Do you actually see people diving with pony bottles?

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Marie13

Great Lakes Mermaid
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I know we have multiple threads about ponies.

Just an informal little survey after a recent chat with friends and observing other divers out at the quarry.

Do you see people diving with pony bottles?

Where I've dived - the local quarry and Lake Michigan - I see a fair number of divers with them. One fellow I've seen several times lately had a small - 13cft, maybe - pony that had a very nice marbled red finish.

Folks I dove with yesterday: 2 had 40cft ponies. I had my 30cft. One was SM.

Seems like the serious cold(er) water divers I know of tend to have them if they're diving single tank BM and carry them habitually even if in warmer water.

The warm water, vacation only divers I know have never seen another diver with one.
 
Quite often. Mostly from SC and north.
 
What makes you say that? Have you been warm water, vacation diving?

Because I actually *asked* people. I surveyed the warm water, vacation only divers I know. They have never seen anyone with a pony bottle. Pictures of me diving with one raised a whole host of questions.
 
I see them regularly in Lake Jocassee due to association with local shops, sometimes elsewhere, but most people I usually dive with have gone to doubles/sidemount/ccr
 
I see quite a few around here.
- An instructor I know has a 19cf bottle with the reg on a longhose rigged to his single tank.
- I see at least 2-3 on Reef Check surveys and, except for one, they are all 13-19cf bottles strapped to the single tank. One guy slings a 40cf. All of these divers do solo surveys.
Of course, lots of doubles also.

Definitely seen them in warm water as well.
- One of the divers on the liveaboard I did in Kona had a really small one (maybe 8cf - it looked slightly bigger than my 6cf argon bottle)
- A solo photographer on a dive boat in La Paz was slinging a 30cf bottle.
 
Common anywhere I've been, water and cold... not among people who dive on vacation rather than take dive vacations. It's a specific tool that has added hassle, taskloading and even risks. Unnecessary to many types of diving and I know divers who would rather plan dives where they are unnecessary.

...I love mine sometimes... though it's rarely smaller than an al80.

Regards,
Cameron
 
Funny story: my regular dive buddy belongs to a dive club in the area. They're mostly warm water, vacation divers. He recently gave a presentation on the Lake Michigan diving we've done this summer. My pony is bright yellow and stands out in the pics. He got a lot of questions about it. He said he was glad they didn't notice I was diving a BP/W, as he wasn't sure how he would have answered those questions...

:wink:
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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