Pony Bottle, worth it?

[Scubaru_Steve]

Spend your time learning how to not "miss-calculate" your gas on ascent.

Seeing "what other people do" is rarely an indication of what "you should do".

Haha this is why I'm getting my advanced cert to learn more about this. I just like thinking mistakes can happen.

 

[Dr Wu]

...its just that mental reassurance. I'm all about "Be Prepared" (I was a nerdy Boy Scout to Eagle Scout :/ ) and I think its something that would give me peace of mind.

"mental reassurance" is not physical reassurance.

Why would you trust your mind mind to get you out of a problem your body got you into?

 

[lsorenson]

I have a couple of hundred dives under my belt now and my dive buddy is, for the most part; my wife... I trust her as much as anyone I could ever trust so with her, I never use a pony, regardless of depth! Mind you, this is open water...

I do carry a 30' when I am looking for Meg teeth off the NC coast on the Meg ledges... that is pretty much a free for all and I found after my first dive with two people I trust very much, that a pony is a must when diving for teeth!!!

I can honestly say, I don't really give a hoot how deep I dive and with whom cause.... I don't trust you as of yet and you will never be more than a moment away; NEVER!!! Do something foolish and you wont be diving with me... After a few good dives under our belt and we both have a good read on each other, I would start to relax some... Now at 30', I will keep an eye on you until that trust factor builds up cause you never know if the next days dive will be deep enough to warrant a buddy you must trust...

BTW... I wont trust you and you should not trust me until we both have enough time under water with each other to warrant that trust!!!

Just my thoughts... lee

 

[Scubaru_Steve]

"mental reassurance" is not physical reassurance.

Why would you trust your mind mind to get you out of a problem your body got you into?

Because things fail. I could be perfect in every aspect but by either an environmental factor or the failure of a critical part, everything could change. Its that reassurance that in the moment of "what just happened" there is another breathe of air within 1' of me, vs a buddy that may very well not have noticed my struggle from only a few feet away.

I still consider myself fairly novice, and I take proper precautions. I don't exactly get what you mean by "your body got you into" cause technically I had to tell my body to do that action that caused the problem, aka I "mentally" caused the problem.....haha I don't know.

The way I am attacking this is at 100' below something could very well go wrong. I could plan everything, and something could go wrong. I could be paired with a buddy who wonders off and leaves me to do a solo ascend, anything could happen.

 

[Dr Wu]

I found after my first dive with two people I trust very much, that a pony is a must when diving for teeth!!!

Why do you feel that in spite of diving with two people you "trust very much" a pony is a "must"'?

 

[drbill]

I dive solo (and have for 50 years) and rarely dive without one. If you and your buddy dive as a real time instead of same ocean same day, you would probably be fine.

 

[DevonDiver]

Haha this is why I'm getting my advanced cert to learn more about this. I just like thinking mistakes can happen.

The typical AOW course won't contain much detailed information about precision gas planning and buddy procedures. However, a well motivated and properly experienced instructor will add such elements to the course as additional learning. Be sure to investigate what your potential instructor will actually be teaching you on the course - AOW level courses can be awesome or a complete waste of time, depending absolutely on the instructor you choose.

If you are concerned about OOA emergencies, then your first steps are to investigate proper gas planning and effective buddy procedures.

Proper gas planning includes the following aspects:

1) Knowing your Surface Air Consumption (SAC) so that you can predict your gas use as part of dive planning.
2) Knowing the amount of gas you will consume during an ascent to the surface.
3) Setting a minimum gas reserve that takes account of both divers air consumption requirements, should you be air-sharing.

There are lots of threads and online resources that will help you understand how to perform this precision gas planning. Search for SAC/RMV calculation to understand how to formulate your air consumption figures. Then search for 'Rock Bottom Gas Management' to understand how to set a precise reserve figure for the needs of a buddy team.

Here are my workshop notes for gas management: Scuba Tech Philippines - Gas Management Workshop


Once you understand the gas planning, management and required reserves, you will need to ensure that your buddy is reliable to provide those reserves should you ever be without a gas supply. Good buddy procedures are taught on every entry-level course, but many instructors neglect to emphasise their importance and/or help the students learn how to apply those skills for real world diving. Go back to basics with this. Conduct comprehensive dive planning as a buddy pair. Conduct effective pre-dive safety checks. Develop and maintain mutual situational awareness during your dives. Communicate often during the course of the dive. Maintain a constant awareness of each-others gas levels. etc etc

Also check out my article on how to dive with insta-buddies, as this can help you ensure good buddy procedures: How to Dive with 'Insta-Buddies' - Scuba Tech Philippines – News & Articles

For open-water recreational diving, those two steps will ensure that you have the support and gas that you need to reach the surface if your own air supply should fail.

Some divers do enjoy having a pony cylinder as an 'extra' insurance. There are a few specific circumstances where a redundant personal air source can be a safety bonus. For instance;

1) Cold Water Diving. In very cold water, with higher risk of free-flow. Not only can your reg free-flow easier, but air-sharing from a buddy will increase demand on their reg and could cause a secondary free-flow on that reg also. An approporiately size redundant air source guards against this possibility.

2) Deep recreational dives. Whilst a 'rock bottom' reserve and reliable buddy should be sufficient, high gas consumption at depth can easily lead to over-demand beyond your calculations. The combination of increased breathing gas density, narcosis and potentially elevated breathing rates during an incident at depth can enable air consumption beyond your highest reasonable estimations. Likewise, the risk of accidentally exceeding no-decompression limits increases significantly at depth. A small delay at bottom depth can lead to lengthy decompression obligations, especially after multiple deep dives. Most recreational divers won't plan gas reserves to include emergency decompression. An appropriately sized pony cylinder guards against these risks.

3) Overhead environments. Cavern and wreck diving courses place very prudent recommendations about depth/distance penetrations into overhead environments. Recreational divers should still be able to air-share, exit and ascend from a wreck or cavern as per normal. However, the risk of silting/reduced vizibility can jeapordize timely air-sharing. Also, any change to the structure of a wreck (i.e. collapse) or navigational error (get lost/lose guideline) could mean that the buddy team encounter restrictions that make air-sharing difficult. A personal redundant air supply guards against such possibilities.

If you do opt to equip yourself with a pony cylinder, then you should do so intelligently. A pony cylinder can be a 'false comfort' if you have not already conducted the foundations outlined above. This is especially true if you don't equip yourself with an appropriately sized pony cylinder. You should apply the SAC and Rock Bottom calculations to your choice of cylinder, to ensure that it actually contains enough reserve air to get you comfortably to the surface.

 

[TSandM]

There is really nothing I can add to DevonDiver's excellent post.

As always, diving is a risk assessment. If your skills, diving conditions, and buddies are good enough, you don't need a redundant air source. In some specific diving conditions, or if you cannot depend on your buddies, you might well want one.

 

[Dr Wu]

I don't exactly get what you mean by "your body got you into" ....

That's because it doesn't make any sense.

But it sounded good to me when I wrote it.

I was wrong.

 

[EastEndDiver]

Steve listen to your "inner" voice....if your gut is saying dive with a Pony Bottle do it.Do what works for you.