Pony on vacation

[halocline]

Resort diving is easier and the visibility is better but that is exactly the problem. While diving in that clear blue water you tend to dive deeper because it just doesn’t seem that deep. You go a little deeper to look at cool sponge and then there is a turtle just a little deeper then something else is a little deeper. Next thing you know you are beyond your planned depth, and you’re buddy is further away because when the water is clear it doesn’t seem that far.

I always take my pony bottle with me. The only problem I have had with it is sometimes you’re gear doesn’t fit in the tank racks on the boat, but I make it work.

This is EXACTLY the argument against pony use in recreational diving. You admit that you dive deeper than you plan, you're not being a responsible buddy, and assume that the solution is to carry a pony.

I'm not saying that you're diving dangerously, but imagine exactly how you would dive if you had no pony with you. That's how you should dive, with a pony, or not.

Once again, I'm not criticizing the fact that you might stray deeper or further from a buddy. I do that in some situations as well, specifically when I know my profile is nowhere near NDL, and when my "buddy" is a dive group lead by a DM. The issue is the falsehood that using a pony makes this safer.

 

[DandyDon]

Mattboy is right, IMO: "I'm not saying that you're diving dangerously, but imagine exactly how you would dive if you had no pony with you. That's how you should dive, with a pony, or not" - still, it's good to have for unplanned needs - however we define those.

I carry my pony everywhere I go. Palau, the Carribbean, everywhere. A 19 is just too heavy for me so I take a 13. The pony with the reg and a fill is about 1.3 pounds negative so I compensate for that by removing a bit of lead from my weights.

I've never actually needed it but I like having it around. I've been nick-named "Two-Tank" on a couple of trips now. I use the Zeagle pony bands and it sits on my right side. I loop the hose up in the wing webbing and just clip the 2nd. Works like a champ!

-Charles

Well, a 19AL is almost 5# heavier than a 13. That was part of the reasoning I used in buying a 19 with 50% more emergency air: only 5#, why not? There are debatable views on whether to compensate for the weight, but I don't go there.

It depends on whether logistics can be arranged with you flying with your pony and putting it back back together and filling afterwards do not walk into a shop with it in pieces, they will make you pay for a visual inspection, stateside, anyway, have no clue what would happen internationally . . .

Donna

Yeah, and by the rules it should be vized every time anyway, but in the real world - it's my emergency tank, so I'll keep it clean and be the judge. I am sometimes challenged to get it to the fill shack in time the night before so that it will be filled before my first day of diving so I try to allow for that.

I was on a 5 day cruise last week, with stops in Cozumel and Caymans, and I did a few dives in South Florida beforehand.

My pony bottle came with me. No big deal to let all the gas out, and then screw the valve back on again, no tools required and usually you only need to fill it once.

It was quite useful during a shore dive when it took me a bit longer to get back to shore due to an outgoing current. Sure a snorkel might have done the job if I had one but the surface was quite choppy and it wouldn't have been an easy task.

A pony does add some weight to your luggage, and if you're not going to carry it on with your regs and computers, those 50 lb limits come up real quick so watch out for that. A digital luggage scale is quite useful for those who travel close to the limit, and that's most divers...

I did have a Coz fill shack tighten the valve more than I could get loose in Aug, but the dive shop had a wrench and hammer I use to loosen it. I got a digital scale that is very accurate up to 88# off of ebay for less than $5, then my daughter gave me a nicer one for Xmas. I can get second opinions now I guess?

 

[laguna230diver]

ponys make great buddies

 

[Water Monkey]

This is EXACTLY the argument against pony use in recreational diving. You admit that you dive deeper than you plan, you're not being a responsible buddy, and assume that the solution is to carry a pony.

My point was that if you dive with a pony at home and you tend to dive deeper, longer, and further away from a buddy while on vacation, why would you leave your pony at home.

A pony is not a substitution for good diving practices but rather an alternative plan when things go wrong.

 

[idocsteve]

I got a digital scale that is very accurate up to 88# off of ebay for less than $5, then my daughter gave me a nicer one for Xmas. I can get second opinions now I guess?

Delta wanted to charge me $90 on the way down to Florida because my bag was about 10 lbs over. We did the "airport luggage shuffle" and got the weight below 50 lbs.

On the way back, with my new digital scale from Divers Direct, I had each bag at about 49.5 lbs. The scales at the airport registered between 51 and 52 lbs. Figures.

 

[halocline]

On the way back, with my new digital scale from Divers Direct, I had each bag at about 49.5 lbs. The scales at the airport registered between 51 and 52 lbs. Figures.

It's a trick they learned from old butchers' shops.

 

[BDSC]

I already know I am but don't want to be the uber on the trip.

Then leave the pony at home if the appearance of being an "uber dork" is important to you. For you will appear that way if you carry one.

 

[DandyDon]

Delta wanted to charge me $90 on the way down to Florida because my bag was about 10 lbs over. We did the "airport luggage shuffle" and got the weight below 50 lbs.

On the way back, with my new digital scale from Divers Direct, I had each bag at about 49.5 lbs. The scales at the airport registered between 51 and 52 lbs. Figures.

I hope that they accepted that your newer digital scales were more accurate, if you showed them? Anyway, a pony in luggage does add a lot of weight, and I can't guess - gotta weigh. I used to take my bags to a feed store the day before, then hope I wasn't much heavier on return. It'll be good to know now.

 

[Garvin]

I recently dove Fiji. I was the only one with a pony, albeit a 6cu ft.

I could care less about what people think. It is my life, my choice.

Garv

 

[GrandpaScuba]

Really? They let you carry it? Is this recent? International flight?

There's nothing preventing you from carrying a pony bottle in checked luggage. It has to be empty and the valve removed. No this isn't recent. You've always been able to take cylinders.
See this URL... TSA: Compressed Gas Cylinders

General info on Scuba gear is at... TSA: Transporting Scuba Equipment