Should we get pony bottles?

[TSandM]

My safety reserve is on my BUDDY's back . . . Which comes back to a question of both diving skills and dive planning. If you do not know how to stay together, you should get that figured, rather than buy equipment designed to deal with your skill problem. If you do not intend to stay together, then you are in effect solo diving, where personal redundancy is far more critical.

A slung bottle shouldn't get in the way of photography. I don't have any problems doing photography with a deco bottle.

 

[SanDiegoSidemount]

My question is, why are you ruling out doubles? Then the redundancy and extra air would be a permanent part of your rig, and an integrated part of your diving style, instead of just an add-on.

I have had back surgery, so I ruled out back-mount doubles for years because i couldn't handle the weight/stress on my spine. Then I discovered sidemount. You carry most out the out-of-water weight of the tanks on your hips. There are other logistical bonuses as well, such as being able to use normal rental tanks anywhere (just attach portable stage rigging, and you're set). For shore diving, you can independently carry your cylinders to the water's edge before you head in. On a boat, you can throw them over the side on a clip-line and never have to carry them around.

Anyway, there are lots of new-fangled ways now to dive doubles without breaking your back. I like the idea of all the safety margin being built right into my everyday rig, instead of being an add-on.

 

[phoenix31tt]

Its not totally ruled out, it may be an option for the future (side mount at least)... But for now we won't be able to change out our BCs not to mention doing side-mount training which would require travel

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[ft.lauderdale diver]

Very simply put I dive a bailout (pony) not because I am concerned about running out of gas but because of a low pressure failure.

It's an insurance policy--hope you never have to use it but when you do you're glad you have it. I also like to be completely independent and not have to rely on my buddy. What happens if they are just far enough away that you can see them but it will take 10 seconds to get to them--another 5 seconds to communicate what's gone wrong.. all with panicking?? doesn't sound like a lot of time but chances are it will seem like an eternity.

btw 98% of all my diving is in Florida tropical waters..single tank recreational depths--although I do spend the bulk of my dives between 100-135ft

Its not totally ruled out, it may be an option for the future (side mount at least)... But for now we won't be able to change out our BCs not to mention doing side-mount training which would require travel

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[Subcooled]

A pony bottle filled last month is a lovely thing to have when you realize there's something wrong with the latest fill (CO)

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[Steve_C]

1. My wife hasn't yet made the transition to bpw and she loves her current BCD, I'm not gonna push for her to switch so she's limited to single tank diving until she decides to transition

I don't understand this. I still dive my original jacket BCD. I sling a 19 cubic ft pony on the left side. It is simple. There are two metal clips. Hook to two rings on my BCD. In fact on a boat I dive a lot as I come up the ladder the mate unclips and removes the pony although I can walk with it of course. 19 ft^3 is 1/4 of an AL80. Enough to make a safe ascent from my deepest dives of 100-110 ft plus safety stop even in the case of a total air loss. Also small enough that I will actually use it regularly.

It is also easy to transfer to a buddy if they were to have an air issue.

Pony on the left. Reel under pony. Camera on the right. SMB and mask and cutting tools in pockets. Forget the pony is even there.

 

[je76]

@ TSandM, Not so sure I entirely agree with part of this statement.

Sometimes remaining with your teammate is more than just "dive skill" and "planning". Any number of factors can result in unintentional separation from your teammate even if the divers are very skilled. At that point the question becomes who is prepared mentally as well as equipped to abort the dive alone. I have known some great divers to get separated during dives where visibility changed mid dives.

That pony offers are redundancy that does not involve another diver's back who may be separated, lost, incapacitated etc. etc.

I do agree that slinging doesn't get in the way of photography or fishing.

 

[phoenix31tt]

I don't understand this. I still dive my original jacket BCD. I sling a 19 cubic ft pony on the left side. It is simple. There are two metal clips. Hook to two rings on my BCD. In fact on a boat I dive a lot as I come up the ladder the mate unclips and removes the pony although I can walk with it of course. 19 ft^3 is 1/4 of an AL80. Enough to make a safe ascent from my deepest dives of 100-110 ft plus safety stop even in the case of a total air loss. Also small enough that I will actually use it regularly.

It is also easy to transfer to a buddy if they were to have an air issue.

Pony on the left. Reel under pony. Camera on the right. SMB and mask and cutting tools in pockets. Forget the pony is even there.

hey Steve this was in a response to why no doubles... Pony isn't a problem with her BC



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[Steve_C]

hey Steve this was in a response to why no doubles... Pony isn't a problem with her BC
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My bad. Case of brain fatigue.

 

[TSandM]

I suppose it is possible for divers to become separated. I can think of a very small handful of such cases in my own experience (at least since I got some good training). Every separation that has lasted more than a minute or so involved an untrained person. That person behaved in an unpredictable way that precluded reassembling the team. (In one case, the missing person hooked up with another buddy pair and thought they were his buddies!) In the last 7 years, I have not had to abort a dive alone because of a team separation. I guess that's why I don't worry about having my reserve gas on somebody else's back.