Question About Tank Rental

[steve1969]

I have someone that is going to Thailand and wants to rent a deco bottle. Are they available and where would the best place be?

Thanks,

I know very generic. Sorry Just trying to get an idea for him.

 

[stevenl]

Which part of Thailand is he going?
What do you mean with deco bottle?

 

[iztok]

Steve is talking about me. We met in the shop today and discussed that I plan to carry my 19cf+reg bailout bottle with me when I am traveling to Asia this November.

I will be staying in Phuket and diving from South Siam 3. (7 dives 2 day/1 night trip) (14-15th of November).

All I was looking to have is a bailout bottle 'coz I have no idea what type of divers and dives will be there and I would rather have something as a backup.

 

[stevenl]

Your booking agent could rent one for you, no problem. I doubt you could rent one yourself.

I would not recommend to rent one though, I doubt you'd use it.

 

[Bollox]

Isn't the whole point of a pony bottle not having to use it, but carrying it in just case any dung gets close to some kind of propeller? I would like to see more operators offering pony rentals, but of course for most of them it's more a matter of demand than outstanding service.

 

[iztok]

But isn't that the point of a bailout bottle? Hope you never have to really use it?

 

[lord khram]

The point of a bailout (pony) bottle is indeed for emergency use only and hopefully never actually used.
Most resort diving around the world is not done with such equipment, as a measured risk, should a problem occur, all that is usually needed to ascend safely from a relatively shallow dive, if it is conducted correctly is a reliable buddy and good equipment. However if you are booking with a DC to do some more 'adventurous' diving, in my mind they should have the necesssary equipment available to carry out the dives safely. If they have not, simply go to another centre that has.
Other things to consider relative to the dive you are doing, is the contents and the capacity of the pony bottle. Is it sufficient to get you to the surface should your main rig fail?
For example I and a friend were recently on a charter boat doing a 65m dive in cold water. There was also another buddy pair on the same boat doing the dive.
At the end of the dive we had clocked up over 20 minutes deco, the other pair had 3 litre 232 bar pony bottles with air inside. Totally inadequate and in my mind they should not have been attempting the dive.

 

[iztok]

First I am talking about recreational diving. If I want to do something else slinging a larger bottle (80cf) would be a better choice. The planned dive is a non-deco (recreational) dive.

Having said that, I have no control or choice of who I am diving with since I am arriving on my own. So I will be put with someone or a smaller group. Not knowing what others are capable of I plan to make sure I can do this as a solo dive in worst case scenario (not saying that I will do solo dive just plan as if it is). So since I can't reliably depend on a random buddy on the dive as it is unknown entity I need to reduce my risk with a known factor (pony bottle).

Sure these are "guided" dives but at the end it is my dive and I am responsible for planning the dive and diving the plan and no-one else when it comes to me. (Yes I will take the constraints of that particular livaboard in my plans. However I'll be damned if I will shorten my dive to 10 minutes just because someone else in the group can't dive and shouldn't be diving in the first place, I've paid way too much for that. - Now if this was genuine emergency that is another story and I won't go too much into exceptions here.)

 

[lord khram]

You seem to be missing the whole point about a pony bottle, or a deco bottle as it was first described.
You can 'sling' as larger cylinder as you like, if your first stage fails you are still left underwater without air. A pony's contents should not be included in your general dive plan, it is for emergency use only.
However, by the sounds of what you are planning, you just need to use the same equipment as all the other divers in the party, which will usually be a single cylinder.
Yes, ultimately you are responsible for your own activities underwater, but if they are guided dives, you will be diving to the guides plan.
If you are not happy with that maybe you should consider an alternative trip.

 

[iztok]

Huh? Where did you get that idea?

Dive plan (in my book) not only includes things that you need when all goes well but also things you might need if something goes wrong. So my dive plan includes a pony bottle (that will not be used to extend dive time but just to assure I have air in case of a failure of my back gas delivery system) as I can not depend on unknown buddy at unknown location.

Yes I will be diving to the guides plan but that does not include surfacing prematurely unless there is a true emergency (or other requirements to abort the plan). Sorry but vacationing diver with poor gas management blowing through single tank in 5 minutes does not constitute an emergency. Or in other words, someone's poor planning does not constitute an emergency on my end. If dive guide's plan consists of 40 minute dive followed by whatever surface interval then I plan to dive that 40 minutes unless there is a true emergency (on whichever part) but as I said, poor gas management is not true emergency. If I know I go through my air twice as fast as my buddy I will either talk to buddy ahead of time and make sure it is ok, or I will get bigger tank to match my dive time to theirs. But as far as my buddy's plan is concerned, they have the same choice. They can either trust me (unknown as I will be matched with someone on the boat) or make their own contingency dive plan that increases their chances if I am incapable of assisting them in case of an emergency.

So I don't get what the problem is? Unless we have a misunderstanding what a comprehensive dive plan includes. (In my book includes emergency planning and I don't see a problem with planning as if buddy is not available when I need the most.)

So bottom line is:

1. It is my intention to plan the dive to match what guide's plan is (however I will run my own numbers ahead to make sure it is safe for me).

2. I will reduce my risk with having a pony bottle with me (19cf/3l) in case of a failure and in case my insta-buddy is not close enough.

So having said that I either rent or bring my own but backup is part of my dive plan regardless of what operator's plan is. (Again, I am not planning on using the pony to extend my bottom time just in case of an emergency such as problem with back-gas tank or regulator.)