Pony tanks Good or Bad? - POLL

[Boogie711]

Entanglements can’t be a argument, because you can get entangled without one.

I can't accept this argument. That's equivalent to saying "I'm going swimming with large grappling hooks and carabiners all over my gear into some fish-nets. But entanglements can't be an argument, because I can also get entangled if I didn't have all this gear."

Silly, yes. But it uses the same logic.

Look - I think I can summarize this quite easily. I don't use a pony, because much like Uncle Pug, I think it gives people a false sense of security and is not necessary. There's nothing a Pony will do for me that a good buddy and situational awareness won't handle, and if I don't have either of those two things, then I just don't dive. Period. And yes, that IS an option for everyone. You can't say "That's not an option for me because I dive solo" or whatever else because, guess what Sherlock - you can choose not to dive solo too.

I think that everyone agrees that the mighty divers of Scubaboard are wonderful, omnipotent beings who understand that lesser divers may not have situational awareness. Thank goodness no one on this board has that problem.

I think everyone also agrees that they would never make the mistakes that stupid people make. Yeah, right...

I'm not going to give myself the option. I dive with a buddy, and I maintain situational awareness. There isn't a situation that anyone has presented on here that makes carrying a pony a BETTER option for me. My pony is my buddy's backgas. It's the best type of pony to have - it follows me around and will even cut me out of entanglements. Why would I want a stupid pony that just sits on my back and won't cut me out of anything?

 

[MikeFerrara]

Under the ice requires a teather so I like to go to surface supplied air and a bailout bottle. With surface supply I can use a full face mask or helmet and my face stays nice and warm. The first stage is in the warmed tent on the surface so it doesn't freeze and it is only a backup to the compressor. Heck, I can even use a free flow air hat like the Desco and don't even have a second stage to free flow.
Hook up the diver radio and the surface crew knows right away if I have a problem and can take the best action right now.

Well, we'll have to do without the heated surface suppied air and stuff but a teather isn't my prefered way to do an ice dive anyway in most places.

 

[Uncle Pug]

( PS - I see by the poll the Pony users are still winning)

...what do they win?

 

[cornfed]

( PS - I see by the poll the Pony users are still winning)

I hate to break it to you but most of the people arguing against ponies are the same people that think polls are silly...

 

[Genesis]

I use to do dives like that with a single tank but I never really enjoyed it because the dive was short and I wasn't comfortable with the the short no stop time or the gas situation. About the time I started thinking I needed a pony, I started planning deco, wearing doubles and slinging deco gas. I'd have a ball on that wreck now.

Also I'd likely use a dry suit even there but with a wet suit I'd double up a set of al80's. They'd be great for those shallow wrecks and wet suit diving. Even if done as a "no stop" dive with a single gas, for about the cost of a
pony and reg you could have a mnifold and a set of bands. I'd make a deco bottle out of the pony. That gives me both more gas and better gas fo the ascent.

Yep. Came to the same conclusion last summer, started diving doubles regularly (most of our "stuff" in the gulf is at least 80', and a lot of it is between 100-140) and enjoy it a LOT more.

Knowing that I have a lot of gas in the can and a sling bottle of 50% makes life a lot more enjoyable.

 

[NEWreckDiver]

I would hope that we could agree that Pony Bottle has a place in diving if used properly with the understanding that they are only used as a bail out and should only be used for those unforeseen events. Not to extend your dive.

If you are diving close to the edge of the NDL on a single tank, it may be time to make the move to doubles and to further your training to include decompression stops which may or may not include the use of higher O2 contents like 50% O2.

Things can happen in whatever configuration you dive with. A Pony Bottle does not replace Training and Experience.

In some way I hope there has been some good that has come out of the, lets say heated discussion.

 

[freborg]

I am working on a new invention. It is a pony that releases all its air when in contact with water! This solves the problem of being lulled into a "false sense of security" because now I know it will be empty when I need it. Just trying to be helpful.

JPL

 

[Dive Source]

...what do they win?

Guess I should of said they are ahead in the poll.

Basically pug the results of the poll just show a general consenses of the general attitude on the board regarding pony use. (which is all I wanted to know)

I am now finding this whole topic rather funny as it is showing more about the personallities of the people who are posting than the value or danger of pony bottles.

For my next thread I think I'll do one called " Are stage bottles dangerous?" then maybe all the arguments will be reversed :grin:

 

[freborg]

The scary part is that while UP and a couple of others are just doing their jobs as moderators (provocateurs), there are actually some on this board that espouse this $#@! (out there in the real world) to inexperienced divers and in doing so endanger them. So in parting. Keep your pony close, it might save your life.

JPL

 

[zeN||]

Pony bottle has saved my bacon once and the other time I wished I had brought it, they can be bothersome but in many environments it's an additional safety margin that gives you peace of mind zeN