No pony on solo shallow teeth dive?

[aquacat8]

Hey solo beach divers and Venice tooth divers... do you drag a pony along? We’re talking 18-25 feet here, a short CESA maybe, but a beach hike for sure. I have a hard enough time hiking minimal gear, I’m thinking no pony. Your thoughts?

 

[rhwestfall]

Watching this with educational interest - I have no familiarity with the diving there, but bring up the question of "dangerous overhead"? Is there a frequency of boats that surfacing might be risky, but being able to swim to a "safer area" would be beneficial?

 

[Mouth Breather]

Personal choice...I don't carry one on a 20-30ft beach dive and don't know anyone that does.

 

[wheeledgoat]

If you don't want to get a ticket from the lifeguards there, you better have a SMB deployed, which would hopefully minimize surface traffic affecting your CESA.

But more on point, I'm just going to sit back and watch the "YOU'RE GONNA DIE" posts roll in, as sb does.

 

[Ojai Diver]

Some on this forum have disparaged 6cf ponies, but for solo beach diving, they are light and ideal.

 

[JamesBon92007]

Hey solo beach divers and Venice tooth divers... do you drag a pony along? We’re talking 18-25 feet here, a short CESA maybe, but a beach hike for sure. I have a hard enough time hiking minimal gear, I’m thinking no pony. Your thoughts?

What is "Venice tooth?" Is it a cave?

 

[johndiver999]

Lol if you are strong enough to drag the gear down a beach in 90 plus degree heat, I bet you can swim up 15 ft. Plus it is super shallow you will probably be in 8 to 15 ft of water. A long snorkel would probably work

 

[rhwestfall]

What is "Venice tooth?" Is it a cave?

fossilized shark teeth (megs and alike)

 

[northernone]

On dives where I'm confident I can use the surface as a secondary air source I will plan the dive that way.

Boat traffic (Not famous for avoiding dive flags) in my redundant air source make me nervous and I carry a pony. The same goes for entanglement or overhead. If I can't be sure I'm a breath away from the surface, it's pony time.

 

[2TH DIVR]

No pony used here. But then I don't have a safe second stage, at times no BC, and summer time no ditchable weight.
It's a personal choice.