Nitrox main tank.....air in pony...?

[RICHinNC]

IM BACK>>>
Well I took my Enriched Air course this weekend. The instructor and I talked extensively on why I was taking the course... my thoughts on how I would employ enriched air....what type of computer I would use....and the question about the pony.

As far as the pony goes....it is exclusively for use in an emergency situation only....cant find or get to buddy...had a main failure...headed right up. In the instructors opinion...use of standard air in a pony is certainly acceptable. He also reiterated a couple of comments here...dont use it to extend the dive...and if the thread was well read...it should be obvious that was not the intention. He did note, if I fixed whatever the problem was that caused the use of the pony...to sit down with the tables and figure what the oxy exposure would be using the two gasses.

Now my lds main man....is very anti using the same gear I dive regular air with. He is adamant that I should have all seperate nitrox dedicated gear. And, I really think he feels that way because of safety and his thoughts about nitrox....versus just trying to sell more gear.
It has been an interesting weekend.

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

congrats on your course personally i dive nitrox almost all the time .
wear you all at the quarry this weekend and how that go , what was the temp and visibility like .
looking for a dive for next weekend thinking of diving the Governor coastal scuba next weekend .

 

[nyresq]

Now my lds main man....is very anti using the same gear I dive regular air with. He is adamant that I should have all seperate nitrox dedicated gear. And, I really think he feels that way because of safety and his thoughts about nitrox....versus just trying to sell more gear.

Unless your shop has two compressors, one for nitrox and one for air (which I have never seen) the air your getting from an air fill is the same air that the shop uses to make the nitrox... the only reason for a nitrox specific reg would be if you get air fills at some place that your not sure of the quality of air and don't want to risk contaminating your reg... but then in that case your also going to need a different tank also, dirty air contaminates a tak faster then regs... unless you plan on diving nitrox for deco gases (higher than 40%) you don't need a dedicated nitrox reg.
Your LDS has no basis for this recomendation if your fills (air and nitrox) are coming from only them. Air for air fills and air for mixing nitrox is coming out of the same machine...

Just for fun, tell your LDS you've taken his advice and purchased a nitrox reg from another LDS and see what he says...

save your money...ut:

 

[RICHinNC]

Medic...yep it was at Fantasy Quarry in Raleigh. The vis was like zip...terrible...waste of time....but I needed the two dives for the card.
It really was a riot. The instructor and I jumped in...I told him he knew the quarry better than me...just swim around long enough to meet the requirement and lets get the heck out. The water was like ice and all i had brought was my 3/2.....NOT GOOD>

So in we go and there were two other guys already in just about to go under. We all sink down and it is real obvious...cant see squat. We finally link up and off he goes with me glued to his side like a new born dolphin....

We get to the crusher, I think, and he goes in....I dont...I cant see anything....my mask is leaking because I didnt trim my beard well and Im thinking no way I am going in. So I circle up on top until "he" comes up and motions to move on. So I move on...only it wasnt him. It was one of the other guys who thought I was his buddy. They had gotten sepearated. \

So off we go. What I find out later is....the instructor comes out of the crusher and links up with the other dude thinking it was me and off they go.
Somehow we all get seperated again....like i said...the vis super sucked......

Im down there thinking....dang...after all that blessed math I just went through Im gonna flunk this course because we got seperated!!!

So up I go. It was a riot. Everyone had the same idea at the same time. I break surface just as one of the other dudes do and immediately realize it aint david the instructor...i go...who are you....he goes who are you....way off i hear...im over here...
what a zoo!!

We did the second dive without incident and david
said keeping track of your buddy wasnt part of the course requirement (now keep your flames to yourselves....he was trying to maintain a sense of humor..)

So I passed the course....literrally froze to death...and it takes a lot to make me cold...then spent an hour on 440 because of stalled traffic. Left Fayetteville at 6 am...got home at 9 pm. Duh!!

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

well I had wanted to go up there but to be honest I was booked for a double shift two 24 hrs shift total 48 this weekend and had a friend of mine die this past week .
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39147

anyway other than that would of been there I know the quarry well was part of my compass course and friend took his DM traing out there we practiced compass courses and even mapped allot of it out so I have most of the spots marks with feet ect ect ect . but other than cold better diving than day on the land lol luckly not that cold off coast lol and visability is better lol.

 

[divad]

He is adamant that I should have all seperate nitrox dedicated gear.



That seems rediculous. Find a place that has banked ean (not mixed in the tank) so you won't have to pay to have your tanks cleaned. You don't have to have your regulator cleaned either. That's at least $150.00 you don't need to spend until you do advanced nitrox.

 

[Norm]

While I'm a firm believer in having the same gas in both tanks, what you are saying is probably alright. Just keep in mind that IF you are pushing the nitrox tables, (which no one should EVER do), I suppose there could be a problem.

 

[pt40fathoms]

One more voice for the chorus here.

Your pony bottle is a bail out device.

You will be using it to make a safe assent from depth during an emergency and that is the extent of its purpose.

Having it filled with air will in no way harm you. Provided you are not deep into a decompression dive profile, and do not have enough air in the pony bottle to safely complete all your decompression obligations.

So, fill it with air, and ensure it is of sufficient size to act as a bail out source of breathing gas for the dive profile you intend to dive. As an added measure of safety, practice using the pony bottle from a safe depth (30 - 60 feet) as often as practical, so the use becomes second nature and will be a reflex action in an emergency.

Oh, and make sure you let your buddy know you plan on doing a bail out drill on the dive so he won't freak out.

 

[domino22]

Was looking at a 6cuft pony with air to mount on the fwd side of my backplate under the right arm. I was looking at the 6 cuft because of size and for travel. If I travel alone ie most of the time I tend to get buddied up with a "Unkown person". I dive nitrox if available. I was wondering if the 6 cuft would be enough to get me up? I have a 19 cuft but it is to big for travel IMHO. I went to the BP&Wing for travel size. My normal depth is 80ft and less and I prefer around 60ft to 40ft for photos. I stay away from deco I am old. And like more bottom time for photos since I went digital. I suck at math so say from 80ft will the 6cuft pony save me-bend me or kill me?

 

[Don Burke]

domino22 once bubbled... Was looking at a 6cuft pony with air to mount on the fwd side of my backplate under the right arm. I was looking at the 6 cuft because of size and for travel. If I travel alone ie most of the time I tend to get buddied up with a "Unkown person". I dive nitrox if available. I was wondering if the 6 cuft would be enough to get me up? I have a 19 cuft but it is to big for travel IMHO. I went to the BP&Wing for travel size. My normal depth is 80ft and less and I prefer around 60ft to 40ft for photos. I stay away from deco I am old. And like more bottom time for photos since I went digital. I suck at math so say from 80ft will the 6cuft pony save me-bend me or kill me?

Figure that 6 cuft bottle will last you about one fourteenth what the 80 cuft bottle lasts.