I almost exclusively dive back mounted doubles here in Norway, and when I went to Dahab last year I was able to rent doubles, but many places in the world that's going to be tricky. I would prefer having redundant gas and regs in the 60-100ft range, especially when diving with random buddies and groups I can't necessarily rely on in case of a failure.
The solutions I see talked about most here on SB are pony bottles and sidemount. Why not just dive with an extra bottle as a stage?
Pony bottle
+ reserve gas (for one diver)
+ smaller/lighter
+ compatible with recreational gear
- need to buy a pony
- need to travel with tank
- possibly higher risk of failure if its not used/tested on every dive
Sidemount
+ full redundancy
+ no need to travel with tank
+ balance in the water
+/- one less second stage
- PITA on boats
- need 2 bottles for every dive
- need to get right-handed valve bottles (how?)
- need comprehensive training
- need extra gear (unless that's all you dive)
Single tank + stage
+ full redundancy with two regs on reserve gas
+ compatible with recreational gear
+ only need 1 extra tank for a whole trip
+ no travel with tank, just a stage rigging kit
+ no other purchases/gear necessary
- slightly more to handle on boat than pony (less than sidemount)
Am I missing anything? Why are pony bottles and sidemount so popular? Is it really that much more uncomfortable diving with an AL80 stage than a pony, that you want to travel with a tank? Are there any other drawbacks to diving with a stage that I haven't thought about?
The solutions I see talked about most here on SB are pony bottles and sidemount. Why not just dive with an extra bottle as a stage?
Pony bottle
+ reserve gas (for one diver)
+ smaller/lighter
+ compatible with recreational gear
- need to buy a pony
- need to travel with tank
- possibly higher risk of failure if its not used/tested on every dive
Sidemount
+ full redundancy
+ no need to travel with tank
+ balance in the water
+/- one less second stage
- PITA on boats
- need 2 bottles for every dive
- need to get right-handed valve bottles (how?)
- need comprehensive training
- need extra gear (unless that's all you dive)
Single tank + stage
+ full redundancy with two regs on reserve gas
+ compatible with recreational gear
+ only need 1 extra tank for a whole trip
+ no travel with tank, just a stage rigging kit
+ no other purchases/gear necessary
- slightly more to handle on boat than pony (less than sidemount)
Am I missing anything? Why are pony bottles and sidemount so popular? Is it really that much more uncomfortable diving with an AL80 stage than a pony, that you want to travel with a tank? Are there any other drawbacks to diving with a stage that I haven't thought about?