Do I need separate nitrox and air pony/bailout tanks?

[DiverHowie]

Hmmmm....
I don't think this is such a simple issue. The thing that's really important in a bailout situation is that you want assurance of maximized usefulness of the gas that you have in your pony. Now - IF YOU DON'T EVER GO BELOW the MOD for the nitrox mix in a pony (say 100 feet for either po2 of 1.4 or 1.6) and your Nitrox mix is 32% you are carrying a third MORE oxygen in your bottle for the bailout ascent if you have the nitrox. As bailout is a high stress situation I would think getting a richer O2 mix just might give that extra margin of breathability (SAC reduced) and degassing improved at a possibly shorter safety stop. So what's the problem with using the right nitrox mix in THIS situation then - it covers most "normal" sport diving? If you're going deeper than 100 feet you need a big pony, if below 100 you wan't the most you can get from a modest size one - say 13 cuft. I'm interested if there are better counterarguments to this please????

 

[RJP]

Looks like the OP quit diving - or at least SB - about four years ago. Right about the time they started this thread.

---------- Post added June 1st, 2015 at 04:42 PM ----------

The thing that's really important in a bailout situation is that you want assurance of maximized usefulness of the gas that you have in your pony.

Actually, the ONLY thing that's important in a bailout situation is "At this depth, can I breath the gas in this tank, and do I have enough of it to get me to the surface?"

Anything vis-a-vis having an "optimum mix" bail out bottle is planning for luxuries during an emergency.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Looks like the OP quit diving - or at least SB - about four years ago. Right about the time they started this thread.

---------- Post added June 1st, 2015 at 04:42 PM ----------



Actually, the ONLY thing that's important in a bailout situation is "At this depth, can I breath the gas in this tank, and do I have enough of it to get me to the surface?"

Anything vis-a-vis having an "optimum mix" bail out bottle is planning for luxuries during an emergency.

Exactly, so the discussion becomes what is convenient, cheap, easy, simple, applicable to nearly ALL depths (even well past recreational) and nearly impossible to "get wrong".