Oh now I get it. He can't afford a Pony Bottle. I knew I was missing something. I would loan him mine but i just don't think he is very nice. I only loan my gear to nice people.
Pony Bottles on NJ Charters?
- Thread starter Rainer
- Start date
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Oh now I get it. He can't afford a Pony Bottle. I knew I was missing something. I would loan him mine but i just don't think he is very nice. I only loan my gear to nice people.
I
idocsteve
Guest
Oh now I get it. He can't afford a Pony Bottle. I knew I was missing something. I would loan him mine but i just don't think he is very nice. I only loan my gear to nice people.
I don't know that he's "nice" or "mean" but Rainer would definitely keep you entertained on those long treks out to the offshore wrecks.
wrybosome
Contributor
This is one entertaining thread. Yes I have low standards.
My impression of NJ diving so far (trip 4) is everyone splashes individually, collects food or artifacts individually, then ascends individually. Despite running into ten people on the bottom.
It's not a question of lacking buddy skills. When I've consciously buddied here they've been attentive. Otherwise not. It seems to be a conscious choice in favor of self-reliance, partly driven by a hunting/seeking type of dive goal.
But I'm a noob, so take it with a whole shaker of salt.
My impression of NJ diving so far (trip 4) is everyone splashes individually, collects food or artifacts individually, then ascends individually. Despite running into ten people on the bottom.
It's not a question of lacking buddy skills. When I've consciously buddied here they've been attentive. Otherwise not. It seems to be a conscious choice in favor of self-reliance, partly driven by a hunting/seeking type of dive goal.
But I'm a noob, so take it with a whole shaker of salt.
Sophie Diver
Registered
Yep, this is my experience as well. No "group" Bug-hunting, Spearing.....
The variable visibility and hardscrabble bottom topography (typically a wreck, or other) of the NE really lends itself to a independent vs. a more group-oriented frame of diving. It's been that way for quite a while, which also leads to "creative" & often dysfunctional forms of dive kits and complementary diving styles. This includes the use of a redundant source of gas which are often slapped on a single like a large, leaning yellow Tower of Pisa. Don't forget the array of tools (entanglement), piss-poor attitude in the water and near-total absence of underwater etiquette. 
I have seen the "hunters" silt up the bottom on so many occasions as to make diving dangerous. The idea of hovering a few feet off the bottom may be a foreign idea to some NE divers. This is probably one huge reason no one wants to dive with a bottom-dragging buddy.
If anything, NE diving (until the eventual streamlining of DIR/HOG some ten years ago) was a constant source of amusement. It seems it still is from the posts above.
X
I have seen the "hunters" silt up the bottom on so many occasions as to make diving dangerous. The idea of hovering a few feet off the bottom may be a foreign idea to some NE divers. This is probably one huge reason no one wants to dive with a bottom-dragging buddy.If anything, NE diving (until the eventual streamlining of DIR/HOG some ten years ago) was a constant source of amusement. It seems it still is from the posts above.
X
phillybob
Contributor
MB104
Contributor
Very entertaining thread!
My .2 cents: I won't even consider a dive deeper than 60' without some type of redundant air supply. Pony, bailout, doubles...whatever my setup is for that day. I do dive with a buddy, but that buddy is not always within arms reach and isn't always looking my way. It only takes a few seconds for something to happen, and I'd like to know that I can take care of myself in those few seconds. And there have been (a few) times when I wasn't really that close to my buddy, but that was usually when I was diving without my standard dive buddies and got paired up on the boat with someone I've never been with. Sorry stranger, but I'm not putting all of my faith (and life) in your hands even though you are "qualified to dive". This isn't a Caribbean "follow me and look at the neat fish" dive with a DM in the front and a DM in the back with 10 vacation divers in between.
I believe that the boat operators who have this policy (and some shops have them too) do so as a result of history. The kind of history they don't want to repeat. Its a simple request to ask the divers to have a redundant air supply, and that simple request will (and has) saved lives. I'm sure the boat operators can tell you of divers they pulled out of the water that had some type of catastrophic equipment failure over the course of their careers. They just don't want to repeat that anymore, and I get it.
My .2 cents: I won't even consider a dive deeper than 60' without some type of redundant air supply. Pony, bailout, doubles...whatever my setup is for that day. I do dive with a buddy, but that buddy is not always within arms reach and isn't always looking my way. It only takes a few seconds for something to happen, and I'd like to know that I can take care of myself in those few seconds. And there have been (a few) times when I wasn't really that close to my buddy, but that was usually when I was diving without my standard dive buddies and got paired up on the boat with someone I've never been with. Sorry stranger, but I'm not putting all of my faith (and life) in your hands even though you are "qualified to dive". This isn't a Caribbean "follow me and look at the neat fish" dive with a DM in the front and a DM in the back with 10 vacation divers in between.
I believe that the boat operators who have this policy (and some shops have them too) do so as a result of history. The kind of history they don't want to repeat. Its a simple request to ask the divers to have a redundant air supply, and that simple request will (and has) saved lives. I'm sure the boat operators can tell you of divers they pulled out of the water that had some type of catastrophic equipment failure over the course of their careers. They just don't want to repeat that anymore, and I get it.
NC Wreck Diver
Contributor
I agree with you completely. I dive every dive with doubles and a slung 30. Even if it's 30 feet or less. I dive with a buddy, and sometimes solo too. I'm very comfortable with my redundant gear, happy to have it for my buddy, or for myself. I don't even own a single tank for backgas.
I have no problem with any boat operator requesting me to dive with a pony bottle or bail out bottle. Since this is my normal set up, it's a no brainer for me. It's the way we were trained from the start. It surprises me that other divers would have such resistance to safety gear.
Is the same required for rebreather divers? What is their redundency?
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