when do you use a pony bottle?

[Otto]

I dive with a BP/W and use a slung bottle on a regular basis even with doubles. Whether you call it a pony, deco, or stage it's still a slung bottle. I don't care for back mounted bottles as I can't see a leak and don't care for another pressure guage clipped off to cause confusion. Practice with a slung bottle will be beneficial if you intend to get into technical diving. If your buying a dedicated cylinder I would get a 40 as the price is about the same as the 30's you'll need the extra capacity as your skill increases, and it will disapear in the water. Make your own stage rigging and save a few bucks. For those of you who travel I have used a rented 80 slung and once you practice with it it will disapear under your arm also. Dive safe.

 

[Rick Murchison]

I carry a pony whenever I want to.
Rick

 

[IceBergSlim]

Oh, goodie, another pointless argument!

Because snorkels kill.

Sorry, it was a bit of an inside joke. The pony and snorkle debates are legendary.

You will ditch the pony shortly before the snorkle (or vice/versa). It goes the same with almost everyone so don't feel bad.

Have fun diving.

 

[CompuDude]

Sorry, it was a bit of an inside joke. The pony and snorkle debates are legendary.

You will ditch the pony shortly before the snorkle (or vice/versa). It goes the same with almost everyone so don't feel bad.

Have fun diving.

Gotcha! No hard feelings.

I only carry my snorkel about 50% of the time, frankly... mostly when there is any sort of a surface swim involved, strong currents, etc. I just happened to be wearing it in that one shot I had handy when I decided to whip up an avatar.

I don't currently carry a pony at all, although it is definitely on my shopping list, for the all reasons stated above in the thread that make sense to me.

Happy (and safe) diving to all!

 

[jo8243]

When I'm looking for a false sense of security or if I feel like running out of gas twice. . .

:shakehead
Ah, the scubaboard official line. No sense on having a backup for anything because it should always work perfectly. Reality never differs from the truths preached on the forums.

 

[IceBergSlim]

:shakehead
No sense on having a backup for anything because it should always work perfectly.

So you carry two pony bottles?

 

[Web Monkey]

Is a spare air OK? Is a 6 cube pony OK? How about a 13? 19? 30? I guess we all agree that 40 and up are OK. That seems to be the real question here, not is a backup worth while, but how much back up do you need to make it worth while.

If you're buddy diving and using a "Bingo Air" or "Rock Bottom" concept, then clearly there is no reason to carry a pony.

Even when diving with a buddy that I trust, the bottom line is that I really don't see a need to trust anybody with my life when I can take care of it myself.

I have a number of excellent buddies who would always have enough gas for me in an emergency, and would always be ready to help, but I see no reason to share their air if I can bring my own.

This means that my emergency procedure for an OOA failure is the same whether I'm at home with my regular buddy or on a cattle-boat on vacation with a bunch of people who were certified yesterday. If I have a failure, I can end the dive and ascend on my own primary or backup (pony), and not have my life depend on the skills of a complete stranger.

Terry

 

[xiSkiGuy]

:shakehead
Ah, the scubaboard official line. No sense on having a backup for anything because it should always work perfectly. Reality never differs from the truths preached on the forums.

Are you suggesting I carry two sets of doubles?

 

[IceBergSlim]

Are you suggesting I carry two sets of doubles?

Or perhaps one set of Quads?

 

[xiSkiGuy]

Or perhaps one set of Quads?

No, if it was just one set, it wouldn't be "redundant" enough. You'd need two sets of quads.

Somebody call Highland Mills and see what they can work up.