What's your pony setup?

[-JD-]

How many recreational single tank divers can reach their valves without taking off their rig? My guess is close to zero.

Sometimes requires a tad of a lift from the bottom of the cylinder, but not a huge deal. My shoulder flexibility is sub-optimal.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

How many recreational single tank divers can reach their valves without taking off their rig? My guess is close to zero.

Not sure why you think that. I can reach mine just fine and I’m not that flexible. It just takes a bit of practice and the proper technique. You just need to go slightly heads down in trim and the valve is very reachable. I would think the percentage of those that can (or at least should be able to) reach their valve is 80%+.

In a BP/W you can reach them even standing on a boat deck (not so easy in a floppy jacket BCD) but underwater anyone should be able to reach the valve apart from someone with serious right shoulder mobility issues.

I frequently reach back and grasp my valve during a dive just for practice and to reinforce my muscle memory where the valve is.

 

[gamon]

Might want to be careful limiting your training and preparedness to only what you consider to be possible.

It's difficult to reach my tank valve when practicing, let alone at depth in an emergency. To reach back, find it, grasp it and turn it a dozen or so times is, at least to me, a herculean task which I would not realistically attempt since there are better options for me.

Those include a) carrying a second fully redundant gas source in the form of a pony bottle with valve open, transmitter and wrist mounted receiver for constant readout of tank pressure, and b) planned strategy of removing my rig should I need to turn off my main tank valve or address another issue with my gear that I cannot easily handle while wearing my rig.

I frequently reach back and grasp my valve during a dive just for practice and to reinforce my muscle memory where the valve is.

I periodically remove my rig at depth for practice. I use the overhead technique to don it, rather than reaching through the shoulder straps which can be problematic.

 

[-JD-]

It's difficult to reach my tank valve when practicing, let alone at depth in an emergency. To reach back, find it, grasp it and turn it a dozen or so times is, at least to me, a herculean task which I would not realistically attempt since there are better options for me.

Those include a) carrying a second fully redundant gas source in the form of a pony bottle with valve open, transmitter and wrist mounted receiver for constant readout of tank pressure, and b) planned strategy of removing my rig should I need to turn off my main tank valve or address another issue with my gear that I cannot easily handle while wearing my rig.

I periodically remove my rig at depth for practice. I use the overhead technique to don it, rather than reaching through the shoulder straps which can be problematic.

Agree: I also now dive with with a "hot" (valve-open) fully redundant source - doubles or slung pony. Switching to that is step 1. Step 2 is sorting out a problem with the primary and/or heading up, depending on circumstances.

@gamon Can you reach your valve by loosening/releasing the waist-belt (& crotch-strap if applicable) and shifting the plate or BC up, but without full removal?


@nobodyinparticular I see a lot of folks walking around with the valves halfway down their back with a single BC-camstrap barely below the tank shoulder. No way they could reach over the shoulder to access the valve. Makes me shiver a bit wondering if the tank is just going to slip out on the way to/from the water.

 

[Rollin Bonz]

Might want to be careful limiting your training and preparedness to only what you consider to be possible.

This was meant to point out specifically to your blanket statement that ANY particular issue is

Not possible

rather than any comment to your specific diving habits/style. Again, you dive you.

I firmly believe the minute you declare something impossible, you actually make it more likely. Maybe that's just my luck. Me "Ah, that'll never happen". Also me "Oh $#!+, how the hell did that happen"

Also "reaching" your valve is "accessing" your valve in the sense of "getting to it" to manipulate it if needed. If removing your rig is your way of reaching your valve, so be it, just not my preferred method. So you actually are able to reach your valve

 

[gamon]

I firmly believe the minute you declare something impossible, you actually make it more likely.

Your post was in response to part of my post that you quoted where I wrote "not possible".

The entire quote was: "Not possible [that I would have significantly less gas than I expected] if you have a transmitter monitoring the gas in your pony bottle".

I suppose it's "possible" that my tank mounted transmitter could malfunction and indicate more gas than I actually have. I should have posted "The odds are so incredibly small of that happening it's beyond the realm of practical consideration".

Heck if we can't trust our computers then why do we rely on them in the first place?

 

[loosenit2]

This topic is always interesting on SB as it is another example of the tec slant of the board. At no point in my PADI OW, AOW Rescue, or specialty courses did course material ever talk about UW valve manipulation or it being a necessary skill. The first course I have taken that specifically addresses the skill is the SDI solo course. In the few other agencies course material I have reviewed GUE is the only one that does. It would be interesting to hear if any others do.

Before I took the solo course I started diving doubles, enroute to tec training. As a part of that I self taught and practiced valve drills with doubles and made adjustments to my pony setup to ensure I could do them in a singles/pony setup as well. Nothing in rec diving drove me to do any of this, it was all a result of moving towards technical diving. Group think on SB seems to have transferred technical diving skills to recreational diving where it is largely not taught.

 

[kelemvor]

This topic is always interesting on SB as it is another example of the tec slant of the board. At no point in my PADI OW, AOW Rescue, or specialty courses did course material ever talk about UW valve manipulation or it being a necessary skill. The first course I have taken that specifically addresses the skill is the SDI solo course. In the few other agencies course material I have reviewed GUE is the only one that does. It would be interesting to hear if any others do.

Before I took the solo course I started diving doubles, enroute to tec training. As a part of that I self taught and practiced valve drills with doubles and made adjustments to my pony setup to ensure I could do them in a singles/pony setup as well. Nothing in rec diving drove me to do any of this, it was all a result of moving towards technical diving. Group think on SB seems to have transferred technical diving skills to recreational diving where it is largely not taught.

This thread is in the "solo divers" subsection of advanced diving, not basic.

 

[Rollin Bonz]

This topic is always interesting on SB as it is another example of the tec slant of the board. At no point in my PADI OW, AOW Rescue, or specialty courses did course material ever talk about UW valve manipulation or it being a necessary skill. The first course I have taken that specifically addresses the skill is the SDI solo course. In the few other agencies course material I have reviewed GUE is the only one that does. It would be interesting to hear if any others do.

Before I took the solo course I started diving doubles, enroute to tec training. As a part of that I self taught and practiced valve drills with doubles and made adjustments to my pony setup to ensure I could do them in a singles/pony setup as well. Nothing in rec diving drove me to do any of this, it was all a result of moving towards technical diving. Group think on SB seems to have transferred technical diving skills to recreational diving where it is largely not taught.

As @kelemvor said, we are in the solo subsection of advanced diving.

That being said, I think being able to manipulate your valve is a beneficial skill to have, even as a recreational diver, covered in a course or self taught. More so for a solo diver.

 

[Rollin Bonz]

Your post was in response to part of my post that you quoted where I wrote "not possible".

The entire quote was: "Not possible [that I would have significantly less gas than I expected] if you have a transmitter monitoring the gas in your pony bottle".

I suppose it's "possible" that my tank mounted transmitter could malfunction and indicate more gas than I actually have. I should have posted "The odds are so incredibly small of that happening it's beyond the realm of practical consideration".

Heck if we can't trust our computers then why do we rely on them in the first place?

Cool, we agree.

Nothing is "not possible" when it comes to preparing for an equipment failure.

You can reach your tank valve.