pony vs doubles

[shaggie]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post in this forum. I seen the previous post of spare air vs pony, Am I crazy or wouldn't a doubles set up be the best situation for traveling as well as for having plenty of air for an OOA situation. No having to lug a pony through the airport, no TSA hassels removing tank valves etc. I've never yet used doubles myself yet, but have thought about getting a set up. Would I be better off with a pony/ regulator?

 

[Tom Winters]

Am I crazy or wouldn't a doubles set up be the best situation for traveling as well as for having plenty of air for an OOA situation.

Traveling with doubles is a hassle unless you're driving. Renting gets expensive if you can even find them. Doubles do look cool on the dive boat though, and women give you admiring looks and their phone numbers and men with just singles look on enviously.

No having to lug a pony through the airport, no TSA hassels removing tank valves etc.

The best way to travel with items like this is to Fedex or DHL them to your destination - this skips the whole TSA hassle. Almost anywhere in the world that you will ever get to is serviced by one of these airfreight companies.

I've never yet used doubles myself yet, but have thought about getting a set up.

Lots of air, and lots of weight. I fill my steel 125's to 3500psi and carry more gas than twin aluminum 80's. The only twins I have are twinned LP85 steels that can hold 250 cubic feet of gas.

Would I be better off with a pony/ regulator?

Depends on your diving requirements. Simpler is always better. If you do not need a piece of gear, life and diving are both that much better.
A pony bottle does come in handy for cleaning hulls, setting anchors and clips on relatively easy for a redundant air source.

 

[matt_unique]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post in this forum. I seen the previous post of spare air vs pony, Am I crazy or wouldn't a doubles set up be the best situation for traveling as well as for having plenty of air for an OOA situation. No having to lug a pony through the airport, no TSA hassels removing tank valves etc. I've never yet used doubles myself yet, but have thought about getting a set up. Would I be better off with a pony/ regulator?

Doubles will be a lot heavier and more costly to travel with if by air. I dive doubles at home (unless winter shore diving) and travel with a pony. I can pack the pony (with valve removed) in my checked baggage and have the tank filled when I arrive at my destination.

--Matt

 

[ianr33]

Get some Travel Bands from Aqua Explorers or similar and use regular rental Al 80's set up as independant doubles. You need to give some thought to gas management but I have found this setup to work nicely for me. A majority of people dont like independants,so expect some criticism for this setup!

 

[Tom Winters]

Independent doubles would work work well for travel diving since the aluminum 80 seems to be the universal norm in most tourist destinations. This does open up a whole avenue for lemming-like comments on the foolishness of independent doubles, but if you have your act together underwater and you have a good solid, well-tested setup, then you'll be ok.

 

[Tod]

Am I crazy or wouldn't a doubles set up be the best situation for traveling as well as for having plenty of air for an OOA situation.

Not trying to be argumentative, but I guess this would greatly depend on how you intended to use your doubles. I have dove with people who open the manifold and just breathe off of both tanks at once - great bottom times. But if this is how someone dove their doubles they could just as easily find themselves in an OOA situation without a backup.

[Insert the comments on how to rig and properly dive with doubles here.]

Diving with a pony is really (with some exceptions) intended for a back-up air source and not (normally) as a means to extend one's bottom times. Yes there are a few exceptions to this. So I don't think it's a question of one verses the other, they both have their merrits. It is only a matter of what is the normal type of diving you plan to do and what may or may not be the easiest to achieve for your needs. This also applies to those who travel.

 

[jptrealty]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post in this forum. I seen the previous post of spare air vs pony, Am I crazy or wouldn't a doubles set up be the best situation for traveling as well as for having plenty of air for an OOA situation. No having to lug a pony through the airport, no TSA hassels removing tank valves etc. I've never yet used doubles myself yet, but have thought about getting a set up. Would I be better off with a pony/ regulator?

You are always better off with more gas to breathe, doubles are the best way to go, but traveling is a pain in the ***, as mentioned ind. doubles would work well though, I would change regs every 500 PSI to give you bail out options. Overfilling LP steel is also the best way to go (if they are avail).

 

[loosebits]

I would agree that diving with doubles is safer IF you know how to use them - otherwise you're carrying extra weight for nothing. There are quite a few people out there that dive doubles but can't perform a valve drill (reaching over your shoulder and opening and closing the 3 valves). There is a famous accident where a diver jumped off the boat with his wing deflated and his heavy steel doubles with the valves closed. For some reason, he didn't turn reach back and turn on his valves during his descent, either panic or he couldn't reach them.

A pony on the other hand seems like it would require little training (as long as it has an appropriate O2 content for the depth you will be diving), just sling it and dive. Grabbing that extra regulator would seem to be instinctive.

While I am unaware of any classes that specifically teach doubles, finding a buddy that dives doubles who can show you the ropes is a good option. Most adv nitrox/deco classes would probably also cover that.

 

[serambin]

. . . The best way to travel with items like this is to Fedex or DHL them to your destination - this skips the whole TSA hassle. Almost anywhere in the world that you will ever get to is serviced by one of these airfreight companies . . .

Yeah, well it ain't sending them on UPS, I thought I was smart using UPS to ship my gear to and from Florida last month (shipped on 8-24-05). The 'insured' gear is still missing in New Orleans and UPS says my insurance is invalid because it was lost in a natural disaster. Looks like the only disaster is me having to repurchase gear less than a month old.

Stan

 

[budgy]

Twins are heavy and not really necessary for most recreational dives and most of my solo dives are shore dives. I've split a 300 bar 10 litre twin set, I find a single 300 bar 10 litre with a pony pretty good for the average recreational dive, it's not as well balanced as twins and although twin 300 bar 4,s or 5's maybe better it's not such a cheap option.