Recreational Pony Bottles, completely unnecessary? Why or why not?

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I don't see any inconsistency in a self-reliant diver helping someone else, though it's not generally what someone means when he says he's diving "solo." I have seen the terms solo and self-reliant used interchangeably, and I like that definition. A diver could be self-reliant and help others if needed. "Solo" sounds kind of selfish and antisocial anyway.

Words are so interesting, I’d dive with you or @MichaelMc in a heartbeat, just because of the thought you put into your diving.

I started diving solo because gear was hard to come by, and training was by mentor. I learned buddy diving, more by book than practice. Yeah my solo diving is selfish, but if buddy diving I’m dead serious. Even if the other party isn’t.

I’m not a fan of “every dive is a solo dive” because it gives the wrong mindset.

As for the pony, I started using one in my late’60’s for deep dives, 120 and+ because I’m not as young as I once was, and the more dangerous ones, for the same reasons. I have never carried an extra bottle unless I was looking forward to deco, I hear that was old school.

It has been quite interesting on occasion, but unsanctioned training, and experience, has been very very good to me.

If one wants to dive a pony, it’s fine with me, but don’t believe it’s the solution to every problem.
 
Breathe down by 70 bar on both sides leaving 140 bar. This is 1/3 consumed and 2/3 remaining.
Right, and the part I bolded is not what you originally said and why I was trying to clarify.
 
Right, and the part I bolded is not what you originally said and why I was trying to clarify.
What I said earlier:
For sidemount it's sort of 1/3ds. This should leave you with 2/3ds spread across the cylinders, i.e. 1/3 each side left at the turn point.
 
Got it. Your first post was talking about volume, and I thought it was about pressure. My mistake.
 
There’s a clear shift in mindset in divers carrying redundancy (pony) they are not diving in a buddy team. Their plan in a failure is to switch to redundancy. There’s no incentive for them to stay with a buddy. They are effectively diving solo. I wouldn’t be getting in the water with them without redundancy.
hmmmm .... I dive as a self reliant "buddy" with a lot of my dive buddies. I stay with my buddy, as my main air tank is their back-up gas. My protocol if my buddy has an OOA emergency, they take my octo and my main tank now becomes their air; I switch to my pony, and the dive is over. We come up, proper safety stop, and all divers return to the surface. Primary dive objective achieved.
 
And then there's the raw novices at the beginning of their diving careers, trained to follow-the-leader.

Have often wondered about the differences between conditions and whether or not this effectively constitutes a "technical" dive. Thinking that in the benign, clear, warm waters of some dive resort where visibility is amazing, it's relatively shallow, there's no entrapment dangers, just pretty things to look at.

Compare that with a tidal, green-water dive with limited visibility, more depth and a wreck to play on.

The latter does require a lot more kit (drysuit, lights, SMB), reasonable core skills (sediment, buoyancy) and it presents a lot more "risk", particularly regarding buddy separation. This means you need to be more redundant and self-sufficient.

Almost a dive with a technical mindset?
... Pacific NW shore diving .... vis from 50'+ to 6", with Lion's Mane Jellyfish. (my training ground)
 
... Pacific NW shore diving .... vis from 50'+ to 6", with Lion's Mane Jellyfish. (my training ground)
I know it all too well . . .
 
hmmmm .... I dive as a self reliant "buddy" with a lot of my dive buddies. I stay with my buddy, as my main air tank is their back-up gas. My protocol if my buddy has an OOA emergency, they take my octo and my main tank now becomes their air; I switch to my pony, and the dive is over. We come up, proper safety stop, and all divers return to the surface. Primary dive objective achieved.
You’re primary gas is their back up but you are carrying redundancy and not reliant on them for air. So the onus is on them to stay with you. Unless they’re carrying a pony too. If you’re carrying a pony for your buddy why not give it to them at the start of the dive.
 
You’re primary gas is their back up but you are carrying redundancy and not reliant on them for air. So the onus is on them to stay with you. Unless they’re carrying a pony too. If you’re carrying a pony for your buddy why not give it to them at the start of the dive.
My pony is for me, period. But I am not going to ignore any diver in distress, as even though I dive "solo" in the group dives; I find I am quite aware of other divers, especially those that may have strayed a bit from their buddy, and are not quite as experienced.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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