Pony bottle skills

[Web Monkey]

Me, I have one response to an OOG. Secure my buddies regulator - a known good. It has gas appropriate for the depth and works, every time on any dive.

Must be nice.

I have a buddy I dive with near home, that I trust and would have no problem relying on.

However, all my warm water diving is with "boat buddies" and most of them can't even handle their own problems, so I don't rely on them.

Terry

 

[OE2X]

So your buddy spends the whole dive staring at you waiting for you to have a problem, and never looks away?

How does he manage to do this while navigating and watching his own gas and equipment.

You can do what you like, but I prefer to be self-sufficient.



More than likely, since it would probably not contain something breathable at depth. However, for technical diving, I'd be diving doubles, which means I wouldn't be going for the pony.

What's your point?

Terry

Around here we use our lights even when diving during the day. I can tell a lot just by what my buddy's light is doing. When I don't see it, I start looking for him.

 

[JimC]

Must be nice.

I have a buddy I dive with near home, that I trust and would have no problem relying on.

However, all my warm water diving is with "boat buddies" and most of them can't even handle their own problems, so I don't rely on them.

Terry

It is nice. I never use a boat buddie, never have to, never will. I'd rather not dive. I wonl't enjoy it anyway, rather crack open a beer and take in some sun.

 

[jonnythan]

Web Monkey, a video is worth all the words in the world.

Here is a video on how quick and perfect it is when it's done the right way:

http://www.divetekadventures.com/Videos/ooa[1].mov

 

[Soggy]

It is nice. I never use a boat buddie, never have to, never will. I'd rather not dive. I wonl't enjoy it anyway, rather crack open a beer and take in some sun.

I'll only do it if it's shallow enough to do a blow 'n go....like 30-40 ft. Otherwise, I'll stay on land....nothing worth dying for.

 

[Sideband]

Four second stages might be just a tad ridiculous - DEFINITELY one second per first in the H-valve (or doubles) rig.

So they imply that you should dive with three seconds, or is it not specific?

No, it isn't specific. It just touts the merits of the totally independent supply. I don't recall any pictures of it being used in the book though. I'll try to find my OW book and see exactly what it says. I think I still have it laying around.

Joe

 

[Sideband]

Web Monkey, a video is worth all the words in the world.

Here is a video on how quick and perfect it is when it's done the right way:

http://www.divetekadventures.com/Videos/ooa[1].mov

AND when the buddy has been told that in a few seconds you are going to signal OOA for the camera.

Joe

 

[matt_unique]

Because my buddy is on the ball and likely already has there primary deployed and sitting 3 inches from my face.

The habit of going for a slung pony reg will KILL you if you start doing technical diving.

I'm quite sure there will never be 100% consensus on this topic. No matter how hard we all try to get it that way (our way)

From the moment I started diving I never liked the concept of relying on someone else for my safety. A good buddy can add to safety. A pony adds to safety in a more reliable way than a buddy. It's not physically (or logically) possible for a buddy to have a regulator ready to go, within arms reach from your mouth, that can be easily reached in total darkness, without signaling, 100% of the time. Human error %'s simply don't support this idea. There are times when your buddy is not looking directly into your eyes, or perhaps you are in a dive environment that does not allow shoulder to shoulder diving, etc., etc., etc., etc. Maybe your diving preference is such that you do not want a buddy shoulder to shoulder the entire time? Again to compare your buddy argument to a pony you would always have to be shoulder to shoulder at every instant of the dive. Otherwise you and/or your buddy would need to see you, recognize a problem, then kick over to you to offer a regulator. Even 1 kick is farther away than your pony regulator mounted 8" from your mouth. I realize this is very 'nit picky' but this represents the advantages of a pony over a buddy.

Different dives (rec vs. tech) requires different gear, planning, and awareness. The fact that someone uses a pony for emergency gas on recreational dives has nothing to do with what they may do on a tech dive. Reaching for a deco bottle to resolve a back gas problem would certainly kill you depending upon the content and your depth.

--Matt

 

[jonnythan]

AND when the buddy has been told that in a few seconds you are going to signal OOA for the camera.

Joe

You know, funny thing is that it works the rest of the time too

 

[lamont]

most pony bottle users don't achieve the 100% goal of having a backup regulator available either. they often don't have an SPG attatched to their pony bottle, its butt mounted so they can't tell if its leaking, they have difficulty reaching it in order to turn it on, etc. most pony bottle usage is probably no better than your average buddy skills, it just gives a false sense of security.