Different mixes and pony bottles

[Papa_Bear]

Just fill it and dive it with the same mix for both and keep it simple! On most boats or stores it is straight forward and I have seen most divers fill their ponies from their main tank and then top off the tank with the same mix from the same whip!

 

[String]

Just fill it and dive it with the same mix for both and keep it simple! On most boats or stores it is straight forward and I have seen most divers fill their ponies from their main tank and then top off the tank with the same mix from the same whip!

Ive never seen anyone do that. Just about all pony users ive seen here its filled and then carried for months of diving if left unused only to be topped up when the notice the constant on/off and purging has depleted it a bit. Cant think of anyone that drains it after a diver just to keep the mix consistent.

A 3l pony is 25% the size of your main tank on average- chances are doing that youd end up having to pay for another standard size tank fill - its more than a top off.

 

[emcbride81]

I keep air in my pony regardless of what's on my back, the main reason being air will not be a bad thing to breathe at recreational depths but, depending on the blend, EAN will. Now, most likely we would be on our way up, so having EAN would most likely not cause an issue. However if you are trapped in a wreck, or entangled, or something that would cause you to stay at depth for a period of time, it could pose a risk. Not likely, but possible.

Also, it is a pain and an extra amount of money to constantly drain and refill a pony before each dive.

 

[stu_in_fl]

Umm...What good would it do to mark this bottle if it's for bailout? You can't properly verify the mix anyways in an OOG situation, there's simply not enough time. Not to mention, the pony should always have your deepest mix, or you're carrying a bailout that's not useful when you need it most.

Pony's are an excellent way to develop bad habits for this very reason. What happens when you go OOA and are slinging a deco bottle?

you misunderstood my post. what i was referring to is if you have a 40% nitrox mix in your pony tank, you don't want to be diving at 130ft. If you know youre giong to be going in genernal to a cerain max depth, make sure there is a mix in the tank that will be ok for your dives - e.g. maybe a 32% or maybe simply air [he will be able to make more informaed decisions after his class based on the type of diving he does or plans to do]

also, the OP stated he was not going to use this for "additional dive time" but purely as a safety/redundancy feature, therefore deco bottles, bad habits, doubles or "buddy being a redundant air supply" are a spearate discussion.

 

[tomboyy]

short answer : keep air in your pony if its reacreational bail out and that anwser ..anwsers your second question about your computer.

 

[ucfdiver]

you misunderstood my post. what i was referring to is if you have a 40% nitrox mix in your pony tank, you don't want to be diving at 130ft. If you know youre giong to be going in genernal to a cerain max depth, make sure there is a mix in the tank that will be ok for your dives - e.g. maybe a 32% or maybe simply air [he will be able to make more informaed decisions after his class based on the type of diving he does or plans to do]

also, the OP stated he was not going to use this for "additional dive time" but purely as a safety/redundancy feature, therefore deco bottles, bad habits, doubles or "buddy being a redundant air supply" are a spearate discussion.

Few issues here-
A- for recreational diving, a diver should NEVER have a mix on them that's not safe for depth, IMO. 40% in a pony bottle would show a blatant misunderstanding in the dive plan. Deepest is when you need it most, so having a bottle that can't be used at depth really serves no purpose.
B- I disagree that deco bottles and bad habits don't come into play here. If you train your body to react to an OOA situation by grabbing the slung bottle, what do you think you'll do when you're deco diving in the future? And doubles would provide the redundancy as well as build muscle memory (valve drills and switching to the backup) in this case, so I do believe it's relevant to the topic at hand.

 

[texdiveguy]

Few issues here-

B- I disagree that deco bottles and bad habits don't come into play here. If you train your body to react to an OOA situation by grabbing the slung bottle, what do you think you'll do when you're deco diving in the future? And doubles would provide the redundancy as well as build muscle memory (valve drills and switching to the backup) in this case, so I do believe it's relevant to the topic at hand.

You are confusing basic recreational NDL diving with a slung pony bottle and doubles decompression diving/deco bottles protocols---2 different birds.

I might recommend taking a decompression course in order to better understand these differences. This thread nor this 'advanced' sub forum is the place for instruction.

If a diver gets to the level of diving within planned decompression dives and does not understand and apply proper OOG skills then they should not be doing this type of diving. In decompression diving there are MULTIPLE situations that require various responses for OOG events....some may involve the use of back gas and some may involve a slung deco bottle.

For the purpose of this thread......I would 'recommend' to divers engaged in single tank recreational diving either as a buddy or solo to use pony bottles with AIR fills as part of their standard gear, remembering it is a source of contingency gas only.

**What is NACD: "Teen" Cave ?

 

[Dexloy]

short answer : keep air in your pony if its reacreational bail out and that anwser ..anwsers your second question about your computer.

Like he said AIR!

 

[ucfdiver]

You are confusing basic recreational NDL diving with a slung pony bottle and doubles decompression diving/deco bottles protocols---2 different birds.

I don't think I'm misunderstanding anything here. I think we have two lines of thought regarding the use of pony bottles, I think doubles are needed when a pony should be used, or a trusted buddy.

My post would have been more appropriate for this thread I guess-
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...pony-vs-doubles-philosophical-difference.html

**What is NACD: "Teen" Cave ?

It's an inside joke I guess. My sig line used to say "Baby Cave" after basic, and I changed it after apprentice at someone's suggestion.

 

[texdiveguy]

I don't think I'm misunderstanding anything here. I think we have two lines of thought regarding the use of pony bottles, I think doubles are needed when a pony should be used, or a trusted buddy.


It's an inside joke I guess. My sig line used to say "Baby Cave" after basic, and I changed it after apprentice at someone's suggestion.

Well we are each entitled to opinions! ...... I don't think divers need to switch to doubles in all situations just because they opt. to be safety pro active in their single tank recreational diving by the use of a pony bottle. Doubles are what they are and have a place in recreational diving, but so does a well configured pony bottle and singles divers, most recreational divers don't need or require doubles.

I dive doubles 99% of the time, but have in the past done many a dives with a single and a pony and that combo was a perfect gear configuration.

Thanks for the explain on the sig. line.....ok!