Do you actually see people diving with pony bottles?

[ljpm]

I don't understand why you're trying to change the mind of a stubborn old boat captain who has done the same thing the same way for reasons that to many might seem ridiculous but to him make sense- because there's no way he's EVER going to listen to your rational, logical side of the argument about the many other uses of pony bottles and the additional safety they provide, and say "You know what my rule was stupid I'm sorry I ever thought of it!". You'd be more likely to convince the president of the flat earth society that the earth is a globe. An even better use of your time might be to ask yourself why you care what a stubborn old boat captain thinks of his silly rules since there are certainly other dive boats out there that won't blink an eye at your second time and maybe even give you a pat on the back for giving yourself that extra measure of safety.

Probably also refuses to let divers go below 60 without an AOW card because of the liability. I wonder what his insurance company would say if they found out he refuses to refill pony bottles. It would only take one accident where a tank had been refused a refill to shut him down.

 

[Bob DBF]

It would only take one accident where a tank had been refused a refill to shut him down

My best guess is that if he refused to fill the pony, the offending diver probably won't be diving.


Bob

 

[rek_diver]

My best guess is that if he refused to fill the pony, the offending diver probably won't be diving.


Bob

Or the "offending diver" would still dive, at least one last time before he or she found a dive Op that didn't have such ridiculous "no free refill" rules, and if an accident did occur that their pony bottle might have prevented, say a big hello to Mr. Liability.

 

[Bob DBF]

Or the "offending diver" would still dive, at least one last time before he or she found a dive Op that didn't have such ridiculous "no free refill" rules, and if an accident did occur that their pony bottle might have prevented, say a big hello to Mr. Liability.

The policy is NO refill without the skippers ok. I can understand one emergency, and with a good story giving a refill. If it happened twice the diver shouldn't be allowed in the water for his own safety, so filling the pony is a moot point. Mr. Liability does not come into play.


Bob

 

[Jack Hammer]

Its been a lotta years since I recall diving a single tank, I mostly dive doubles. A lot of the controversy I see is over intended usage and BS semantics. That said...

Why I'm against pony bottles; People using them to offset their negligible gas management skills. People thinking its ok to use them as stages without understanding the gas planning that should be accounted for. Gear solution to a skills problem. False sense of security.

Why I like pony bottles; Adding redundancy. Special circumstances

 

[Wookie]

I sit divers out for running out of gas and using their pony. My insurance company loves me. The more the diver whines, the longer they sit.

It isn't about being liked. There are 100 divers on ScubaBoard who will tell you what an a$$hole I am. They will also tell you that not one diver ever ran out of air and died on my boat.

You'll probably be happier on another boat. I know I will.

 

[MichaelMc]

I think everyone needs to go diving. With or without pony/stage/deco as they prefer. Really. This seems to have devolved.

To the OPs question: I SAW a diver with a pony in Maui, he lived there part of the year and seemed to dive weekly, with out specific buddy from the random boat of people that day, hence the pony. He seemed to have his stuff together.

 

[KevinNM]

Drained, as in oxydation and 2" of salt water still in the tank during a VIP. He told me has drained it before. He gets his main tank down to 200psi, switches to his pony for his safety stop, sucks it down to zero and then goes back on his main for the ascent. I was shocked to hear that from someone with a ton of dives. He also had to get his pony reg serviced after allowing salt water into the first stage while attached to an empty tank with the valve open.

Accomplished Bad Divers

 

[KevinNM]

Just curious if you've ever actually tried a CESA from 60 feet? And have you factored in that doing a CESA during a real emergency is considerably more stressful than doing it under planned, controlled conditions? For most divers, it's not as easy as the course material makes it out to be ... in part due to the mental stress incurred in a real emergency ...

Remember to start your CESA by exhaling, like you just found your reg didn't work when you tried to inhale.

 

[AfterDark]

Here in RI it is mostly wreck divers I see using pony bottles. I occasionally use a 19 for solo diving but I prefer using ID's, my two 50cuft steel tanks are my favorites for shore dives, the 96cuft and 72cuft IDs are for boat diving mostly.
Most shore divers I see that buddy diving don't carry a pony here.

When wreck diving in NC a pony was recommended by the op and a lot of the divers I saw there had one.