Pony or no Pony ?

[TheRedHead]

You can only do a CEFA after a lunch of bean burirtos, so it's not something you can depend on.

I would think farting would cause a net loss of gas if it escaped your wetsuit. If you have a fart bubble, then your total gas should remain the same. :10:

 

[markfm]

Oh, I thought it was a drysuit question (The one time a feet-first is acceptable is if you're doing a CEFA )

 

[LI Diver]

You can only do a CEFA after a lunch of bean burirtos, so it's not something you can depend on.

I would think farting would cause a net loss of gas if it escaped your wetsuit. If you have a fart bubble, then your total gas should remain the same. :10:

Amoray and Kelly's are right next to Senoir Frijoles in Key Largo so I imagine they would have to stock considerably more lead than there competitors of the same size!

 

[markfm]

Awesome -- that's where I'm headed

 

[Puffer Fish]

Oh, I thought it was a drysuit question (The one time a feet-first is acceptable is if you're doing a CEFA )

So I see this thread about having an extra air supply, and notice that Mark is the last person to post. Wow, Mark actually posting a serious answer to a serious question - I have to look.

I thought it was common knowledge that a CEFA is only done in perfect trim? But nice job of thread highjacking.

I vote for have a seperate air supply (including the little baby spare air).

Larry, where are you - this thread needs you ASAP!

 

[boogeywoogey]

Hi,

If you're going to Bonaire watch out for the donkeys, they are all over the place.

Seriously, it's clear that you're concerned about your son but honestly, at the depths of the Hilma and other dives in Bonaire there really is no need for ponies. The sound advice I echo, and mentioned above, is that if your gear is looked after and clean you'll be fine.

In any case, from what I understand, if you travelled with a cylinder the valve has to be removed.....sounds daft but that's what I hear and nothing less than I have come to expect from the over zealous yet extremely incompetent US airport authorities.
:10:

Regards.

boogey

 

[String]

Can't a counter argument be made that the desire to be self reliant can also retard developing good buddy skills and awareness?

Or alternatively a buddy fully capable of looking after himself is a far better and safer buddy who is unlikely to endanger his buddy through his own mistakes and is more prepared to deal with an incident the other person may have.

 

[LI Diver]

So I see this thread about having an extra air supply, and notice that Mark is the last person to post. Wow, Mark actually posting a serious answer to a serious question - I have to look.

I thought it was common knowledge that a CEFA is only done in perfect trim? But nice job of thread highjacking.

I vote for have a seperate air supply (including the little baby spare air).

Larry, where are you - this thread needs you ASAP!

I looked at ponies and spare air at scuba toys and the ad for spare air says the 3 cu.ft bottle will give you 50 breaths at the surface. Does that mean at 30' it would be about 16 breaths? Since we will have buddies and the dives will be shallow are large ponies really the only option? I'm really just talking about the time it takes to alert buddy if he is taking a photo or a alternate gets hung up etc. Even a 6cu.ft pony looks like it could almost (I said almost) fit in a bc pocket. All my cold atlantic water diving friends refuse anything but the largest of ponies but in my scenario wouldn't the small ones very useful as well??:06:

OK Larry chime in anytime now??

 

[markfm]

If you get 50 at surface, I believe it should be about 25 at 33 feet.
(PV/T = constant, so if you double your pressure by descending to 2 ATM depth, the air should occupy 1/2 the volume, in other words half the breaths)
If you're truly staying less than 30' depth, in the zone where you might not care much about a safety stop and/or just need it for a brief time to reach a buddy who you believe will be close by but perhaps just not paying attention at that time, a Spare Air might actually do the trick, used as you described. It does buy a bit of margin, albeit small.

NetDoc, a while back, mentioned he was thinking of testing one himself, just to see how it worked. I wonder if he had the opportunity.

I really did look at SA, and different ponies, before I bought mine. I knew I would be diving more in the 50 - 100' range, though, and wanted something suitable for that depth region. Personal preference -- I'd prefer one backup source, use it consistently, standardize, rather than, say, get an SA for really shallow stuff and then a pony for deeper.

No clue what the breathing is like on SA, the actual mechanics of employing it, whether you might tend to consume air slightly faster just due to the employment method. (Not to mention that you'll probably suck it down faster in a real OOA due to adrenaline.)

Best of luck! As usual, I can only describe my chosen equipment, why I selected it -- other kit may well be appropriate for other people.

 

[LI Diver]

If you get 50 at surface, I believe it should be about 25 at 33 feet.
(PV/T = constant, so if you double your pressure by descending to 2 ATM depth, the air should occupy 1/2 the volume, in other words half the breaths)
If you're truly staying less than 30' depth, in the zone where you might not care much about a safety stop and/or just need it for a brief time to reach a buddy who you believe will be close by but perhaps just not paying attention at that time, a Spare Air might actually do the trick, used as you described. It does buy a bit of margin, albeit small.

NetDoc, a while back, mentioned he was thinking of testing one himself, just to see how it worked. I wonder if he had the opportunity.

I really did look at SA, and different ponies, before I bought mine. I knew I would be diving more in the 50 - 100' range, though, and wanted something suitable for that depth region. Personal preference -- I'd prefer one backup source, use it consistently, standardize, rather than, say, get an SA for really shallow stuff and then a pony for deeper.

No clue what the breathing is like on SA, the actual mechanics of employing it, whether you might tend to consume air slightly faster just due to the employment method. (Not to mention that you'll probably suck it down faster in a real OOA due to adrenaline.)

Best of luck! As usual, I can only describe my chosen equipment, why I selected it -- other kit may well be appropriate for other people.

Thanks Mark I wll ck out Net Docs posts. And it's nice to know somebody else get's up at indecent hour as well!