Pony Bottle

[Dr Wu]

I also know of a diver who died (Plymouth, UK) because of incorrect use of a pony. I am pretty certain that he wouldn't have died if he had used a slung cylinder.

He may not have died if he had the pony slung in front of him.

He absolutely would not have died if he never had the pony in the first place.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

He may not have died if he had the pony slung in front of him.

He absolutely would not have died if he never had the pony in the first place.

He would not have died if he wasn't scuba diving. Think it was the pony bottle that killed him, poor training or just "scuba diving" in general??

 

[Dr Wu]

He would not have died if he wasn't scuba diving. Think it was the pony bottle that killed him, poor training or just "scuba diving" in general??

He died breathing down his pony thinking it was his primary tank. (something often stated as "impossible" on this board)

Had he not relied on the pony he would never had made the fatal mistake.

Was it a lack of training? Perhaps. Lack of experience? Perhaps as well. I don't know this particular case personally.

But one thing that is apparent here is the desire for pony bottles is greatest with the less experienced divers.

And those are exactly the people who should concentrate on managing their buddies and the gas they already have rather than add an unnecessary and potentially life threatening piece of gear.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

He died breathing down his pony thinking it was his primary tank. (something often stated as "impossible" on this board)

Had he not relied on the pony he would never had made the fatal mistake.

Was it a lack of training? Perhaps. Lack of experience? Perhaps as well. I don't know this particular case personally.

But one thing that is apparent here is the desire for pony bottles is greatest with the less experienced divers.

And those are exactly the people who should concentrate on managing their buddies and the gas they already have rather than add an unnecessary and potentially life threatening piece of gear.

I lfind your crusade against pony bottles kinda silly, but the issue is important. I think a lot of techdivers would still be around if they hadn't taken stage bottles and breathed the wrong gas. Maybe we should stop all tech divers from using deco mix and stage bottles? Or would it be better to just be better trained and have the gear configured better so it is less likely to die?

I'm experienced and we pretty much REQUIRE pony bottles on some of the boats I go on.

However, the issue is important. It would be so easy for the diver to accidentally enter the water on the pony bottle, breath it down to nothing, spit it out thinking it is the main bottle and then "switch" to the pony and erroneously conclude that both their primary tank and pony bottle are empty and then be unable to make a CESA.

This is another reason NOT to have a third second stage, the less confusion the better.

People get in trouble jumping in and trying to breath from their snorkels because they forget it is not a scuba regulator. People are stupid, careless and often poorly trained. None of that negates the benefits of a pony bottle.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I kind of "wasted" my money on a 30 cft pony.

In the three years I have owned it I have used it once; will be paying for my second annual VIS soon, perhaps when I get it filled for the third time.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/hawaii-ohana/204383-carthaginian-shore.html

Carthaginian 007 - halemano's Photos | SmugMug

I now have steel 120's.

 

[Dr Wu]

I lfind your crusade against pony bottles kinda silly..

I'm not interested in what you find silly about me. But if you would like to continue to make this personal I am happy to oblige.

I think a lot of techdivers would still be around if they hadn't taken stage bottles and breathed the wrong gas. Maybe we should stop all tech divers from using deco mix and stage bottles?

Technical divers need stage bottles.

Newly minted divers want pony bottles.

People are stupid, careless and often poorly trained. None of that negates the benefits of a pony bottle.

That is why recreational diving is kept as simple as possible.

Why would you give a stupid, careless and poorly trained person a tool that could potentially kill them if they operated it stupidly, carelessly or contrary to training?

 

[Gombessa]

I have opted for a 19 cu ft pony since it offers me a rock bottom of 130 ft, including a safety stop and 1 minute at depth.

Wow, that's a tremendously low stressed SAC rate, at least compared to me. Just for myself, at 130ft I'd probably need closer to 30cf to be on the safe side, and that's assuming 1 minute at depth is sufficient to handle the problem and begin the ascent (in practice I've found I need more time than that).

 

[Crush]

Wow, that's a tremendously low stressed SAC rate, at least compared to me. Just for myself, at 130ft I'd probably need closer to 30cf to be on the safe side, and that's assuming 1 minute at depth is sufficient to handle the problem and begin the ascent (in practice I've found I need more time than that).

Gombessa,

Interesting point - I should check and re-check my calculations. At the time I arrived at something like 128 (?) ft. Time to run those numbers again.

Edit: I missed the part about stressed SAC rate. What is a good value to use? Double a resting SAC? Higher?

 

[Cave Diver]

Gombessa,

Interesting point - I should check and re-check my calculations. At the time I arrived at something like 128 (?) ft. Time to run those numbers again.

With a SAC around 1.5 it's doable with a 30cft. On the edge, but doable. SAC needs to be ~.8 for 19cft to work.

 

[Crush]

Dear SB members, we have achieved two important outcomes. First, we have answered the OP with various mounting options for a pony on a BC. To the OP - there is a video on stowing a hose on a pony or deco bottle at YouTube - SCUBA: Deco Stage Regulator Stowage - this configuration is using a slung pony.

Second, we have shown the OP how SB truly functions - someone asks a question, and many post helpful replies. Some, however, choose to not reply to the question and instead shout "You're gonna die." Oh, the shouts of impending doom can be made to sound like cutting cynicism, but the message is still "You're gonna die unless you do it my way." I believe that this lessens active participation on SB, which is fine by me - it allows helpful persons like DevonDiver, Cave Diver, TSandM, NWGratefulDIver, DCBC, and others to spend more time answering my questions.