What's in your pony?

[Herk_Man]

And might I suggest, air... with a splash of Jose Cuervo to help calm you down from whatever is requiring you to need your pony! (So disappointed that we are on page 6 of this thread and nobody else has recommended this.)

 

[Bogie]

Air. The pony is for emergencies and you don't want to add an oxygen toxicity risk.

 

[Dr Wu]

What exactly do people think they are gaining by having nitrox in their pony?

Pony bottles by themselves are awesome but adding Nitrox stickers to the outside turns the awesomeness up to 11.

 

[Skull]

I like Rolling Rock in my ponies ...

Also rather than use a pony why not just do like the rest of us and move on doubles?

Finally ..using a pony with nitrox between 80-120 fsw /ffw ...in an emergency the last thing you got to worry about is oxygen toxicity ... if you are hitting the pony then you are ascending --no? And you are ascending at a rate proportional to the amount of gas you got in the pony...no? The pony is a nice bail out but if you are in need of it then obviously your butt is heading to the surface ...when you get there it would be nice to have enriched gas to help ..no? Spend the extra 2 bucks and take some 36% with you just in case you gotta bail out.

 

[ucfdiver]

Well what ever is in my bottle is for deco, now whats on my bottle is a sticker that says OXYGEN MOD 20... In other news what ever you have as back gas should be in your pony for emergancy purposes, that way if you bail out with your pony you have the same gas as what was in your main cylinder...

Do you have 100% in backgas?

Seriously dude, you know absolutely nothing about technical diving, why do you keep posting as if you do? You're making a fool out of yourself, and everyone in FL knows you're a liar about cave training.

 

[Puffer Fish]

I like Rolling Rock in my ponies ...

Also rather than use a pony why not just do like the rest of us and move on doubles?

Finally ..using a pony with nitrox between 80-120 fsw /ffw ...in an emergency the last thing you got to worry about is oxygen toxicity ... if you are hitting the pony then you are ascending --no? And you are ascending at a rate proportional to the amount of gas you got in the pony...no? The pony is a nice bail out but if you are in need of it then obviously your butt is heading to the surface ...when you get there it would be nice to have enriched gas to help ..no? Spend the extra 2 bucks and take some 36% with you just in case you gotta bail out.

The interesting thing about "emergencies" is that they tend to be not planned. If one could plan exactly what and when they were to have one, then they would not be called emergencies. If the dive is at or near the NDL, at say 100 ft, and one has to make a direct accent, and it is the first dive of the day, then the only thing I want to be breathing is something higher in my pony. I wish people had a better understanding of MOD's and CNS and the issues there.

 

[Skull]

The interesting thing about "emergencies" is that they tend to be not planned. If one could plan exactly what and when they were to have one, then they would not be called emergencies. If the dive is at or near the NDL, at say 100 ft, and one has to make a direct accent, and it is the first dive of the day, then the only thing I want to be breathing is something higher in my pony. I wish people had a better understanding of MOD's and CNS and the issues there.

Agreed ... most divers that go though the trouble of using ponies should understand the benefits of enriched gas. They should also understand the physiology of enriched gas consumption ... ox-tox like nicossis is relative to in gassing ... used as a emergency situation, especially if you blow through your NDLs' gives you a buffer while in deco as well as just having that extra oxygen while recovering on the surface from the mistake at depth.

 

[Herk_Man]

As someone fairly new to Nitrox diving, and with no technical experience, I'm trying to understand this a little better. One of the big teaching points in Nitrox class is that you have to watch your MOD to avoid OxTox. But what I'm reading here is that even if I'm diving air, it is not a bad idea to put Nitrox in the pony, assuming you will be using it as an emergency air source.

If I stay within the recreational limits (130fsw if I have deep training), is there any chance of running into trouble if I put EAN36 in my pony and I have to use it starting at 130 but I do a controlled ascent? (And when I say "any chance" I mean normal circumstances. I understand that in diving sometimes weird things happen.)

Thanks for the info.

 

[Skull]

As someone fairly new to Nitrox diving, and with no technical experience, I'm trying to understand this a little better. One of the big teaching points in Nitrox class is that you have to watch your MOD to avoid OxTox. But what I'm reading here is that even if I'm diving air, it is not a bad idea to put Nitrox in the pony, assuming you will be using it as an emergency air source.

If I stay within the recreational limits (130fsw if I have deep training), is there any chance of running into trouble if I put EAN36 in my pony and I have to use it starting at 130 but I do a controlled ascent? (And when I say "any chance" I mean normal circumstances. I understand that in diving sometimes weird things happen.)

Thanks for the info.

First of all @ 130 fsw your recreational bottom time is about 5 minutes in reality on 21%(compressed air). Let's say you have a problem with your reg or something along those lines ... you stop and assess the situation. You begin your ascent ...fact is you will be narced in most cases. You will ascend and grab your pony reg. By the time you hit say 90 ft you most likely will not in gas enough O2 at 36 % to send you into OxTox. The ascent pressure delta on your body from 130 to 90fsw is negligible so it can be done rather quickly in a emergency .. so the gamble is how fast do you want to get to a safe depth to gather your wits and begin a safe controlled ascent to the surface. As you ascend you will be in-gassing more O2 above 90 fsw which helps. When you reach the surface you got 36% to breath off of which again gives you more O2 then if you where breathing 21%. Recovery from the dive will be quicker ..well depending on how you handled your ascent rate from 90fsw to the surface.

Finally if you are screwing around at 130 fsw and decide to use your pony as added bottom time .. you most likely will end up killing yourself ...but that is just piss poor dive planning-eh? For all of the obvious reasons regardless of what mix you got in your pony.

 

[Dr Wu]

As someone fairly new to Nitrox diving, and with no technical experience, I'm trying to understand this a little better. One of the big teaching points in Nitrox class is that you have to watch your MOD to avoid OxTox. But what I'm reading here is that even if I'm diving air, it is not a bad idea to put Nitrox in the pony, assuming you will be using it as an emergency air source.

If I stay within the recreational limits (130fsw if I have deep training), is there any chance of running into trouble if I put EAN36 in my pony and I have to use it starting at 130 but I do a controlled ascent? (And when I say "any chance" I mean normal circumstances. I understand that in diving sometimes weird things happen.)

Thanks for the info.

People think pony bottles are important because "anything can happen" and they want to be "prepared" for an emergency.

Ok, I disagree but let's say that makes sense.

If we are concerned that "anything can happen" why put a mix in the bottle that excludes any emergency that could happen below the MOD for the chosen content?

You cannot have both "total redundancy in case of (nearly) any emergency" with a self imposed limit to the depth you assume you will not exceed.

Again people are confusing decompression tanks with "redundant tanks".

(and yes that includes diving with a pony containing EAN within NDL’s. If you think enriched air is "helping" then you are using it to decompress)