Diving with Pony Bottle on or off?

[Bigeclipse]

I have heard both sides and I am curious what you all think? On one hand if you dive with the bottle with the valve open, then if someone needs air or "you" yourself needs it, then there is no time wasted, simply pop reg in the mouth and your good. BUT with the bottle's valve on then you run the risk of the pony bottle regulator having a free flow or small leak and slowly running out. Hopefully someone would notice these small bubbles before you ran out though. Just curious everyone's thoughts. What got me wondering this is I feel like in an emergency...who knows how I or someone will react (especially since I have not been in one yet) and I think id want the bottle ready to go.

 

[tbone1004]

option 3. on with a regulator shutoff installed and OPV on the first stage.

I don't turn valves off if I can help it, certainly not on a pony bottle. If it is slung there is absolutely no reason to turn it off because it is in front of you. If it is backmounted there is even more of a reason not to turn it off because you can't see it and will have a harder time reaching it in an emergency

 

[Robert Thompson]

Well if you do a bubble check at the beginning of your dive, that will help. Of course if your develop a leak during the dive that could be bad. You want the gas available so you're not having to add steps to get the gas you need. If your concerned you could use a small stage bottle and sling it, allowing you to see your first stage. Also you would be able to monitor your pressure in your bailout. That will alleviate some stress from an already stressful situation. Also make sure you're bringing enough bailout gas for the dive you're performing.

 

[AfterDark]

Inline on/off and OPR valves on the reg the tank valve on. I'm thinking of putting the on/off valves my other regs that I use for IDs.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

option 3. on with a regulator shutoff installed and OPV on the first stage.

That.

 

[jbomb001]

I dive with my pony back mounted and ON. I can reach the valve but dont feel the need to turn it off and on uw...

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I dive with the pony back mounted and on. It is unlikely that the pony will loose a whole lotta air from a first stage leak without you noticing it. BUTTT.. it is VERY easy to loose your pony air if it is back mounted, tank on and you have the second stage clipped off to your side or your D-ring etc. It is very easy to be descending down an anchoring in tough conditions, getting thrown around by waves and surge and fighting a current and descending head down.

In this situations, you will likely be breathing hard and your exhaust bubbles will be rippling over your body and chest (because you are upside down). If you have a thick suit on, you may or or may not feel much of this. The problem with this scenario is that the pony second stage could start freeflowing, and you might not notice it on a "busy" strenuous descent.

So my answer to this significant drawback, is to have the pony on a neck lanyard. You WILL feel a freeflow of the second stage if it is around your neck. you just can't not notice it, even if you are upside down, it will rattle your neck..

So my advice is that if you are going to back mount the pony, make sure you have it on a good neck lanyard.

It is simple and easy to leave the tank on.

if you want, I know people who back mount the pony upside down and this puts the pony valve in a perfect position to reach and manipulate. that is a viable option in my opinion, I just have never done it. In line shut off valves are another failure point and I would avoid them for this application.

if you mount the pony as a slung stage bottle, you can easily manipulate the valve and you can have it on or off, I don't see it being a huge issue either way.

 

[DaleC]

Slung and on.

If your your second stage is mounted well you can see if it leaks. If the tank is slung you can see if the first stage leaks and what the pressure is during the dive.

The SOP in recreational diving is that all regs are live, that they can deliver air. It's what everyone expects and is taught. To turn a reg off introduces a new paradigm that is usually reserved until technical diving. Some people transfer stage bottle techniques (valve off) to pony bottle use but there is a big difference between the two. Divers do not go to stages in emergent situations, the swaps are planned events and non stressed. There's a whole procedure of tracing the reg back to the bottle, verifying mix etc... That's why valve off is no big deal. People go to ponies because their primary system has just failed and they need gas immediately. That difference often goes unnoticed and unchallenged in these discussions.

 

[Bob DBF]

Bottle on, my pony reg is a Sherwood with a dry bleed and needs to be on, since I sling it when I take it I can easily notice any issues and deal with them. With a different reg it wouldn't bother me to go with the bottle off since I rarely use the pony when buddy diving and the time it takes to turn it on is no big deal to me.

I do believe DaleC has a good point about rec divers expecting a live reg. No sense adding a surprise on top of an incident.



Bob
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I may be old, but I'm not dead yet.

 

[Nemrod]

Slung, ON and ready to go!

I only carry an auxiliary bottle for solo diving and even then not always, depends on the dive and the day.

N