Question about pony bottles

[T.C.]

I don't even know what that means.

In my opinion, and based on several encounters with him, he (Dumpsterdiver) likes to get involved in a topic just to be argumentative.

His post offered nothing constructive to build upon, and was, in my opinion, nothing more than an attempt to provoke.

PfaAJ's post was a thinly veiled insult, and other than expressing his dislike for me, also added nothing.

 

[PfcAJ]

I dislike people advocating punching an OOG diver in the face and most likely causing more problems. Dumb.

 

[rongoodman]

PfaAJ's post was a thinly veiled insult, and other than expressing his dislike for me, also added nothing.

You're the one talking about punching people. I can't see that as a concept which adds a lot to any discussion.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Wow, I think that would be very difficult to do. The diver would really have to be distracted to not notice that the hose is coming from the wrong side, and from below, instead of from the right and over the shoulder.

The fact that the pony reg should be attached to the tank, means even in a hurry the diver should notice that he's unstowing a reg. You don't unstow a reg on the left side of your gear and think it's a primary reg. Then, you still have the fact that the hose is coming from the wrong side and below.

I would be interested in reading the accident reports detailing the dead diver with a empty pony and full tank, do you know where I can find it?

Lastly, in my opinion, 6 cu ft is too small for an emergency supply. That panicked diver will be sucking down air, probably at a rate of 1 cu ft/min or faster. At that rate, on the surface, that 6 cu ft tank will last 6 minutes. At 90 feet, it will last a little over 1 minute. 19 cu ft is a very common size, and was a good choice.

While a pony takes practice, and I don't think it replaces an octo, the odds are it won't try to kill you or be dangerous. I've had one for three years and I haven't tried to use it as a primary yet. Practice with it, train with it, and you'll be fine.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ac...7-diving-accident-cedarville.html#post7194064

 

[Zznola]

I. Good job on not getting a Spare Air, many people go wrong there. QUOTE]

What don't you like about the spare air. I dove with someone this weekend that had one. Even for shallow easy dives.

 

[rhuntley]

I. Good job on not getting a Spare Air, many people go wrong there.

What don't you like about the spare air. I dove with someone this weekend that had one. Even for shallow easy dives.

There's a bunch of threads that discuss the pros and cons of Spare Air systems. I personally believe that if you are looking at investing in a isolated alternative air source, you shouldn't be looking for the product that is advertised as the "smallest redundant SCUBA system available." Sure, they are great for shallow dives (a dive may be planned easy, but that doesn't mean it will result as easy), but assuming you would take the precaution to have a redundant air source on a shallow dive, wouldn't you also want to take that precaution on a deep dive? In which case, you would be buying a pony anyways. Spare Air is definitely better than no air, but I personally wouldn't buy a product that has the amount of "Surface Breaths" as a specification, or just the fact alone that SA advertises themselves as better than pony systems.

 

[Zznola]

Yes of course. I see your points. At this stage I'm not doing very deep dives and I'm thinking it might be a useful precaution.


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[kafkaland]

Since we're on the topic of pony bottles: I have been using a 30cf pony a few times for dives where I felt the additional redundancy was needed. I practiced switching to the pony once in shallow water and noticed that I had no idea where to stow my primary once I switched to the pony. Should I add a clip to it, have an empty clip somewhere, or just run a loop under some convenient strap? Any suggestions? I use conventional short hoses with primary and octo, and have the pony with an additional reg slung on my left side.

 

[Searcaigh]

Since we're on the topic of pony bottles: I have been using a 30cf pony a few times for dives where I felt the additional redundancy was needed. I practiced switching to the pony once in shallow water and noticed that I had no idea where to stow my primary once I switched to the pony. Should I add a clip to it, have an empty clip somewhere, or just run a loop under some convenient strap? Any suggestions? I use conventional short hoses with primary and octo, and have the pony with an additional reg slung on my left side.

Attach a small clip on your primary second stage on the hose next to the swivel joint, then you can just clip the reg to a D-ring on on your BCD on the right hand side

 

[lowviz]

And if you dive heavy gloves and need a BIG clip, just tie a loop on your reg and leave the oversize double ender hanging on your D-ring.