Pony bottle skills

[jonnythan]

I think an SPG is a little bit of overkill for a pony. I check mine before every dive, and have it topped off after every dive. Its back mounted, but I can reach the valve. If its leaking I would either see or hear a loud rush of bubbles, or my buddy would hopfully let me know.

Nice use of the word "hopefully."

 

[Tanked]

Nice use of the word "hopefully."

Please forgive me, I've been awake for 26 hours(and counting). Here is the "e" I forgot.
I didn't realize I was being graded on spelling.

 

[jonnythan]

Please forgive me, I've been awake for 26 hours(and counting). Here is the "e" I forgot.
I didn't realize I was being graded on spelling.

I wasn't commenting on the spelling

 

[Michael Freeman]

It took him longer to decide if he wanted Apeks or Scuba Pro than it did to resolve the problem.

...so which did he choose?

I've had a buddy OOA and it was quite smooth at 80 ft. He told me he was out of air and I had my reg in front of him before he finished the signal. I don't think it is a problem getting to a buddy or vice versa, but that said, I am still looking into a pony bottle set up. I think I still prefer to have the ability to save myself.

 

[BlueDolphin]

I am curious.... how is it that your buddies came up short on their air? Please do tell.

 

[PaulChristenson]

People who go for their buddy vs people who want to be self-sufficient...

Anyone who is also a skydiver would probably be in the self-sufficient camp

Paul in VT
my wife is my buddy

 

[lamont]

I am curious.... how is it that your buddies came up short on their air? Please do tell.

I had a valve that was only turned 1/4 turn on. I could breathe off my reg at the surface, but it breathed harder until it quit on me at 60 fsw. A valve drill would have fixed the issue, but this happened to me with under 20 dives. Made for a very short dive, but I learned a lot of lessons on that dive. Foremost was appreciation of the long hose and training to use it. It actually gave me a lot of confidence since I did the right thing, didn't bolt to the surface, gave an OOA and surfaced safely.

One thing they taught me in OW was to orally inflate when coming up with no air. Turns out that's very incomplete training. If you're coming up on a working reg, first of all keep it in your mouth. Then try to figure out if you've still got air in your tank -- a lot of OOAs aren't actually real OOAs -- try the inflator, it might work. Then get your buddy (who should be postive) to help you with orally inflating.

 

[Michael Freeman]

I am curious.... how is it that your buddies came up short on their air? Please do tell.

He lied about his remaining air at the turning point. (We had an air pocket to actually talk to each other and the group at 80 ft depth) Since everyone said they had over 1500 psi the DM took us up/back along the deeper wall route, instead of going to the top of the wall (shallow) and following that back. Not sure how he expected to finish the dive. I guess he thought the 500 psi reserve would be enough to cover his poor SAC rate.

This was a class, and I was buddied with him because his buddy was smart enough to refuse to dive with him. I had a lot of experience and was cocky enough to agree to keep an eye on him. Looking back, I was only an AOW student with about 50-60 dives, not a DM, I should have said no. Turned out okay because the training works.

 

[JimC]

I am curious.... how is it that your buddies came up short on their air? Please do tell.

He let the DM touch his valve, who turned it off and then on 1/4 turn.

He grabed an Apeks took a breath realised what the problem was, opened his valve and we continued the dive.

 

[FreeFloat]

One thing they taught me in OW was to orally inflate when coming up with no air. Turns out that's very incomplete training. If you're coming up on a working reg, first of all keep it in your mouth. Then try to figure out if you've still got air in your tank -- a lot of OOAs aren't actually real OOAs -- try the inflator, it might work. Then get your buddy (who should be postive) to help you with orally inflating.

I was taught that on the ascent, you'd be venting your BC, not inflating.......