Used the 13 cu-ft pony this weekend

[dumpsterDiver]

This weekend I was freedive spearfishing in about 80 ft and had a fish take my gun into a small "cave". Since the current was very strong and I was out of "time" I had to ascend leaving the gun, fish and and floatline w/ float to mark the spot. The current was around 3 kts, which is just too hard for me to recover my gear with breathhold.

Got out my 13 cu-ft pony bottle, ran the boat about 175 ft up current of the float and jumped in, swam down as fast as possibe, swam (with the current) about 80-100 feet horizontall at depth, found the fish and gun, pulled the fish out, grabbed the fish, pulled the gun out of the hole, untangled the line and headed back up at a reasonably fast ascent rate of maybe 60 feet per minute. Not a big deal really.

The interesting part was my air consumption: used 1500 psi in a 13 cu-ft tank (6.5 cu-ft) to do the entire "dive". I was some what tired and a little out of breath when I did the recovery and I was not trying to skip breathe or anything. Usually we use a 30 cu-ft tank for these types of recoveries but the big pony bottle was empty so I used the back up bottle.

It was an interesting demonstration (to myself) that a 13 cuft pony should be able to get me (when scuba diving) from recreational depths to the surface without too much trouble (if everything goes well). It always kills me when some people say you NEED a 30 cu-ft pony for a 75 ft recreational dive.

 

[BZGeorge]

I have been slinging a 13 cu ft Poney for ~1 year and at the end of a dive trip, I always deploy it to return to the dive boat for the the last dive, as I have to dump the air and remove the valve to take it home (Airplane) anyway. Might as well practise its use.

I have done this at various depths, up to ~75 feet, with a 3 min Safety Stop with no problems. Now I know this is not under stress and all, but its comforting to know I have a shot of getting to the surface in an emergency.

Plus the Luxfer Poney is small enough to transport. I just put it into a small carryon with my computer and Regs..no problem at all.

 

[In10se]

I was looking at a 30 for myself, but if you're able to get a winded assent off of a 16 from 75' than I can see myself dropping down to a 19.

Thanks for the post dumpsterDiver.

 

[magicwanz]

Sweet!!!

What kind of fish did you get?

 

[JeffG]

This weekend I was freedive spearfishing in about 80 ft and had a fish take my gun into a small "cave". Since the current was very strong and I was out of "time" I had to ascend leaving the gun, fish and and floatline w/ float to mark the spot. The current was around 3 kts, which is just too hard for me to recover my gear with breathhold.

Got out my 13 cu-ft pony bottle, ran the boat about 175 ft up current of the float and jumped in, swam down as fast as possibe, swam (with the current) about 80-100 feet horizontall at depth, found the fish and gun, pulled the fish out, grabbed the fish, pulled the gun out of the hole, untangled the line and headed back up at a reasonably fast ascent rate of maybe 60 feet per minute. Not a big deal really.

The interesting part was my air consumption: used 1500 psi in a 13 cu-ft tank (6.5 cu-ft) to do the entire "dive". I was some what tired and a little out of breath when I did the recovery and I was not trying to skip breathe or anything. Usually we use a 30 cu-ft tank for these types of recoveries but the big pony bottle was empty so I used the back up bottle.

It was an interesting demonstration (to myself) that a 13 cuft pony should be able to get me (when scuba diving) from recreational depths to the surface without too much trouble (if everything goes well). It always kills me when some people say you NEED a 30 cu-ft pony for a 75 ft recreational dive.

You would be more studly if you used a spare air instead. IMO

 

[AbyssalPlains]

I've only recently started to use a pony (19 cu ft), and I do the same - I deploy it on the last dive of the day to gradually get a feel for how long it lasts. I consider myself on the higher end of air consumption, and my friends always make fun of my "baby pony." So I was surprised to find myself being able to make a slow ascent from 100 ft, including a 1-minute deep stop at 50 ft and a 3-min safety stop using only a little over 1500 psi from my pony. Of course, this was under very relaxing conditions and breathing nice and slow, but it still shows that I should be able to bail out from 100ft if I really had to and be OK.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

You would be more studly if you used a spare air instead. IMO

I would be more studly if I didn't need to cheat (use a tank) to recover an 11 lb grouper.

 

[charlesml3]

Agreed. I have a 13 foot Catalina that's banded to my tank. It's the Zeagle setup with it's own combo tank valve/first stage. I've tested the consumption as well and I'm confident I could make an ascent from 100 feet easily.

-Charles

 

[DwayneJ]

I have had a Pony bottle sitting in the garage for several months but was not 100% happy with rear tank mount. Following a safe but intense 115' dive, I decided to sling the bottle instead of mounting on my rear tank.

My buddy is purchasing the same setup.

30cf bottle, DIN (because everything else is DIN), and a sling which I now realize could have built myself. With thanks to Joe at Hollywood Scuba who helped build this setup.

 

[ZzzKing]

I have had a Pony bottle sitting in the garage for several months but was not 100% happy with rear tank mount. Following a safe but intense 115' dive, I decided to sling the bottle instead of mounting on my rear tank.

My buddy is purchasing the same setup.

30cf bottle, DIN (because everything else is DIN), and a sling which I now realize could have built myself. With thanks to Joe at Hollywood Scuba who helped build this setup.

Around here a Z-2 would be considered a pretty high faluting pony reg.