I
idocsteve
Guest
I dive solo for the most part, dives are around 120 feet or less, having the pony makes my diving more enjoyable because I know that should something happen to my primary air source I've got the backup. I even take it with my on tropical vacations, even though I know I will probably be shallower than in the North East, and there will be plenty of other divers around. The piece of mind makes the inconvenience of carrying it around and having it filled, more than worth it.
I do not ever extend my dives or run my air low because I know I can count on the pony bottle, that would be insane.
The pony bottle came in handy a couple of times
1- I was in the Caymans doing a shore dive and admittedly misjudged the outgoing current, even though the guy who rented me weights and tanks told me there was an advisory in effect and very few divers entered the water that day. The swim back was more work than I thought and I was OOA (but on the surface) and the pony allowed me to swim back in without having to deal with a snorkel in rather choppy surface conditions. It lasted until I got back to shore.
2- Ok there was one time I was doing a rather shallow dive and I was really enjoying the scenery and I was working my way up from depth slowly and I took care of the safety stop along the way up and I knew my gas was getting low but I wanted to maximize the dive so I ran the tank dry knowing I was only a short hop to the surface if for some reason I couldn't finish up on the pony.
3- My pony is firmly attached to my primary tank with a "universal mount" that keeps it in place rather than hanging under my arm. It's more streamlined and it doesn't ever get in my way. I know, they say you should sling it in case you need to hand it off to someone else but I dive solo and I am not interested in rigging my gear just so that I might be able to bail out some other stranger who got themselves in a jam.
I do not ever extend my dives or run my air low because I know I can count on the pony bottle, that would be insane.
The pony bottle came in handy a couple of times
1- I was in the Caymans doing a shore dive and admittedly misjudged the outgoing current, even though the guy who rented me weights and tanks told me there was an advisory in effect and very few divers entered the water that day. The swim back was more work than I thought and I was OOA (but on the surface) and the pony allowed me to swim back in without having to deal with a snorkel in rather choppy surface conditions. It lasted until I got back to shore.
2- Ok there was one time I was doing a rather shallow dive and I was really enjoying the scenery and I was working my way up from depth slowly and I took care of the safety stop along the way up and I knew my gas was getting low but I wanted to maximize the dive so I ran the tank dry knowing I was only a short hop to the surface if for some reason I couldn't finish up on the pony.
3- My pony is firmly attached to my primary tank with a "universal mount" that keeps it in place rather than hanging under my arm. It's more streamlined and it doesn't ever get in my way. I know, they say you should sling it in case you need to hand it off to someone else but I dive solo and I am not interested in rigging my gear just so that I might be able to bail out some other stranger who got themselves in a jam.