Do you dive with your pony valve turned on? Off?

[dumpsterDiver]

My thoughts are that with "only" a 19 cuft pony (because I want it to travel on airplanes), there is not an abundance of "extra" gas if the secondary starts to free flow. Besides, the pony is only for situations where poo has impacted the fan, if I got a freeflow on the pony's secondary and lost much gas, all those lovely calculations about how much gas I'd have available go out the window (or up the water column). I would need to scrub the dive (diving solo).

Since the pony is for me, I'm not sure why I'd be 'playing with the tank valve' (it would be on just like my back-gas), and sliding the in-line valve open seems much easier than opening the tank valve (mine takes 4+ turns). Yes the OPV could fail, I haven't seen any mention of a quality slide-valve failing, so for me that event seems a reasonable risk.

If you have the bottle slung it should be easy to see a freeflow. If you wear it back mounted and keep the second stage on a lanyard around your neck- it should be hard to miss a freeflow.

If you are so worried about a freeflow that you are willing to spend more money and add complexity and more potential failure points- then do it. I deliberately tried to make it sound more confusing than it SHOULD be, but on the other hand people forget to turn their main tanks on before jumping in the water. Going for simplicity and trying to idiot proof stuff makes sense for me. If you practice with the in-line switch a bunch, I am sure you will learn it well. You don't have to defend your decision to me, you just have to justify it in your own mind.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

To be clear, because nobody's reading very carefully: I do not think a slide-check is desirable for a regular old diver's pony. It adds complexity and a few failure points for the sake of fixing what should be a non-issue, that being ensuring that your system is not free flowing and/or uncharged by monitoring the reg/pressure gauge and recharging as needed.

When a larger number of bottles, CCR bailout rather than a pony, and/or a DPV are added to the question, I think the balance of complexity risk vs. utility goes way up in favor of using a slide-check & OPV. Perhaps I should have just said: charged but off unless you happen to use your pony while scootering and/or as a BO bottle, and are thus already experienced with the slide-check's use.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I dive off but charged, most of the time I am using a small pony.

Like Bill, I check periodically as pony's breed complacency which is probably more dangerous than gear failure.

 

[Ocean County Diver]

I leave the deco bottle on. As stated by others it is in front of me and I feel I can easily see and quickly correct a free flow issue if needed. The only exception to this is if I take my bottle off for some reason (not often, and generally only when dredging). In those cases I shut it off and turn back on when I retrieve the bottle.

 

[DaleC]

I would agree that, if a diver is solo and not around other divers, off or on is a personal choice. You decide on your own SOP and level of risk. But, if you are diving around others, your SOP is also their SOP by default and they have to be aware of what you are doing. I may have an idea of how I want to use it, but I don't believe in thinking the pony is only for me in a social rec setting. It's an airsource like any other. All rec training suggests any air source is available for use by anyone in an LOA/OOA scenario - and that is what others will be thinking. Never are we taught that some airsources are off limits or for personal use only. That's a paradigm change that has to be agreed to by all.

It's an interesting concept to consider that diving in a social setting may still be a group activity, even if we are alone.

 

[oldschoolto]

On.... And left on ... If I need it... I want it ready to go...

jim...

 

[uncfnp]

I would agree that, if a diver is solo and not around other divers, off or on is a personal choice. You decide on your own SOP and level of risk. But, if you are diving around others, your SOP is also their SOP by default and they have to be aware of what you are doing. I may have an idea of how I want to use it, but I don't believe in thinking the pony is only for me in a social rec setting. It's an airsource like any other. All rec training suggests any air source is available for use by anyone in an LOA/OOA scenario - and that is what others will be thinking. Never are we taught that some airsources are off limits or for personal use only. That's a paradigm change that has to be agreed to by all.

It's an interesting concept to consider that diving in a social setting may still be a group activity, even if we are alone.

To my limited knowledge, OW or even AOW recreational divers are not taught pony procedure period, much less to go for this less than obvious alternate air source, when there are at least two very visible, one in yellow, readily available seconds.

And are you saying that splashing with other divers from the same boat is "diving in a social setting" even though once in I may not see these divers again until back on the boat? Social on the boat perhaps but can't see that applied during the actual dives.

 

[DaleC]

In a sense yes, though I'm not all preachy about it.

If you (in a general sense, not you specifically) are diving on a rec oriented boat, doing rec oriented dives, I think there is an expectation that you will act as basic rec training proscribes.That you have a donatable octo, easily deployed and on, and that you will share it if someone needs it. That is what most rec divers expect. To change the paradigm, underwater during a stressed event violates common sense IMO. I suppose if you really will not see anyone UW it doesn't apply, but in my experience people swim past, above, below and around me all the time, sometimes confusing me with the buddy they are supposed to be with.

Of course, if you dive with a select group and describe your set up beforehand and the others both agree and are equipped to compensate for it then ok. I do that when vintage diving. I may say "my octo is my pony reg", or "I have no octo" but I also have to make sure the other diver can cope with the change. Perhaps they use their own pony (alternate airsource) or they are skilled at buddy breathing or they know that the octo will be by my side and not in the triangle but I can't assume all divers will be aware and able to cope if I have not had the discussion. If I were using an inline shutoff valve I would let the other person work it so they had a tactile sense of how it worked. Having a shutoff on a reg and diving with someone who doesn't know it's there or how it works is a bad idea. They are completely dependent on you to make that reg work. Imagine they grab the reg, get no air, and you are trying to grab it away to turn the inline on and they think you are taking the reg away... chaos.

As to preserving the pony for my use only. I can't go there in the rec setting. I may want it to be so but I can't actually act as though it were true if I am diving with others who have only been taught that all regs are available and working. I am asking too much of them. In a best case scenario I will donate the reg I want but if someone is OOA and swims up to me I need to be prepared to lose any reg to them (and switch when they aren't in an emergent state).

To me it is about situational awareness. When I dive with others (such as off a boat) I have to realize that I am in the water with people of a certain degree of training ability and expectation. I can't just wish it were otherwise. That would be situationally unaware.

 

[JohnN]

In a sense yes, though I'm not all preachy about it.

If you (in a general sense, not you specifically) are diving on a rec oriented boat, doing rec oriented dives, I think there is an expectation that you will act as basic rec training proscribes.That you have a donatable octo, easily deployed and on, and that you will share it if someone needs it. That is what most rec divers expect. To change the paradigm, underwater during a stressed event violates common sense IMO.

Of course, if you dive with a select group and describe your set up beforehand and the others both agree and are equipped to compensate for it then ok. I do that when vintage diving. I may say "my octo is my pony reg", or "I have no octo" but I also have to make sure the other diver can cope with the change. Perhaps they use their own pony (alternate airsource) or they are skilled at buddy breathing or they know that the octo will be by my side and not in the triangle but I can't assume all divers will be aware and able to cope if I have not had the discussion. If I were using an inline shutoff valve I would let the other person work it so they had a tactile sense of how it worked. Having a shutoff on a reg and diving with someone who doesnt know it or how it works is a bad idea. They are completely dependent on you to make that reg work.

As to preserving the pony for my use only. I can't go there in the rec setting. I may ant it but I can't actually act as though it were true if I am diving with others who have only been taught that all regs are available and working. I am asking too much of them. In a best case scenario I will donate the reg I want but if someone is OOA and swims up to me I need to be prepared to lose any reg to them (and switch when they aren't in an emergent state).

To me it is about situational awareness. When I dive with others (such as off a boat) I have to realize that I am in the water with people of a certain degree of training ability and expectation. I cant just wish it were otherwise. That would be situational unaware.

Or dive solo and be done with the BS

 

[kwinter]

To my limited knowledge, OW or even AOW recreational divers are not taught pony procedure period.

You are correct about one thing -- your knowledge is limited. There are regional differences in curriculum for classes. Where alternate air supplies like pony bottles are required or routine, their use is included in OW and AOW classes at the instructor's discretion. Agency standards are minimums, not maximums.


iPhone. iTypo. iApologize.