pony bottles

[grf88]

Not there's a thought. Trimix pony bottles. If you get yourself in trouble because you were narced, you can switch to the trimix pony bottle, clear your head and figure a way out of the mess. Perfect for the deep air single tank diver.

You may be onto something here. It may not be quite as silly as it first sounds. Let's take a look at dives towards the end of the recreational scale (110-130 feet). Certain groups suggest they should not be done on air or light nitrox, not because narcosis is necessarily debilitating at those depths but that the narcosis that is present could be a problem if the sh!t hit the fan. Under stress the tendancy is to breathe harder which can increase CO2 retention that can greatly increase the effects of nitrogen narcosis. Here we have a simple solution for when a problem occurs. Good thinking Mike

 

[grf88]

Switching from nitrox to air at 80 ft isn't a problem except that your computer or table calculations are assuming that you are ascending on nitrox.

I don't use a pony bottle but if I did, I would have it filled with the same gas that I had in my main tank. A richer mix is ok as long as you can be sure that you won't be using it below the mod for that mix.

I would suggest air or a nitrox mix that can be used at any depth that you are likely to dive. Hopefully the pony is not going to be used and will only be filled once a year when the bottle has it's visual inspection. It may get topped up from time to time as a result of practicing with it but that is only going to be a few cubic feet.

 

[markfm]

I'd probably go with air, given your stipulations of breathing hard and 130'.

Otherwise, for a full 130' and staying within 1.4 ATA, I could use 28%. Then again, I personally choose plain old air for my pony.

Like in so many things, it's a case of one's degree of risk averseness combined with hassle factor. For me, pony means the dive's done, I'm starting the ascent evolution immediately, plain air works fine (I'm talking about non-deco recreational diving). In my very limited experience, schlepping the pony on vacation has not been a problem, given that I'm just doing a standard air fill -- no idea at all if there would be any more aversion to filling it if it was marked for Nitrox.

 

[MikeFerrara]

You may be onto something here. It may not be quite as silly as it first sounds. Let's take a look at dives towards the end of the recreational scale (110-130 feet). Certain groups suggest they should not be done on air or light nitrox, not because narcosis is necessarily debilitating at those depths but that the narcosis that is present could be a problem if the sh!t hit the fan. Under stress the tendancy is to breathe harder which can increase CO2 retention that can greatly increase the effects of nitrogen narcosis. Here we have a simple solution for when a problem occurs.

No, I think it is as silly as it first sounds. LOL the time to be on the helium is in time to avoid the problem in the first place.

 

[Nemrod]

I am of a mind that the pony is the next wave in diving. I have seen numerous magazines lately with articals touting the pony bottle.

Pony systems on the market:

Spare Air
Zeagle
OMS
Omega

come to mind and there are others and of course all you really need is a bottle and a spare regulator.

Like it or not, many divers are beginning to see the benifits of a pony and the agenices are too. I think it is Dive Magazine that has such an artical this month. Been a bunch lately. A lot of threads on it as well indicate the interest.
N

 

[RonFrank]

Spare Air
Zeagle
OMS
Omega

The irony here is that you have NOT really named any products that I would consder?

PONY = Tank, how about Catilina, Luxfer, Worthington, and the rest? Spare Air? I guess something is better than nothing, but 6CF? Why bother?

 

[Nemrod]

Ron, I am not trying to sell you anything, just naming brands that were mentioned in a recent magazine artical on pony bottles. There were a couple of others in the articals as well and there are several miniture dive systems on the market. Again, not recommending them, just stating the fact is they exist--like it or not.

edit, I am not--not recommending them either, just remaining neutral.

N

 

[robzr]

The irony here is that you have NOT really named any products that I would consder?

PONY = Tank, how about Catilina, Luxfer, Worthington, and the rest? Spare Air? I guess something is better than nothing, but 6CF? Why bother?

The spare air is only 3cf... H2Odyssey makes a nice setup that has what appears to be the same or a very similar valve/1st stage combo to the Zeagle Razor & OMS Argon system, usually fitted on a 6cf bottle with a nicely engineered quick release bag. The second stage is full sized with a couple swivel settings so it has a full field of rotation. Overall, volume aside, its a well made unit.

As for the volume: http://cemu.org/scuba/ponycalc.php?...ge=60&verbose=0&excertion_rate=1.5&density=33
Given a .50 cfm RMV (median of 80 surveyed scubaboard users), plus an extra 50% air allowance for stress, a diver could theoretically take a few breaths at 120 feet, make it to the surface at 60 fpm with a 1 minute safety stop @ 15 feet on 6 cf...

Rob

 

[MikeFerrara]

The agencies? Wouldn't you think that if they were concerned about divers needing backup gas that they would put a little gas management in their courses? Heck, wouldn't you think the magazines would pick up on that issue? ooops, but that wouldn't sell any prodects, would it?

 

[james croft]

I've done pretty good up to the first dozen pages in that I have read and tried to understand them. My head feels like it is going to explode because both sides make sense for good reasons.

I dove with ponies over the years beginning in the 80's because folks I dived with dove them and that was the way it was . I understand both sides of the argument. I own many ponies and never used them in an ooa situation or loaned them to another diver. Carrying redundeant gear has not ever affected me, either. Nor do I factor in the pony when calculating my dive profile.

The closest thing I can compare it to is my job in law enforcement. I have carried a back-up weapon but have never used it. I relied on my duty weapon. I have done many special operations and some that had a high pucker factor. I never depended on my back-up weapon to save my bacon or else I would not have done the operation. Much like a pilot in a fighter depending on a parachute or a motorist depending on an airbag. You just don't go there. But many officers have saved their butts or partners life with a back-up gun. Treat it like a seatbelt and forget it is there. But it may help in a situation where a mistake is made. If nothing else the heft of a second gun was a psychological security blanket. Much like Dumbo flying with a feather clenched in his trunk. How does it hurt for the majority of divers not doing cave diving or the like?