pony or spare air?

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Damn. I'm still such a geek. No wonder I didn't go to my high school prom...

Sorry, Grumpy..!

Sorry for what... it is just a redundant answering system used to reduce the odds of bad information being passed on by 2:1

 

[doctormike]

Yeah, high fives all round. Never mind that neither of you addressed the question that I was actually asking...

OK, OK... we're all friends here... Sorry for the levity...!

Which question? "Can you explain this"...? or "What if your pony fails, do you carry two just in case? Or three?"...

I think for those, we have:

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Yeah, high fives all round. Never mind that neither of you addressed the question that I was actually asking...

Please chill out.

Your last question was did we know what a manifold was. It really does not deserve an answer, but since I started diving my first doubles in 1978 I think I do.

 

[doctormike]

Sorry for what... it is just a redundant answering system used to reduce the odds of bad information being passed on by 2:1

Exactly!

 

[NC Wreck Diver]

Can we see a photo of this setup please?

Sorry, I looked through all my files. I don't have one that illustrates the set up I want to show you. A picture is worth a thousands words, but I will try to explain it to you without being to long winded:

1). My right post on my islolation valve has a ScubaPro MK25 first stage. My second stage is a ScubaPro A-700 second stage. Attached to the MK25 is my analog pressure gauge/depth gauge/compass console. Along with this is my AIR2/BC inflator hose. If I'm in my drysuit, a standard inflator hose is there too.

2). My left post is a ScubaPro MK10 with an extended yellow hose and a ScubaPro G-250, on a necklace, as my octopus.

3). I sling a 30 cu. ft. pony bottle with a ScubaPro MK2Plus/R295 attached to it along with an analog SPG, all bungeed together for instant retrival, and to keep it off the bottom of where ever I'm diving in.

This set up works very well for me. Many may think this is not for them, but I feel very comfortable with it. I have had a few divers request gas from me over the years, but never the other way around, since 1985. I hope this gives you an idea of how I dive. When I photograph it, I'll PM you if you like.

Safe diving to you.

 

[CriticalMass]

First stage regulator failures that result in immediate loss of air are EXTREMELY rare, to the point where a heart attack, lightning strike, or shark attack is probably as or more likely. Do you carry a defibrillator and a bang stick with you too? Of course not.

No. You obviously have a different take on this issue from mine, so this will be my final post on it. But, my point was that 1st stage failure is POSSIBLE. ANY equipment failure is possible. In my training over many decades as a pilot, I learned that redundancy was the proven solution to equipment failures, which could and would occur.

I could care less about probability theory on it - it's POSSIBLE. That's the point. A viable solution is an RAS, i.e., a pony. That's all. You can make all the counter-arguments on it that you want to, but the facts remain.

What the experience level of the diver is has little to nothing to do with the reality that an RAS gives the diver a new place to go, if his "old" place goes tango uniform.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

No. You obviously have a different take on this issue from mine, so this will be my final post on it. But, my point was that 1st stage failure is POSSIBLE. ANY equipment failure is possible. In my training over many decades as a pilot, I learned that redundancy was the proven solution to equipment failures, which could and would occur.

I could care less about probability theory on it - it's POSSIBLE. That's the point. A viable solution is an RAS, i.e., a pony. That's all. You can make all the counter-arguments on it that you want to, but the facts remain.

What the experience level of the diver is has little to nothing to do with the reality that an RAS gives the diver a new place to go, if his "old" place goes tango uniform.

So, as an experienced pilot, tell me what kind of planes do student pilots and newly minted pilots start with? And why?

 

[DaleC]

Remembering that we are discussing ponies and thus Recreational NDL diving...

The answer to whether 2 ponies would be safer than one is no - because the divers reaction to the first failure would negate the need for a third redundant air source. If I have a failure of my primary air source I switch to my pony and terminate the dive.

 

[stakanak]

Somehow from all of this I have decided to get a pony w/reg.
Though I do like the idea of a small unit I do not like the way the Spare Air/H2Odyssey have a stiff mounted reg as it seems this would cause some confusion in an ooa situation, i.e having to grab the whole bottle instead of just a reg on a hose.
Get Wet! :cool2:

 

[knowone]

So a spare air belongs in an aircraft if it is floating somewhere tango uniform.
And do they still make quoits from romeo oscar papa echo?