Carrying Three Regulators

[MXGratefulDiver]

You don't need one on a long hose, all you need is to be able to tell it from the other. So, one 2nd in your mouth, one on a necklace, and one on the slung pony/stage.

It is when you have two or more 2nd stages on necklaces or cliped off in a simular fashion that the confusion factor comes in. We lost divers, as in dead on the bottom, due to the confusion. They died with full back gas and an empty pony.

Seriously? More than one? Wouldn't the first diver who died because of the confusion provide a clue that there was something fundamentally wrong with this approach?

How's the saying go ... "It's a fool who keeps doing the same thing and expecting a different result".

I understand there's a mindset difference between east coast and west coast tech diving ... but if I knew that something confusing in a configuration had caused another diver to die, I'd give some serious thought to not doing it that way.

When I dive, I can carry four ... or even five ... second stages. There's protocols to make sure that the one you're breathing off of is connected to the cylinder you THINK it's connected to. They exist for a reason.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

1st this is not advanced scuba, it it taught to OW divers.
2nd if they are asking they probably are not that experience so hence less is more.
3rd since they are asking they are not that experience therefore not doing extreme different type of dives so they can dive the same setup for all dives.

Then this discussion is happening in the wrong forum ... this forum is where we're supposed to discuss advanced diving techniques.

4th the people saying to carry 3 have no good reason besides being lazy and not wanting to change gear

... or perhaps they have reasons you simply either don't need or haven't considered.

5th im bored is the only reason i keep posting

Then you should consider diving more ... it would not only relieve your boredom, it might also help clear up your confusion ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[JLambus]

yeah i cant believe i read through 7 pages of arguments... the way i see it i doesnt really matter, its about what the diver is comfortable with... personally i go with an air2 inflator and be done with it... easy peasy.

 

[ivobj]

Thanks again everyone. One final question on the sharing of "gas" from the main tank with a single regulator? Why is this an issue? I am carrying a pony why do you need access to my tank? If for some unknown, unforseeable reason you do, why cant we share a regulator? I mean we are talking about something that is remote in the extreme aren't we? We would need two simultaneous major malfunctions to require you to need access to my main tanks air. At least it seems that way to me.

I will try to answer your questions, my point of view, ok?

Sharing gas in the same regulator is indeed a relevant issue, the diver that went OOA and needs to share your air would most probably be in a high stress level and tend to get troubled with the bigger taskload of sharing in the same reg and what is worse, if he panicked (what is a more real risk than we usually consider for a diver OOA) he tends to retain the reg giving YOU trouble to get it back.

What is so complicated about using an octo? If well routed it won't botter you at all, no entaglement, just some safty for you and your buddy...

One final comment, you should considered that for an OOA diver having to sling the pony first could be exactly the extra task load needed for him to panick or near that before being able to start breathing from the pony bottle, and for sure in this case he will go for the regulator in your mouth (is the one most easilly accessible and visible!!!) and let the pony go loose (i have seen that happen, fortunately the guy had an octo and could let his buddy breath from his back gas after loosing the pony bottle and calm down having his "own reg" to start a controlled ascent.) Note that the alternative is also too risky if you prepare the pony for him, you will need an octo anyway, because you will probably have both of your hands busy taking the hose out of the bands, and sharing your air in the same reg without your hands is not safe at all.

 

[atedeschi]

Then this discussion is happening in the wrong forum ... this forum is where we're supposed to discuss advanced diving techniques.


... or perhaps they have reasons you simply either don't need or haven't considered.


Then you should consider diving more ... it would not only relieve your boredom, it might also help clear up your confusion ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

then why noy explain the reasons? the reasons stated so far are BS, people are over loading themselves with tasks. one of the biggest point of carrying a pony is to save ur own butt, and if u run out of air and grab the wrong reg, u can panic and drown or go straight to the surface. i dnt really buy the slung pony, you should just hard mount it and have the pony reg on a necklace and other in your mouth. this way the ooa diver is going to grab the one your breathing and you can access the pony quick and dont have to turn on anything deploy anything etc, but that can be debated in another post. anyway this is pointless unless there are actually reasons posted, im done with this thread.

cant dive everyday, wish i could but i get board at school. dont worry should be doing a few 180-220' dives thursday and sat. guess what ill have 4 2nd stages

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

then why noy explain the reasons?

Why bother ... it's pretty evident that you already know everything.

But I will say that if having an extra reg on your body is so confusing that it'll cause you to panic, then perhaps you shouldn't be posting in the "Advanced Scuba Discussions" forum ... because it's evident from the content of your post that you're not a very experienced diver ... despite your claim to the contrary.

I learned long ago that trying to convince an inexperienced diver with strong opinions of anything is a waste of time. The bottom is your best teacher.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[atedeschi]

im not going to arguing about who is a better diver, blah blah with you and i am not a know it all.

why not layouy the reason, for it.

i didn't say i would get confused, like i said before if people are asking they are unexperience and you are making it more complicated then it needs to be.

have i dove with 3 before yes, why cause i was to lazy to change it, but if you are going to dive a single tank, i say use a pony all the time and have 2 seconds.

please enlighten me on why 3 is better then 2, there have been none posted thus far.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

When the three 2nd stages are a primary on a long hose (in your mouth), a secondary on a short hose bungeed around your neck, and a slung pony with the 2nd held close to the valve; there is not a lot of room for confusion. Unless you are really easily confused. And, the majority of the time when the pony is not carried; the transition is absolutely no problem as long as you are not using some POS regulators.

I pretty much agree. That is why a stated that I BACK MOUNT my pony. I personally think carrying a slung pony is safer and (as you point out) it is about impossible to get the second stages confused with each other.


In other words, in my opinion, 3 second stages is ok if you are slinging the pony but NOT if you are back mounting the pony bottle. Back mounting the pony CAN kill you if you mix up the regs.

I do not like slinging a pony bottle because it gets in my way, but slinging it is safer for a number of reasons (in addition to elimination of second stage confusion).

 

[mikeyjoe]

I should ask the Dive Master I dove with in Puerto Vallarta in February what he thinks of all this.

Just him and me diving - I had an octo, he didn't, no pony...

I guess he was covered anyways......

Fun watching a long arguement over what boils down to personal preference.......

I carry an octo and a pony - one reg for me, one for my buddy and one for the mermaid.....

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Fun watching a long arguement over what boils down to personal preference.......

I carry an octo and a pony - one reg for me, one for my buddy and one for the mermaid.....

There ya have it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)