DIR/pony regulator configuration

[Couv]

On the one dive in my life where I carried a pony, I think it was on a 28" hose, and I slung it.

:-D I thought you were going to sling that pony over the gunwale. That was God punishing you for introducing me to the Freedom Plate and re-introducing me to double hose regulators-two expensive habits I've yet to kick. (Thank you.)

 

[salnykov]

@halocline thank you very much for your response

I'm looking forward to your next thread about the best split fins for DIR diving....

I was actually thinking about proper fin color for DIR diving, but I was inclining towards monofins to get more streamlining. But I guess your note implies that split fins are a better options. Or?

you might specify how long the hoses are, what kind of diving you're doing, and why exactly you are diving with a pony anyway.

Currently my hoses are regular PADI-style 80-100cm (I guess this is something like 32''-40'' on the other side of the pond). By I am planning to switch to 210cm (7ft) long hose and 60cm(24'') necklace. I did not make up my mind regarding rubber vs Miflex, but I plan to try both to see which one works better for me.

I am doing exclusively rec diving up to 40m (130ft) when I dive with a budy. As a solo, I have established a limit to myself at 20m (65ft). I don't do wrecks, caves or any other overheads, but may do them in the future. I don't plan going to technical.

The reason I am diving with pony is two fold.

Firstly, I like to photograph and that is where most occasional dive buddies start being very upset about you. People just don't like hanging next to you for 10 minutes while you experiment with strobes, exposure and composition or simply wait for a critter to show up. Last year I had an incident in Croatia when my buddy (assigned to me by the instructor on the boat) abandoned me and joined another group simply because he was bored to see me taking pictures. I was freaked out to be left under water by myself. The area had an active boat traffic and I had a DSMB only. After the dive I complained to the dive center owner and I he was actually not sharing my concerns and not having a talk to that other guy. Needless to say, I did not dive with this dive center anymore. But I realized two things: (i) occasional buddies do not like being teamed up with an underwater photographers and (ii) different divers and different centers may have very un-conservative approach to the buddy concept, and sometimes you may end up under-water by yourself, simply because your "buddy" takes buddy concept as an inconvenience rather than a survival strategy; if this ever happens, it is good do have some redundancy at your disposal.

Secondly, I am a foreigner in Sweden and, on average, Swedish people are less welcoming to foreigners than USA-ers and Canadians. Besides, after I lost my daughter 5 years ago, I am not very good in establishing new social contacts. So, despite being a member of a local dive club, I still feel not welcome due to the two reasons above. It is just very hard for me to make new friends, which I guess is a pre-requisite for having a buddy on local dives.

For example, if you are solo diving, there is not a good reason to bring an alternate 2nd stage; the pony is your back up.

I was actually thinking about that and I definitely see pros and cons in either approach.

Alternate on solo dives:
If you don't have an alternate, but only pony as you backup, your equipment is more parsimonious.
If you have an alternate in addition to your pony, then
(i) no need to reconfigure your set up every time you switch between solo and budy diving, which is an extra hassle given I already have a lot to control with camera and strobes before I dive.
(ii) you don't change your configuration when you switch from buddy to solo and my solo instructor recommended that I dive with the same configuration all the time to develop muscle memory. Eg. I bring a lift bag, a torch, a line cutter and a shear even when I would not need them .

Having pony on a buddy dive:
If you don't have it, you are more parsimonious and streamlined
If you have it
(i) you have redundancy when you lose buddy underwater, so you may have a normal ascend even if your primary air source fails in between losing your buddy and getting to the surface.
(ii) see above regarding the same configuration and muscle memory.

Why wouldn't I abandon alternate completely on both solo and buddy dives and use pony to breath from when my buddy is OOA and I share my long hose? I guess because there are times when I would end up diving without pony on buddy dives. For example, I plan to go for diving safari in Egypt in October and they (i) don't permit solo diving and (ii) don't have 3-4l bottles, which means if I need pony, I need to bring my own and I need to carry 5 extra kilos of luggage

I don't know if what I tell is naive and stupid, but I kindly ask you to be constructive and avoid mocking me. I am a newbie as compared to most of the people here and I am still learning.

 

[halocline]

I was actually thinking about proper fin color for DIR diving, but I was inclining towards monofins to get more streamlining. But I guess your note implies that split fins are a better options. Or?

That part of my reply was in jest. Split fins are not used for DIR/GUE diving, in fact members of the DIR community routinely mock split fins.

Getting back to your explanation, I don't know what 'parsimonious' means, but for solo diving, the reason that you would not bring two 2nd stages is because you're not going to be sharing air with anyone. An additional 2nd stage does not really offer you any redundancy, you need an additional air source for that. But there are many other hazards with solo diving; entanglement, navigation, illness or accident, uncontrolled buoyancy, etc. So solo diving does require a redundant air source, but to be safe it also requires specialized skills and experience. It's still probably more risky than buddy diving, even with good training.

You did mention something about the buddy system which I find a little troubling; you basically said your buddy is getting bored because you're spending extra time and attention on photography. To me this implies two things; 1) you basically want the dive to go on your terms and at your pace, and 2) you are likely not paying much attention to your buddy due to focusing on your photography. So it sounds like the problem with your buddy diving is more on your end, not the insta-buddy.

You have to remember that team diving is a two way street. Not only does your buddy have responsibility for you, but you have responsibility for him/her. I would suggest discussing a dive plan BEFORE getting in the water so that both divers know what to expect.

IMO there is no reason to use a 7ft long hose unless you are diving in restricted areas that require single file travel. That is the sole reason for a hose that long, to allow for air sharing in restrictions or anyplace that divers cannot travel side by side. The 5ft hose offers the same benefits other than single file travel; primary donation with enough room to comfortably share air and swim at the same time, and it routs more cleanly. An alternative is the 40" primary hose with an elbow or swivel, routed under the right arm. That's a popular recreational set up. In all cases the short hose (22-24") alternate on a necklace is great. For solo diving with a pony, you could simply remove the long hose and dive with your alternate. It's not difficult to do at all.

It is a little complicated on dive boats with insta-buddies. There are situations where your buddy is not going to be a reliable dive partner and you are forced into 'semi-solo' diving. I really try to avoid those situations, but when I'm in them, I simply dive conservatively, watch my depth and situational awareness, and do not ever put yourself in a place where you could not reach the surface immediately if necessary. I realize having a bailout bottle may make you 'feel' safer, but that is probably a false sense of security, because there are many things that could happen to you other than running out of air.

It's great that you're thinking about your gear set up to dive as safely as possible. Just keep in mind that safe diving is about WAY more than gear configuration.

 

[Marie13]

Miflex for the long hose stinks. Easily kinks up. Just not good. Go with rubber.

 

[rjack321]

Why dont you dive small doubles? Solo, with a buddy, in the red sea etc?

 

[barth]

@halocline thank you very much for your response



Firstly, I like to photograph and that is where most occasional dive buddies start being very upset about you. People just don't like hanging next to you for 10 minutes while you experiment with strobes, exposure and composition or simply wait for a critter to show up. Last year I had an incident in Croatia when my buddy (assigned to me by the instructor on the boat) abandoned me and joined another group simply because he was bored to see me taking pictures. I was freaked out to be left under water by myself. The area had an active boat traffic and I had a DSMB only. After the dive I complained to the dive center owner and I he was actually not sharing my concerns and not having a talk to that other guy. Needless to say, I did not dive with this dive center anymore. But I realized two things: (i) occasional buddies do not like being teamed up with an underwater photographers and (ii) different divers and different centers may have very un-conservative approach to the buddy concept, and sometimes you may end up under-water by yourself, simply because your "buddy" takes buddy concept as an inconvenience rather than a survival strategy; if this ever happens, it is good do have some redundancy at your disposal.

Before you start the dive you have to plan the dive with your buddy. Most of the times I ask to my buddy if it ok to bring my camera. I do always ask that when I dive with a new buddy. But I also ask it when I do a challenging dive with a buddy I know 10 years.

You also have to ask how much time you can spent for photography. Most of the times I say I will stop maximum 3 times during a dive for photography. It won't take more then 3 minutes to do a photo. Tell you buddy what kind of lens you are using what subject you want. Tell your buddy that you will sent him photo's.

Sometimes I spent the complete dive at photography. But then that was the goal of the dive and my buddy did agree.

It's also important that you are very familiar with your own equipment before you start photography. If it's already a lot of task load for a diver to control buoyancy and trim then he shouldn't add a camera.

I have never had buddy's who were being very upset about me because I was a photographer. All new buddy's even agree when I took my camera with me.

 

[Luis H]

Before you start the dive you have to plan the dive with your buddy. Most of the times I ask to my buddy if it ok to bring my camera. I do always ask that when I dive with a new buddy. But I also ask it when I do a challenging dive with a buddy I know 10 years.

I am kind of like that, but I actually ask my camera if it is OK if I bring a buddy.
My camera has never said anything, but I sometimes wonder...