Pony Bottle for practice

[Dakkon]

I'm still new and not certified yet, and I can tell you the last thing I'd want to do is dive into a pool with gear on and try things out on my own. The LDS instructor here lets people gear up and jump in free of charge after hours when he's got time to devote to them... I'd hope that whoever you're planning on continuing on with would want to know that you were safe before they let you proceed anyway, as someone mentioned. It doesn't take much water down the wrong pipe to kill ya... especially when there's no one around to help out

 

[Alex777]

It's not a matter of liability for me. I'm not an instructor and if you choose to sue me you will have to do it in the Cayman Is., not in litigation-happy N America.

While I DO advocate pool practice for certified divers, I also believe it is dangerous for uncertified people to fool around with pony bottles in pools or in the ocean (both of which are common practices around here).

 

[Doc]

A list of the HOT BUTTONS from the innocent query:

...Padi certified scuba diver...almost a year since...a bit uneasy...finishing up...out of water...almost a year...almost have...some practice of buoyancy control and breathing...pony bottle...fills free.... of charge....Anybody think this is a good idea? At least the pony bottle can still be used by me later on for redundancy.

Approximately how long do you think a full 30cu bottle would last me at a relaxed state at 8 feet?

That would be assuming you didn't need the practice, then, yes? 30 minutes, maybe more. I grabbed one out of my car once, ran thirty feet, jumped in and descended to eight feet. I ran that tank to fumes in about 6 minutes. Depends upon how relaxed your state is.

So, let me see if we got this right.

Your one year clock is ticking, you almost have the gear (or maybe you have almost all of the gear), you want to practice buoyancy control and breathing but you wonder how long it will last if relaxed at eight feet after you have become a master of these skills, you found a dive shop that will fill 30 cubic foot tanks for free :11:, you "wonder" if we think this is a good idea, and then on your very first post, with your total lack of professed scuba knowledge, you whip out that hallowed and inflammatory 50 cent word, redundancy.

My oh my. Well, you got a few to bite, anyway. Twelve of us including me, I guess. Back under your bridge, now. Don't make it so obvious next time... but then again... it might be no fun at all.

 

[trtldvr]

fl-dvr,

things CAN go wrong in 8 ft of water, which is why instructors introduce skills in "water shallow enough to stand up in". Yes, I know it is very rare, but an AGE, arguably the worst type of dive injury, can and has occured in pools. Only a 3ft rise in depth is nessesary. My biggest fear as an instructor has nothing to do with students in the ocean, it is a student bolting for the surface from 8ft in the pool.

Safe dives
trtldvr
www.divealive.org

 

[VooDooGasMan]

Maze if you want a pony get it, people use little pony's to cleanthere pool all the time that are not certified, but like some has mentioned it wont help with bouyancy that you want.

Take two weight belts set the tank in the center, zip tie the belts tight then you have a waist belt and a chest belt, if a 3/2 suit put a couple pounds of weight as needed, play with your bouyancy that way, and inspect your pool or clean, without banging it up with heavy gear.

Read your open water book or cd, restudy your breathing underwater with compressed air.

Others have dissagreed that you should try it, I give you way to do it to enjoy it, besides you have a pool.

 

[fl-diver]

fl-dvr,

things CAN go wrong in 8 ft of water, which is why instructors introduce skills in "water shallow enough to stand up in". Yes, I know it is very rare, but an AGE, arguably the worst type of dive injury, can and has occured in pools. Only a 3ft rise in depth is nessesary. My biggest fear as an instructor has nothing to do with students in the ocean, it is a student bolting for the surface from 8ft in the pool.

Safe dives
trtldvr
www.divealive.org

We all have heard that these things can and have happened in 3 ft of water but is this really the case? I've never heard of any confirmed cases. While it is important to be safe when learning or practicing scuba diving I feel that scuba diving in the pool is probably much safer than jumping head first into same pool. The OP has apparently done classroom sessions and 2 dives already so they are not completely ignorant to the dangers of breathing compressed air. I think it is important for people to get in the water and get comfortable and have fun but people have a lot of anxiety and get discouraged because they might die in 3 ft of water. It comes down to what each of us is comfortable with.

 

[spectrum]

What I have not seen from the OP is where OW certification is planned for.

If the original SD cert came from a resort program then it was largely in the context that someone else would do the rest of the job before solo dives were made.

If the intent of the pool dives is to recover from the lapse in diving before another vacation trip then there is plenty that can go wrong.

If the OP is following through locally then there are plenty of far better and safer options available.

Pete

 

[fl-diver]

I would rather dive with the almost certified person that has been praticing in their pool and getting comfortable with their gear and procedures than the person that is newly certified and hasn't touched the water in over a year. If you are not comfortable in the water you will not be a good or safe diver. It makes me crazy to read comments like "I'm not a good swimmer and failed my pool test" or "I've never snorkled before and almost drowned in my first pool class". I would obviously not make a good instructor. I respect the instructors with the patience to instruct and try to keep everybody safe.
I will try not to post in the New Diver forum in the future. I probably don't have sufficient training to be advising anybody.
To the OP, good luck with you OW certification and dive safe.

 

[mazeingerz]

A list of the HOT BUTTONS from the innocent query:


Your one year clock is ticking, you almost have the gear (or maybe you have almost all of the gear), you want to practice buoyancy control and breathing but you wonder how long it will last if relaxed at eight feet after you have become a master of these skills, you found a dive shop that will fill 30 cubic foot tanks for free :11:, you "wonder" if we think this is a good idea, and then on your very first post, with your total lack of professed scuba knowledge, you whip out that hallowed and inflammatory 50 cent word, redundancy.

My oh my. Well, you got a few to bite, anyway. Twelve of us including me, I guess. Back under your bridge, now. Don't make it so obvious next time... but then again... it might be no fun at all.

Thanks for the warm welcome to my first post. It's pretty hard to hide my lack of professed scuba knowledge when my first post happens to be in the "New Divers and Those Considering Diving" forum. I'm an engineer by trade therefore the word "redundancy" costs 49 cents less than in the scuba world especially when I'm designing complex systems.

Anyways, the reason I wanted to practice in my own pool was because a potential instructor told me it is possible I could complete the OW certification in a day. This gave me the impression that I wouldn't have any pool time at all and would go straight to the ocean to complete the two additional dives I needed to become fully certified. I felt I needed to familiarize myself with the new gear (wetsuit, bcd, regulator) since it's different from what I used when I did my two OW dives in the Philippines. I did the class there (written, CW, and two OW dives) at a resort back in April 2007 for 3 full days where I used less weights on a 3mm wetsuit. That's very different from my 7mm which is mandatory here in California waters. Sure I would have to put on more weight, a lot more. However, I felt I've practiced very well how to remove a weight belt and am very familiar with my BCD. Should a problem arise in the pool, I can remove my weights and, or BCD altogether and very slowly float up with my positively buoyant wetsuit. I don't think I'll be shooting up real fast with the wetsuit alone. I'm 5'8 and there's 2 feet 4 inches of water above me in the 8 foot pool. I figured swimming around practicing fin pivots wouldn't be too risky. I've been swimming to the bottom of that pool without any gear since I was a child. I do know I'm required to say the PADI mandated "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" when I'm ascending. I prefer saying "Ahhhhhhhhs hoooooole", however, at 2 feet 4 inches of ascent, I may not get the opportunity to say the second syllable. Well.. whatever works just to get all that dense gas out of me.

So, I looked elsewhere and found another instructor who was clear on giving me pool time and assessing my skills before the OW dives. In time I hope to return to Philippine waters. I'm not expecting to be wowed by what I see in the waters here in Southern California after having been in the Philippines. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[fisheater]

I'm a newbie, myself, so I could be wrong.

However, I'm pretty sure that PADI requires that your 4 OW dives take place for at least two days. Check with PADI and don't let yourself be shortchanged by an instructor willing to cut corners.

Also, I highly recommend that you do your OW dives at home. There is a lot to see in our Calif. waters and, frankly, it's harder here. If you do your OW dives in some warm, clear water paradise, there will be an overwhelming chance that you'll never dive here and, thus, will never be as good a diver as you can. Waiting for the annual dive vacation is no way to improve your skills.