Pony bottle skills

[Nemrod]

Lamont, sorry, I do not have any significant dry suit experience except that I like to avoid cold water. I am not sure the original post was about dry suits.

I am with John all the way here with the self fullfilling scenario.

Back to Lamont, being a few lbs positive at the end of a dive is not that big a deal, it may not be the way it is done now but it was commonly done before the time of BCs and I still do so sometimes. It does not cause me to miss any stops. I still use the Navy Tables anyways and within the NDL Limits per the tables so no stops are needed and as I said I stay approx 10 to 20 percent within the tables. The 10 foot safety stop was not always so prevelent but it is a good idea and one I generally abide by. Being a couple of pounds bouyant does not prevent my making a stop.
And all this from a simple pony question--but an excellent discusion nonetheless with many good points to ponder.
An octapus does not provide significant redundancy--it is simply a replacement for the lost art of buddy breathing. A pony or doubles rig or H/Y valve with dual regulators does provide redundancy. Above 60 feet I consider the surface my redundancy, solo I carry no octapus, with a buddy I do, below 60 feet solo I have dual regulators or would consider a pony or doubles. With a buddy within sport diving limits to 130 feet I feel a buddy is my redundancy and carry only an octapus and he/she the same.

It is an old rule, never dive deeper than twice your free dive limit (without redundancy--esp. solo), this allows the surface to be your redundant air source or of course your buddy beyond that limit. The less equipment I carry the better. N

 

[doole]

You want to be neutral at the end of your dive when you tank goes much more positive. Generally this means about a 10 pound swing.

Agreed. Which in my experience with a d/s usually means an effortless initial descent.

 

[grf88]

Sorry, wrong thread

 

[Graeme Tolton]

A pony is by no means part of your gas planning. Most of the diving that I do is in cold water (mid 30's - mid 50's). The chance of a freeflow is relatively high. The chance of 2 freeflows is lower, but still possible. I keep a 30cf bottle slung under my left arm. I have a button spg on it, i keep it on during the entire dive. Also, if it begins to freeflow, I can easily manipulate it's valve to slow down the gas flow. I keep it filled with 28% Nitrox, which gives me 1.4Po2 at 132 ft, the deepest that I go. The places that I dive, you don't see all that many divers, especially on the charters without some sort of redundancy.