Safety stop deco bottle

[jpsexton]

I also seen one used on a six pack in Pensacola. I don't know if they all use them there or we're all talking about the same guy. We were diving the Oriskany and the Captain explained that it was for emergency use only. Since that dive is pushing the recreational limits if you had a problem you had to work out at depth you could easily find yourself in deco unintentionally. I thought it was a great safety measure.

 

[Blackwood]

I believe I've seen one being used one time after a dive on the backside of Molokini (maui, HI). The diver in question didn't speak english, so I was never able to determine whether he'd run out or just felt more comfortable with the bigger supply.

 

[David P]

I did the suspended bottle on a boat once, it was a giant PITA. It was for adv. nitrox, we had a crappy dive with almost no viz, ripping current, came up the ascent line flapping like a flag, finally found the bottle, switched over only to find out that the bite tabs on the mouth piece were gone, so I had to hold the reg in my mouth, hold on to the line due to major currents, and I needed a third arm to keep me from being bashed into the side of the boat. Atop all that the bottles should have been weighted as they were flapping in the breeze and our 20' deco (simulated) stop was mostly at 5 feet again due to current. After that lesson, if I need deco gas, it is on my body.

 

[ianr33]

Seen them on boats in Cayman. Its a pretty poor way of planning for emergencies IMHO. Much better to carry some extra gas for contingencies.
Of course,in Cayman everybody dives single 80's ,so you cant carry extra gas,so its hung off the boat instead.

 

[drbill]

There are times when I'd appreciate a bottle staged for our use... specifically at some of the deep pinnacles we dive where deco stops are strictly blue water. I rely on my pony since they are rarely deployed... and sometimes I can't find the boat's anchor line!

 

[Grounded]

There is (allegedly) a dive operator in the Bahamas that takes open water certified divers on a guided dive to depths of 185 feet. Each diver is suppled with an (that's one single) aluminum 80 full of air for the dive.

Somewhat surprised that someone would agree to offer such a dive- and even more surprised that someone would sign up for a dive like this, I was told "It's OK, the captain hangs a tank at 15 feet so every one can do a longer safety stop."

So, that's one use for a hanging bottle...

 

[ferretchen]

In 50 dives, I've only seen a hang tank once, on a deep rec wreck dive. Nice to know it was there. It was oxygen, not air or nitrox, and we were specifically instructed not to use it unless we were in deco or OOA. I'd like to see hang tanks more often.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

To the OP's original question: It really depends on the operator; and even within the same dive company, it can often be the individual boat captain's decision to hang a tank at the 15' level or not.

I mostly shore dive, and most of my boat dives have been non-commercial (from friends' boats), but I've seen hang-tanks when diving with some of the commercial operators here in Hawaii (on deeper dives). I've never seen anyone use the hang-tank, but from a safety standpoint I think it is an easy precaution to take.

I agree with several previous posters that it would take a whole bunch of serious judgement errors on my and my buddy's part to ever need the hang-tank, but if I were a dive operator I'd provide one "just in case".

Safe Diving!

 

[vicdiver656]

This should be a good thread! Thanks for bringing it up.
I have never heard of that before, but it definitely makes sense. I would think the only need for a stage bottle would be in an air leakage problem, or an oog situation. Does anyone have any reasons why this would NOT be useful, other than the bother of bringing along a stage bottle?

 

[deco_martini]

Reef divers in Little Cayman has a regulator on a 15 foot hose with a 2 pound weight attached that is next to their piece of PVC piece which hangs down horizontally at 15 feet for people with poor bouyancy control to hang onto when they do their safety stops.

These days, I usually come up with 1200+ PSI when I'm recreational diving on a typical one hour dive. I don't need a pony bottle for a safety stop. I just need a dive buddy with good gas management in case something goes wrong at depth. I have one of those, so I'm good.

If you are recreational diving, the best thing you can do to prevent OOA situations is to check your air. Dive more and develop a better SAC rate so its almost impossible for you to chug down a tank on an hour long dive.