Do I want a Spare Air

[homerdoc]

I read the initial post, skipped to the back - had to be a storm in between.

I am not technical/solo, nor will ever be, I am all about being close to the buddy and using the 2 kicks locate your buddy.

But if I was to get an extra bottle I would get a pony vs a spare air

 

[EFX]

No, you hold on, cowboy !! I don;t even know where to begin with this post, LOL!

Why don't you begin by rereading my post and stop being so emotional.

First. I wasn't suggesting "chasing" after dive buddies, but merely staying close enough for the principal to be effective (it really ain't that hard). And, that's a 2-way street. If you knowingly dive with clueless idiots that leave you stranded in a cavern, then that's also kinda on you!

The people I dove with were not clueless idiots. Selfish, yeah, but not clueless. I didn't know they would leave me on the first dive which was the first situation I described. On the second dive (second situation) my buddy didn't leave me but had swam too far ahead of me.

And, if you were in an overhead environment,without the proper training and equipment (as it appears), then that's definitely on you. (even BEING a hundred feet back in an overhead, with a group of single-tank, non-cave divers, was stupidly irresponsible, but getting left there??

You didn't read my profile. I have the proper training (cavern) and the proper equipment (pony and reel). This particular cavern is open to recreational divers and everyone in the group had dove there multiple times and understood the risks.

And if you WERE cave/cavern certified, then that's even more unforgivable !
Having a pony bottle during this hairbrained scenario, wasn't a substitution for good judgement and proper training, nor is it justification for lugging one around every dive for the rest of your life. As I said........it's much more practical to just learn to dive properly.

As I said in a previous post having the pony bottle is not a substitution for the training and skills I had, but additional insurance. I agree with you that "lugging" a pony around is not a substitution for good judgment. If you weren't so blinded by your own prejudice you would see that I exercised great judgment. I took a pony on the first dive knowing that there was a possibility I would be left alone (I was slow and running a line), and on the second dive where the environment (narrow) warranted an alternate gas supply.

 

[EFX]

BTW, I actually briefly owned a pony bottle, years ago. I was just starting to get into the technical thing (before PADI even sanctioned nitrox diving). But no sooner did I buy the tank, then I realized it was useless for what i was doing, and i sold it to a work mate, and just started side-mounting another alu 80 when I needed to.
But, we were doing deep air/deco dives back then, and genuinely needed the redundancy, and the extra air. When I was doing normal dives, a pony would've just been in the way. It was much simpler (and more responsible) to just pay attention to my air,depth and time, as it is with the overwhelming majority of recreational divers.
For anyone doing casual, single-tank recreational dives, if you find yourself needing that pony bottle, or even getting real close to needing it, then you need to look a little closer to home to find the problem, 'cause it ain't an "air" issue.

Look at the bolded text in your post I quoted above. You just started diving with (independent?) doubles and you were doing deep air deco dives!!! I don't see any technical training in your profile. Who lacks good judgment? LOL.

 

[UTscuba]

my buddy didn't leave me but had swam too far ahead of me.

fyi, your buddy left you, he just left you in the forward direction.

 

[seeker242]

Spare air is crap. If you dive with Insta buddies and don’t wanna rely on them, because a lot of them are just unreliable to begin with, standard pony bottle is what you want.

 

[BRT]

Spare air is crap. If you dive with Insta buddies and don’t wanna rely on them, because a lot of them are just unreliable to begin with, standard pony bottle is what you want.

Do you always have great buddies or do you always carry a pony?

 

[woodcarver]

You all knew I was going to do this, right?

View attachment 588615

5 pages, 50 posts? I figured it would have happened a couple pages ago.....

 

[UTscuba]

deleted

 

[Aviyes]

Speaking as someone who has made a few imprudent gear purchases, I'd like to offer some thoughts on dive accessory purchases:

The following are not good reasons to consider purchasing a specific piece of gear:
--It looks cool.
--It's shiny.
--The ad features fit and attractive models looking amazing while wearing or using it.
--A more advanced diver you know owns one.
--It's on sale, or the more advanced diver you know wants to sell it to you.

You forgot one: Showcased on Baywatch.

 

[Trailboss123]

There are other questions that need to be asked as well that are often overlooked:

Have you practiced with it? Regularly?
Have you tested how long it lasts at various depths?
Do you maintain it properly?

If you can't answer Yes to the above questions for your alternate air source than you're fooling yourself if you think it will help you in a true emergency. Having been involved in several OOA incidents (not me but my buddy), things get chaotic and can go to crap in a heartbeat. Proper equipment AND training/practice are absolutely essential. The former without the later won't help you.

Having been involved in several OOA incidents (not me but my buddy), things get chaotic and can go to crap in a heartbeat.
I might be misunderstanding the above sentence, but if you have been personally involved with a dive buddy that has had "several" OOA incidents (and "several" for me means 3 or more; otherwise I would use the word once or "a couple") then I really hope you have found a new buddy to dive with.

I have been fortunate to never have been involved in a real life (non-training) Out of Air situation in spite of the number of dives I have been on and the hundreds of students I have worked with or new divers I have guided all over the world. If I knew of anyone (much less dived with personally) that had not once, not twice, but 3 times or more got into an OOA situation, then I would be keeping more than a 6 foot social distancing separation. They would have to be really unlucky, cursed or impaired.

That aside, I do agree with your questions that should be asked and are often overlooked if one is going to employ a redundant air source.