I've decided to get a Pony Bottle; which one...?

[DandyDon]

That's the one that will end up getting you Don.

I certainly don't trust anyone else to put my gear together, put it on me, or turn the valves on. I do it all myself...

As suggested by major training agencies, I participate in Buddy Checks, and in particular ask that both valves are checked.

 

[Mverick]

That's the one that will end up getting you Don.

I always turn my own tanks on. I don't trust anybody for that. If a DM or Buddy checks it. Fine, but I'm turning it on.

And man, one of these I'm not in.... I'm so happy

Just say no to Ponies.... I'm a big boy. I don't need one anymore..... LOL Now a 40 deco tank. Yep. 13's for my Rebreathers. Yep.... 40 for bailout on the Rebreather. Yep.

Nope for a Pony. I'll take duals..

 

[Uncle Pug]

You turn your own tanks on.. but then you ask your buddy (the majority of which you evidently don't trust to manage their own gas supply and call them hoovers to boot) to check your valves.

They check your valves but forget righty tighty lefty loosey and end up turning you valves off for you. In you go, down you go, out you go.

Don't think it happens?

 

[geraldp]

DandyDon:
If you didnt' have almost 3000 posts on this board, I would have guessed your post was a troll

Anyway, putting the whole be-a-better-buddy/pony-is-a-crutch debate aside for a moment (which has some valid points), I can at least share my thought process when I purchased my pony.

Like you I decided to get a pony after observing some newbie divers run out of air during a safety stop and have to share air.

The buddies that I'm most comfortable diving with can't/won't dive as much as I like to dive, so sometimes on charter boats and shore dives I have to go begging for a buddy. Sometimes I have to go down as a 3-some with two complete strangers, and you don't always get the opportunity to cover ALL the possible scenarios with these strangers before hand.

My decision process was fairly simple (if not a little bit naive). All my diving is recreational (mostly cold water), no overhead, and so far I haven't done any wreck diving. I'm diving with PST E7-100 singles. Rodales had a bail-out bottle comparison earlier this year, and they tested that they could do an "emergency" ascent from 130 feet with a 6 cu. ft. bottle, and still have a couple of breaths leftover. So I doubled that and got a 13 cu. ft. bottle, along with a main-tank mounted quick-release. I added a little pop-up SPG to the ponys 1st stage reg.

I'm working on a level-1 wreck diving specialty now, so I will probably upgrade to at least a 19 cu ft. The 19 cu ft is the same diameter as the 13, so I should be able to use my existing quick-release.

When I'm diving with strangers, I still try to be the best buddy I know how to be, but it gives me a lot more confidence to know that I have a tertiary backup if I need it.

 

[geraldp]

Another quick comment... several (rec) divers I know put 50% Nitrox in their 13 and 19 cu. ft ponies for off-gassing on the safety stop. That's not what I carry a pony for, but it is another reason to have one.

 

[Boogie711]

Putting 50% in a "pony" bottle sure as heck defeats the purpose of having something to breath if you run out of air at 130 feet now, doesn't it?

What is that - without sitting down with a calculator, that gives you a PPO2 of only what... 2.5?

On the other hand, you wouldn't have to worry about staying warm. All those seizures are sure to get you sweating.

 

[geraldp]

Putting 50% in a "pony" bottle sure as heck defeats the purpose of having something to breath if you run out of air at 130 feet now, doesn't it?

What is that - without sitting down with a calculator, that gives you a PPO2 of only what... 2.5?

On the other hand, you wouldn't have to worry about staying warm. All those seizures are sure to get you sweating.

I agree, which is why I use air. Better than sucking water, though. Unless you're diving solo the pony should be a tertiary backup to your buddy, so using the pony purely to reduce your nitrogen load makes sense to me.

Jerry

 

[Boogie711]

But then it's not a pony bottle. That would be a stage bottle. Different ball of wax altogether.

 

[MechDiver]

but it is another reason to have one.

No, its not. Two entirely different applications with two different needs and purposes.

Also, 50% EAN doesn't do much at the typical rec safety stop depth (15'). Whoever is doing this is deluding themselves and wasting money.

MD

 

[geraldp]

But then it's not a pony bottle. That would be a stage bottle. Different ball of wax altogether.

Fair enough - but I always think of a stage bottle as a 30-80 size slung bottle for tech dives, not a 13 cu. ft tank mounted unit for rec diving. Not being a tech diver I know nuthin about such things.