I would tend to agree -- do your own research, get instruction, practice in easy dives in shallow water, etc. I made my kid sling a 19cf pony when we started doing longer dives in cold water and when he still wanted a light, small single tank on his back. He didn't find it difficult to manage at all.
Is a Pony Bottle too complicated for a beginner?
- Thread starter Seville
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
I would tend to agree -- do your own research, get instruction, practice in easy dives in shallow water, etc. I made my kid sling a 19cf pony when we started doing longer dives in cold water and when he still wanted a light, small single tank on his back. He didn't find it difficult to manage at all.
Nothing wrong with getting a spare gas supply as a newer diver, provided you know how to use it, when to use, and what it's limitations are. Too many new divers, myself included 17yrs ago now, did not know all of the above. I thought tank mounting was the way to go because that was what my instructor at the time said. As he sold me a $80 pony tank mount system that was complicated, not easy to deploy, and hard to manipulate. Rather than 20 bucks worth of clamps, bolt snaps, paracord and chunk of fuel line that worked better and was more suited to my needs.
No one also told me that the pony is useless if it's not regularly deployed and used to develop muscle memory.
I had to discover that on my own and began to end every dive outing doing the safety stop and ascent on it.
I've conducted workshops on the use of them that help divers decide including introducing the failures of them that can be experienced when they are not used correctly.
No one also told me that the pony is useless if it's not regularly deployed and used to develop muscle memory.
I had to discover that on my own and began to end every dive outing doing the safety stop and ascent on it.
I've conducted workshops on the use of them that help divers decide including introducing the failures of them that can be experienced when they are not used correctly.
Carrying a pony is easy peasy.
I strap it to my main tank using a universal strap that connects directly to the main tank strap. It's behind me not interfering with my camera, and I've got an extra 30cf of compressed air, which allows me to draw my main tank reserve lower, thus extending each dive by as much as 500 psi, AND I've got the safety of redundancy throughout most of the dive.
I strap it to my main tank using a universal strap that connects directly to the main tank strap. It's behind me not interfering with my camera, and I've got an extra 30cf of compressed air, which allows me to draw my main tank reserve lower, thus extending each dive by as much as 500 psi, AND I've got the safety of redundancy throughout most of the dive.
One consideration I don't think I've seen mentioned yet is the additional weight on land and the effect on challenging entries and exits.
I have a 19 cf pony that I use for solo dives and occasional deep buddy dives. But I don't like using it on beach dives, and I'm sometimes even hesitant to clip it on for boat dives when conditions are rough. I'm already top-heavy with the minimum necessary gear, and adding more stuff just makes me more likely to fall.
Granted, it's not a huge amount of weight. But I've been knocked over by waves on the beach without it, and I've seen lots of people lose their balance on boats. There's always more stuff you can add that could potentially make you safer, but there are inherent advantages to having less.
I have a 19 cf pony that I use for solo dives and occasional deep buddy dives. But I don't like using it on beach dives, and I'm sometimes even hesitant to clip it on for boat dives when conditions are rough. I'm already top-heavy with the minimum necessary gear, and adding more stuff just makes me more likely to fall.
Granted, it's not a huge amount of weight. But I've been knocked over by waves on the beach without it, and I've seen lots of people lose their balance on boats. There's always more stuff you can add that could potentially make you safer, but there are inherent advantages to having less.
With only a couple of dives under your belt, I would suggest not carrying a pony (for the reasons others have stated) and instead concentrate on properly utilizing the buddy system as taught in your course. Depending on with whom you're diving, you may find you have a great buddy or, especially if you don't have a regular buddy, you may find you are being paired up with people of varying interest in adhering to the buddy system as it was taught. It's the latter "insta-buddy" experience that drives some divers to carry a pony.
Some of us are fortunate to have regular buddies on whom we can rely because we're familiar with their training, experience, seriousness, etc. For us, there is no reason to carry a pony. My buddy reserves the amount of gas I might need in an emergency, and vice versa. We practice the skills we learned in our course of donating gas to an out-of-air diver and ascending together. Reserving enough gas and maintaining our out-of-air skills are what give us the "peace of mind," not an extra piece of equipment that is one more thing to have to deal with on every dive.
- Messages
- 16,400
- Reaction score
- 5,219
- # of dives
- 1000 - 2499
Just my experiences--
Git the same setup as you maybe after a handful of dives. 13cf attached to tank.
What's the difficulty? I actually used it once at a safety stop after I was newbie unwise with my remaining air while ascending from my first 120' dive (never again...).
Only problem was it was kind of a PITA attaching it, but no big deal. I used a rope around my neck for the pony first stage-- a neat thing an instructor rigged up for me.
Git the same setup as you maybe after a handful of dives. 13cf attached to tank.
What's the difficulty? I actually used it once at a safety stop after I was newbie unwise with my remaining air while ascending from my first 120' dive (never again...).
Only problem was it was kind of a PITA attaching it, but no big deal. I used a rope around my neck for the pony first stage-- a neat thing an instructor rigged up for me.
i personally like the fact that you are considering getting a second tank.
i do agree that you should have a good basic skill level before adding one though. good buoyancy, trim, etc etc
as mentioned above, you will also need to make sure the bc you use is capable of slinging it or sidemounting it. don't mount it to the tank. a rear inflate bc or a bp/w would be best as you can shift the gas around in your bc to help offset the weight of the extra tank.
there is a lot of different terminology around our industry. i would not consider a 13cf bottle to be "pony" or "redundant" gas supply. i would consider it to be a "bail out" bottle. and by that i mean it would really only be sufficient (on a deep dive) to either safely make it to your buddy, or to do an emergency solo ascent. but still better than having no extra gas. i used to carry a 6cf. or of you were ding no deeper than say 60 feet it would e more than enough.
but if you want to carry a true redundant gas supply i would consider AT LEAST a 19 cf tank. but it really depends on the type of diving you are doing and how deep you may be.
i do agree that you should have a good basic skill level before adding one though. good buoyancy, trim, etc etc
as mentioned above, you will also need to make sure the bc you use is capable of slinging it or sidemounting it. don't mount it to the tank. a rear inflate bc or a bp/w would be best as you can shift the gas around in your bc to help offset the weight of the extra tank.
there is a lot of different terminology around our industry. i would not consider a 13cf bottle to be "pony" or "redundant" gas supply. i would consider it to be a "bail out" bottle. and by that i mean it would really only be sufficient (on a deep dive) to either safely make it to your buddy, or to do an emergency solo ascent. but still better than having no extra gas. i used to carry a 6cf. or of you were ding no deeper than say 60 feet it would e more than enough.
but if you want to carry a true redundant gas supply i would consider AT LEAST a 19 cf tank. but it really depends on the type of diving you are doing and how deep you may be.
I'm surprised by all the naysayers against pony bottles. I started using one fairly soon after getting certified. I didn't find it much of a task. I did mount to my tank and connected my reg in a way that it wouldn't be confused. I did make an adjustment to weight distribution. If you had a solid OW course (I didn't), shouldn't be difficult. The ultimate test is are you able to hover motionless. I'd suggest experimenting in shallow water for weight distribution until you get it right.
Similar threads
