I'm with James. The purpose of the pony bottle is, as somebody said, to get your sorry butt to the surface. The time spent on the gas is minimal. Keep it simple.
gas mixes for the pony....
- Thread starter rhwestfall
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dumpsterDiver
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Agreed, simple.
It is tough to get an incorrect mix if you always use air. From that standpoint air IS safer.
Generally, my shop will fill a pony with air for free, if i start asking for nitrox, they might start charging me... plus i like to always top off my pony before every day of diving...If you have nitrox in it and it bleeds down 400 lbs from the previous diving day and maybe a week or two of storage... Then what dump it and get a new nitrox fill? Just add air and dilute it? Then you have to Re-test the pony and put a new sticker mix label on it too? For what purpose?
The benefit of using nitrox for an emergency bailout for non-deco dives is minimal and hardly worth the hassle of messing with the mix.
However, if i am on a multiday trip, with no compressor, I will use a whip to top off the pony with nitrox from my main tank, but then i have to remember to dump it and refill before using it for a deep dive past recreational depths.
It is tough to get an incorrect mix if you always use air. From that standpoint air IS safer.
Generally, my shop will fill a pony with air for free, if i start asking for nitrox, they might start charging me... plus i like to always top off my pony before every day of diving...If you have nitrox in it and it bleeds down 400 lbs from the previous diving day and maybe a week or two of storage... Then what dump it and get a new nitrox fill? Just add air and dilute it? Then you have to Re-test the pony and put a new sticker mix label on it too? For what purpose?
The benefit of using nitrox for an emergency bailout for non-deco dives is minimal and hardly worth the hassle of messing with the mix.
However, if i am on a multiday trip, with no compressor, I will use a whip to top off the pony with nitrox from my main tank, but then i have to remember to dump it and refill before using it for a deep dive past recreational depths.
We are also talking about a pony bottle, not a stage. If not an actual part of the gas plan (emergency reserve) then bottom mix in the pony or air. All it needs to do is get me to the surface safely. But then as a Oh Crap contingency for the dive plan it should be part of it. So keep it simple. If diving air on non deco dive I have air in my pony. But I keep an emeergency contingency plan for deco on air in my wetnotes. If diving within the NDL's a richer deco gas is not needed. James's example is a good one. One minute is not that big of a deal. If the difference were more than say 20 minutes on the ascent I might consider something else. But to 20 minutes means I should have planned for that. 5 minutes is an oops. More than that means one of two things. The stuff just hit the fan somehow or the divers were reckless.
Mayor
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I really dislike the word pony because the image that pops in my head is a 19 or smaller. My idea of redundancy for non decompression diving on a single tank is to sling a 40. This would provide me enough gas to resolve issues at depth and make my way to the surface at nice relaxed pace. Plus the 40 just rides nice if set up correctly and can even be donated if need be. As for the gas it would depend on the profile but I prefer some type of mix.
At my LDS, EAN 32 is same price as air therefore locally I normally dive 32 as backgas. If I need to carry extra gas I will either dive double or sling my stage containing 32. For me it could not be simpler.
dumpsterDiver
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Griffo
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I won't even pretend to know what i'm talking about, but the only time i've seen a pony used in an emergency was as it was being handed off to a pair of random OOA divers who had a very lucky day that day. I realised it's not something you should plan for, but I notice nobody has brought team planning into their comments. If you are diving in a popular spot, should you also consider who you might end up handing it off to?
dumpsterDiver
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Dumpster...for the dives we are talking about in this section that is exactly it. For deep dives with deco obligation, I will adjust my backgas accordingly and then take with me applicable stage bottles
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