pony bottles

[Soggy]

I understand what you are saying. I just don't understand why I and many other divers like me are not just dropping like flys.:06:

Fortunately, the NDLs are fairly forgiving under most circumstances and there is a lot of luck in the world. Personally, I try to base my decisions on research rather than react to accident reports.

 

[lamont]

People react very differently under that type of stress. With a redundant air supply my sac is not going to double. It will go up, but won't come close to double.

I was once abandoned by a boat buddy and ended up entangled in kelp (shouldn't have tried to surface in a kelp forest to check on lost buddy) and without redundant air my sac barely moved. I figured I had enough air to last another 45 minutes, so someone would eventually come looking for me if I couldn't work myself lose.

I'm sure if you go to a buddy, then your heart rate will go up. Many unknowns involved. Knowing that I can turn a valve and have air really helps keep me calm, even if I swim over to a buddy in an OOA situation.

I have yet to hear a good argument against taking a pony other than people may push the gas planning too hard because of the pony. Outside of that, what drawback is there? It's a piece of gear you may never use? I may never use my octo, or my airbags in my car. If something goes wrong with a pony, I'm no worse off than if I didn't have it to begin with.

As long as the pony is completly out of your thoughts when planning the dive, I see no drawbacks.

If the pony has no use on the dive, then you should not bring it to minimize the gear that you have. If you are bringing the pony bottle for a reason, then you clearly think that there is some problem that the pony bottle is solving. In all circumstances the problem that the pony bottle is solving (bad gas management and bad buddy skills most likely) can and should be addressed some other way. Therefore a pony bottle is a symptom of a problem.

 

[JeffG]

If the pony has no use on the dive, then you should not bring it to minimize the gear that you have. If you are bringing the pony bottle for a reason, then you clearly think that there is some problem that the pony bottle is solving. In all circumstances the problem that the pony bottle is solving (bad gas management and bad buddy skills most likely) can and should be addressed some other way. Therefore a pony bottle is a symptom of a problem.

Do not underestimate the power of a "What if..."


What if...I get separated from my buddy (or maybe he didn't even exist) and what if I run out of gas (because I wasn't looking or had a catastrophic failure) and what if I was ....etc etc etc

 

[redacted]

If the pony has no use on the dive, then you should not bring it to minimize the gear that you have. If you are bringing the pony bottle for a reason, then you clearly think that there is some problem that the pony bottle is solving. In all circumstances the problem that the pony bottle is solving (bad gas management and bad buddy skills most likely) can and should be addressed some other way. Therefore a pony bottle is a symptom of a problem.

What is that bottle you have mounted on the right side of your tank in your profile picture?

 

[mnj1233]

What is that bottle you have mounted on the right side of your tank in your profile picture?

Ouch!!!! LOL No doubt its ARGON.

 

[JeffG]

Ouch!!!! LOL No doubt its ARGON.

He does dive recreational Trimix.

 

[lamont]

Ouch!!!! LOL No doubt its ARGON.

yes, LP14 argon bottle.

i hate driving to issaquah to get argon fills and i can get about 10 dives off of that thing...

 

[vbcoachchris]

What is that bottle you have mounted on the right side of your tank in your profile picture?

It's an Argon bottle. He is diving Helium which provides almost no warmth in the 50 degree water of the Puget Sound

 

[lamont]

Do not underestimate the power of a "What if..."


What if...I get separated from my buddy (or maybe he didn't even exist) and what if I run out of gas (because I wasn't looking or had a catastrophic failure) and what if I was ....etc etc etc

That road leads to this:

http://frogkick.nl/diw/pages/diw033.htm

 

[matt_unique]

Not everyone subscribes to the DIR methodology. The most hysterical anti-pony posters are DIR divers.

I personally think you would have to be crazy to rely on another person while diving. They talk about "failure points".....buddy reliance is one of the largest and most lethal "failure points" I can imagine.

Accident statistics also do not support the DIR hysteria (i.e. pony dangers among others).

It's certainly possible to do anything poorly. Choose the right tank size for the job and learn how to use it.

--Matt