How practical is it to travel with a pony?

[shurite7]

The question has already been asked but I'll reiterate...do you really need a pony bottle. Better air management may be a better option.

Here is my expierence with pony bottles and traveling. I use to work for the airlines so traveling with a pony wasn't to difficult. Unless, you have an agent who is not familiar dive equipment.

The first time I took the pony I never had to rely on it. Paying attention to my air supply worked sufficient.

The second time I took it the dive operator kept forgetting to fill the bottle. I finally was able to use it my last day after I walked to the shop and picked it up myself.

On the third trip the pony bottle just sat in my room.

After the third trip I decided not take it on trips.

I use to work in the islands and every once in a while an individual would bring a pony. We made sure the bottle was filled on the first day and never had to fill it again. Almost alway's the pax, towards the end of their holiday, would put the pony to the side and not take it on the dives.

In my opinion the hassle isn't really worth it.

Salaam

Chris

 

[jim T.]

Carrying a pony bottle IS air management. It's the air you've managed to bring with you should the unlikely yet possible catastrophic failure happen to your existing single tank or lst stage.

IF you haven't practiced it's use 'til it's 2nd nature and slung it where you can see it,
you haven't managed ALL of your gas. If you include it in your bottom gas dive plan and plan to use it you haven't managed your gas plan.

The very common statement on the boards that with proper gas management you don't need a pony bottle for redundancy does not address catastrophic failures.
A buddy should, but unless you have the opportunity to continually dive as a team member and drill with them, you never know how a more "casual" buddy arrangement will go in a true emergency. It's nice to be able to supply air to an out of air buddy by handing off a bottle and keeping a bit of distance until everyone calms down, if the situation warrants it.

Carrying a pony you know how to use and practice with is NOT an excuse for nor does it encourage poor gas management. It It is meant to be in reserve in addition to bottom gas/rock bottom planning.

It's just become such an overused yet incomplete picture statement on the boards for a long time now (by many posters) that carrying a pony bottle encourages poor gas management and it bugs me.

Responsible and proper use of a tool is all it boils down to.

 

[String]

The pony v anti pony debate is amusing at times in particular the myth that "better air management" is fine.

Name me one agency where you only carry the exact amount of gas breathed on a dive as standard? Where you have NO reserve.
Do cave divers go in with no redundancy at all? Why do they use manifold twinsets? Same for decompression divers.
If bringing a pony, which is a redundant air source on a dive can be eliminated by "better gas management" then surely all these technical divers are doing it wrong. They can axe their manifolds and just get one big tank and read some more books on gas management.

Provided its used correctly its a good safety tool and far better than trusting some randomly assigned buddy. You should never run out of gas through failing to check gauges but other mechanical failiures can leave you out of or unable to breathe your gas.

 

[ClayJar]

I dive a pony, and I've watched threads such as this in anticipation of *someday* taking a dive vacation. (I'll miss my cold, murky water, but I've got to try warm and clear eventually. ) Anyway, the general consensus seems to be that it's not a significant problem bringing a pony with you. Some places will require a VIP before filling it, or so has been said, but I'm a PSI VCI, so even that doesn't worry me.

As for the "they ended up leaving the pony" comments, what relevance is it to me that other people are lax, eh? I don't anticipate ever having to use *any* alternate air source, but I've chosen to dive (and practice) with a pony, and so I will.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I dive a pony, and I've watched threads such as this in anticipation of *someday* taking a dive vacation. (I'll miss my cold, murky water, but I've got to try warm and clear eventually. ) Anyway, the general consensus seems to be that it's not a significant problem bringing a pony with you. Some places will require a VIP before filling it, or so has been said, but I'm a PSI VCI, so even that doesn't worry me.

As for the "they ended up leaving the pony" comments, what relevance is it to me that other people are lax, eh? I don't anticipate ever having to use *any* alternate air source, but I've chosen to dive (and practice) with a pony, and so I will.

I'm not quite sure why every thread with a pony bottle question degrades into THEY'RE GOOD v. THEY'RE UNNECESSARY v. USE DOUBLES. Come on. They're a tool. Used correctly, they provide a measure of redundancy and safety. They're not the end-all-be-all, but they're also not worthless. Like any tool, it must be the right tool for the right job and you must know how to use it. I've swarn off pony v. non-pony bantering. I use one for higher risk dives, I practice so that it becomes a second nature part of my equipment configuration and I'm totally comfortable with that. I'm not going to try and convince anyone to use a pony, but I'll gladly explain my reasoning for using one and help anyone who asks set one up for themselves.

 

[jonesbf]

I dove Belize earlier this month. Pretty much everyone but myself brought a buddy, but those who didn't were just solo. You can't always depend on an "instabuddy", but you definately can't depend on a group of people who aren't paying you any attention at all.

Prior to this dive I hadn't really considered getting a pony. I'm putting some serious thought to it now...

 

[EvaL]

Hi. I'm not ciricizing any side on the pony issue, but I do think there is a place for the pony for the traveling diver. This is particularly true if one travels alone (and not paired up with a buddy or get a bad buddy), goes on deeper dives, is a photographer or tends to wander further away from the buddy than is safe. I fit into these, so I'll be bring my 19 cu f pony with me on future trips.

 

[Taxgeek]

Good to hear that travelling avec pony is relatively doable. I'm taking my 13cf pony to Raja Ampat in a week, so I'll try to report back on how that went, since it includes big international airlines and small regional carriers. The one other piece of advice I have heard is to have a flashlight with you. Somebody in the indo forum described the indonesian agents wanting to look inside the bottle, but the guy had to wait forever while they located a working flashlight to look inside with.

 

[ArcticDiver]

I have to confess that threads on "ponys" almost always gives me a bit of a laugh. The theme always seems to be: "how big a tank to I absolutely need to have?" and "how tough is it to take it with me?"

The answer to the second question is easy. Depending on just where a person lives and what airlines they use it is matter of money. With some it is easy and cheap. With others it is expensive and difficult. Neither stops the train.

The first question in my opinion should be: "How much gas can I carry and still be practical?" After all, with just about every underwater problem it is the gas supply that drives the time available to solve the problem.

So, a "pony" is really just a set of doubles with asymetrical tanks. Just going to symetrical tanks both increases the gas supply and makes the whole thing more convenient.

Just a thought.

 

[DPJ]

Which is more practical, a shetland or an arabian?

Arabian. Drink less water, very important on a long flight.