the tanks were different sizes(weights). I put 2lbs in the back trim pocket of my bc on the side with the smaller tank.