large_diver
Contributor
For some folks, it is an additional way to manage risk. Some would argue that the risk of having a first stage failure and a buddy failure at the same time is very low. Others would say that a pony gives you more options.
I've taken DIRF...twice. I passed the course. I agree that buddy skills are very, very important, and I have a buddy whom I dive with 90% of the time, whom I practice with and whom I trust. But I still bring a harness-slung 30cf pony (which I also practice with) when diving in the 80-110 range. Conservative -- yes. But that's how I dive.
I've taken DIRF...twice. I passed the course. I agree that buddy skills are very, very important, and I have a buddy whom I dive with 90% of the time, whom I practice with and whom I trust. But I still bring a harness-slung 30cf pony (which I also practice with) when diving in the 80-110 range. Conservative -- yes. But that's how I dive.
CD_in_Chitown:And the gas in your main tank won't do the same thing? Since we've established that gas management issues won't leave us where we shouldn't be in the first place, what is the pony providing that your backgas isn't?