Although I have never attempted it, and hopefully never will, I do not feel comfortable with the idea of a controlled swimming ascent from 120 fsw. While I certainly hope I will be there for my buddy and he will be there for me, anyone that knows how they will react in an emergency situation is kidding themselves. You can plan for it and train for it but when the rubber meets the road s*** happens. Additionally, from what Ive read, and the little experience I have, it seems that problems tend to happen in groups and then escalate.
Since Im only diving no decompression no overhead I think that doubles would be an extravagance and in any event are not practical for air travel, so I think that a bail out bottle (pony) is a wise decision. I only carry it dives deeper than 50 feet because above that I think a controlled swimming ascent is practical.
I think that it makes sense to carry the pony stage slung for several reasons the most important of which is that in an emergency situation I think it is better to have the valve, reg, and SPG in front of me where I can see them. Also, stage slinging probably presents less of an entanglement hazard and if it becomes entangled its easy to cut free.
I carefully calculated the required volume and tested it as best I could in the quarry. I think it is dangerous to rely on a pony without completing these two steps. It is important to know what to expect ahead of time.
Mike
Since Im only diving no decompression no overhead I think that doubles would be an extravagance and in any event are not practical for air travel, so I think that a bail out bottle (pony) is a wise decision. I only carry it dives deeper than 50 feet because above that I think a controlled swimming ascent is practical.
I think that it makes sense to carry the pony stage slung for several reasons the most important of which is that in an emergency situation I think it is better to have the valve, reg, and SPG in front of me where I can see them. Also, stage slinging probably presents less of an entanglement hazard and if it becomes entangled its easy to cut free.
I carefully calculated the required volume and tested it as best I could in the quarry. I think it is dangerous to rely on a pony without completing these two steps. It is important to know what to expect ahead of time.
Mike