Is there a valid reason for a pony bottle

[MaxBottomtime]

 

[CWK]

I was certified back in the day when divers were not required to carry an alternate air source. When regulations required an alternative air source, I chose to carry a pony instead of an octopus. Till today, I carry a pony instead of an octopus. To my mind, a pony is better than an octopus. Why carry equipment to only save someone else in an OOA situation? Why not carry equipment to save yourself?

Would anyone who argues against a pony on grounds of prudent air management make the same argument against carrying an octopus?

 

[JohnnyC]

Good chance that will kill you. Not immediately but after a painful hospital stay. At least you get to say goodbye to your loved ones. It's happened before.

There has been exactly one case where a bacterial infection came from a diver’s BCD. It was a british diver in 2009 who had an unusual reaction to Aspergillis that is already present on and in our bodies. He had an adverse reaction and is a statistical outlier.

That’s hardly “a good chance” that it will kill you. Guess what will kill you more? Drowning. Because you can’t breathe water. You can breathe off a BCD though. I’d posit that it’s safer than a CESA. At least it allows for a controlled ascent.

 

[caruso]

^Ok thanks for clarifying. I was under the mistaken impression that it was more common.

 

[markmud]

Caveeagle,

You wrote: "Ok... I have never had a meteorite hit me, or sinkhole open up under me, ... I have had a nearly new regulator with less than 30 dives suffer a high pressure seat failure. And I have been on a dive with my wife where a rental regulator had a complete (no air) failure." (emphasis added by markm)

I had a similar issue with a regulator that had about 30 dives on it. The pressure seat did not fail but the brass housing was cracking apart. It was on its way to becoming a ballistic missile (and, at 80+ feet, my insta-buddy deserted me). Also, I have had two high pressure hoses fail. Not catastrophic issues, but leaking gas nonetheless.

cheers,
markm

 

[Esprise Me]

If a pony would introduce some version of task loading for a given diver, I might encourage them to not use one. Otherwise, I'm down with the dive and let dive.

I'm totally unqualified to speak to the wisdom of carrying vs. not carrying a pony bottle. But I do remember reading about a diving accident in which a fairly new diver went out with his brand new pony bottle and mistakenly used the regulator from that instead of the one for his cylinder. Apparently he couldn't figure out what to do when he quickly ran out of air despite his SPG showing a full tank. A more experienced diver probably wouldn't have made that mistake in the first place, and would probably have noticed that his SPG needle hadn't budged and maybe thereby deduced the source of the problem, but this guy didn't. So there's that.

 

[tursiops]

There has been exactly one case where a bacterial infection came from a diver’s BCD. It was a british diver in 2009 who had an unusual reaction to Aspergillis that is already present on and in our bodies. He had an adverse reaction and is a statistical outlier.

That’s hardly “a good chance” that it will kill you. Guess what will kill you more? Drowning. Because you can’t breathe water. You can breathe off a BCD though. I’d posit that it’s safer than a CESA. At least it allows for a controlled ascent.

I suggest you run some numbers on how much gas is actually in a BCD. Especially if it is not full. And especially if you need some of that gas for buoyancy. It is even smaller than the smallest SpareAir.

 

[caruso]

But I do remember reading about a diving accident in which a fairly new diver went out with his brand new pony bottle and mistakenly used the regulator from that instead of the one for his cylinder.

Fairly new divers need to be more concerned with learning the basics of diving and not overtask themselves with additional gear.

 

[markmud]

I'm totally unqualified to speak to the wisdom of carrying vs. not carrying a pony bottle. But I do remember reading about a diving accident in which a fairly new diver went out with his brand new pony bottle and mistakenly used the regulator from that instead of the one for his cylinder. Apparently he couldn't figure out what to do when he quickly ran out of air despite his SPG showing a full tank. A more experienced diver probably wouldn't have made that mistake in the first place, and would probably have noticed that his SPG needle hadn't budged and maybe thereby deduced the source of the problem, but this guy didn't. So there's that.

HI Esprise Me,

I am assuming that this "fairly new diver" was solo diving; therefore, his buddy was not available to help him/her. Solo diver training is available and really a good idea before trying this stuff on ones own. Experience and training is valuable.

markm

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I'm totally unqualified to speak to the wisdom of carrying vs. not carrying a pony bottle. But I do remember reading about a diving accident in which a fairly new diver went out with his brand new pony bottle and mistakenly used the regulator from that instead of the one for his cylinder. Apparently he couldn't figure out what to do when he quickly ran out of air despite his SPG showing a full tank. A more experienced diver probably wouldn't have made that mistake in the first place, and would probably have noticed that his SPG needle hadn't budged and maybe thereby deduced the source of the problem, but this guy didn't. So there's that.

The same thing happened to Henry Cook, an experienced diver at the oil rigs last year.
Accident on Southern Cal Oil Rigs Dive