Best method to carry a 13 cu ft pony with reg

[tomfcrist]

The whole point of the pony is to have enough gas for a direct ascent in case of either OOA or catastrophic gas failure...you should never have to use it if the dive isn't being aborted anyway.

As a matter of fact, why should I need to explain this concept to a rebreather diver? One whom should understand the concept of a bailout bottle, which is basically what a pony is used for in the non tech world.

 

[Nemrod]

A 13cf bottle will not sling well, it is too fat and stubby. The 19 and 30 cf sling well and lay naturally and are useful sizes.N

 

[rhwestfall]

A 13cf bottle will not sling well, it is too fat and stubby. The 19 and 30 cf sling well and lay naturally and are useful sizes.N

same diameter as a 19.... so "fat" is debunked.... length can make it tuck well in a smaller diver (for me, it practically disappears... then again, AL100's and HP120's are not too long for me..)

***EDIT***

oh, and the 13/19 are smaller diameter than the somewhat favorite 30....

 

[Splitlip]

Have you considered that 13cf may not be enough in order for you, or your buddy, to safely reach the surface?

A good advice is to calculate your gas consumption for an ascent from the furthest point in the dive using your/your buddy's worst SAC rates.

Think I'm speaking a foreign language? Assume your 13cf will not be enough to reach the surface and seek further instruction!

Wow. So far off the mark, sheesh. I suppose I should be glad it took all of 20 some posts for one of these comments to appear. Lol.

 

[KenGordon]

In the UK pony bottles are very popular, much more so than twinsets. If a club is doing a 30 to 40m dive in the channel there will be a bunch of people using 15l main cylinders with a 3l pony.

Almost every one will be back mounted as a 3l steel is quite negative and people find slinging them a pain. Strictly when slinging them such that they can handed off you have to still carry enough lead on a belt to stay down without it, if back mounted you can lose that lead. I guess you could decide never to give it away.

There are many long debates on the internet about how these people will just die or get bent when they eventually need the gas as 600l of free gas isn't really enough. By my imperial to metric calculations 13cf sounds like approximately 370l and the contents of a 1.5l bottle. If you turned up on a UK boat with that config you would be asked in complete seriousness why you were slinging a suit inflation bottle and why there was a second stage on it. If the reply was that you thought it was going to get you to the surface then they would skip taking the piss and go directly to making sure they had your next of kin information. If this ever happens tell them it is so you don't freeze your main first stage when filling the lifting bag.

If summary - popularly back mounted, but larger and probably still too small.

Another popular configuration is the 12l (80 ish cf) back mounted pony.

I would not dive a single with a buddy using only a small pony and no octopus on their main.

If using a sensible sized pony and it is aluminium I'd personally side sling it as I would a deco bottle. If your BCD doesn't have appropriate D rings then you can add them on little Velcro bindings.

Ken


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[Kharon]

I agree with Ken. I won't be carrying a 13cuft in any situation... It may be useful to get you to the surface but I would like to avoid any chamber rides if possible.

The other issue I have with such "tiny" bailout is that... I like to stay in the water for a reasonable amount of time which means that I usually will have more than a few breaths of deco.... ;-)

So you regularly dive to 100-130ft over the past 6-7 years with 100-199 dives and where exactly does this occur while solo diving?

Garth

First, I won't be going to a chamber using a 13cf. You don't know my skill set, SAC/ave SRMV rates, etc. What you won't be carrying is of no consequence or interest to me. Actual practice indicates I'm good to go with 13cf. Admittedly, that gives me little room to spare from max rec depth. However, I maintain my own equipment, which means service at way more than the suggested intervals and do a thorough external inspection of all equipment before every dive. Chances that I'll need the pony while at 100-130' are finite but vanishingly small considering the wee bit of no-deco time there is at those depths.

Second, the SDI Solo Divers Course precludes any deco when solo diving. If that's something you want to do, you probably have a much better chance of chambering than me.

Third, Bonaire and Lake George (both allow dives way deeper than 130'), so you can shove your sarcasm.

 

[pjhansman]

Third, Bonaire and Lake George (both allow dives way deeper than 130'), so you can shove your sarcasm.

Good God man....it's ScubaBoard!! If being condescending and sarcastic isn't allowed, there's a whole group of people who will be rendered speechless.

 

[Garth]

What kind of bottom time are you getting without deco to 130' and what kind of gas are you using in this lake.


Garth

 

[Kharon]

What kind of bottom time are you getting without deco to 130' and what kind of gas are you using in this lake.

Garth

I don't spend much time at 130' either venue because there just is no real reason for me to do so. I don't dive wrecks and I don't see anything that interests me at 130' that I can't see much shallower. My profile usually is to drop to as deep as I'm going to go, take a look for a few minutes, then climb back up slope at an angle (left or right). When I reach the depth I want to head back at I parallel the slope and tool along till I cross where I dropped over the edge. Even though I don't spend a lot of time deep I want to know I can make a safe ascent with what I'm carrying so I practice emergency ascents at least a few times each season from about 130'. Since Lake George is numb compared to Bonaire, Dominica, the Keys, etc. I do more practice runs in very cold water which increases the dive factor affecting SRMV. If 13cf is good in Lake George it should be more than good in warm water.

As far as gas - I use air even though I've got the Nitrox card. I actually got the Nitrox cert more to qualify for the AOW and Solo. If I actually need to use Nitrox I've got the cert. But, since Nitrox doesn't affect RMV it's not worth the extra hasstle of analyzing every tank and filling out the log when I'm on an island. I've got all day and I can get 5 dives in with no problem. Also I don't have to worry about MOD and PO2.

 

[kwinter]

The question wasn't about how deep to dive, or what size pony to carry. It was about how to carry a 13. Side slung, cross slung, or back mounted.