Geoduck dive trainee drowns after entanglement - Kingston, Washington

[NAUI Wowie]

I wonder if cost of a back mounted pony is ever a factor in geoduck divers not using one.

the video said these guys can make $15,000 in one six hour day. Probably its just a pain to bring a pony along but the danger of silt out from other boats alone makes a pony a great investment.

 

[BRT]

the video said these guys can make $15,000 in one six hour day. Probably its just a pain to bring a pony along but the danger of silt out from other boats alone makes a pony a great investment.

Why would a silt out make a pony useful?

 

[Steelyeyes]

Do you carry one? They are a pain in a number of ways. A surface supplied trainee is probably taught that they have an unlimited amount of air so running out is not a threat, or so goes my guess. I won't dive without mine, but I was not taught that way.

My kid used surface supplied air a lot and always had a bailout bottle on him. He was trained at DIT.

 

[rjack321]

I have been at a dive shop in the area that had on display a tight harness for a back mounted pony. I asked them what it was for and they told me it was for commercial divers using surface supplied air.

a bailout tank is not required as long as 1) the diver is <100ft and 2) there are no impediments to direct access to the surface (overhead, in a tank or pipe etc).
Geoduck harvesting is all fairly shallow work and non-overhead, no deco. So the bottom line is they are not required to have a bailout cylinder per WAC 296-37-555

From videos that I have seen, these geoduck divers use surface supplies air on full face masks or helmets. So if the diver lost his mask that could be catastrophic. One thing I have not seen these divers carry are pony bottles - not sure why that is.

Not really, you put it back on and purge. Even if the strap broke you can hold it in place with one hand and ascend. The supplied air line should be clipped off to the harness, usually at the shoulder so if the mask is lost it hangs off of you by only ~30cm.