How deep until you need to bring along a pony bottle?

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AquaGuy

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I was wondering at what depths do you need to bring along a pony bottle? I am talking about in Ocean Water with no overhead environment. I dive 90 -100ft quite often but don't take a pony with me. Is this bad? None of the people who I dive with use pony's. Also, where is the best place to mount a pony and should you open the valve before you enter the water or only open the vavle when you need it (Under the water) ?

Thanks for all of the info

Aqua Guy
 
I would suggest a pony any time that you dive alone or with a buddy who you dont feel comfortably buddy breathing with. If there is a chance your buddy will not be capable of handling an out of air emergency or they do not dive with an octo then a pony is mandatory. As far as mounting a pony bottle I never did find a good place to mount mine. Keep in mind it will throw your balance off and you will need to shift the weights on your belt to counter this. When I dove a single I had a canister light (butt mounted) and did not require weights so i was forced to try and shift air in my bc to compensate for the added weight on the pony side. I always kepy my pony on because it was my impression that the presure could cause your purge to open allowing water in your hose, I may be wrong on this and if I am I'm sure someone will come along and correct me. Besides, if you run out of air the last thing you want to do is have to worry about getting your air supply turned on. hope this helps.:)
 
On dives where doubles would be overkill - shallow penetration dive, solo beach dive, no-deco dive to 100' - in addition to a single (often a 120hp - BTW I only dive dry so I'm not overweighted by the steel tank) I carry a 40lb pony slung - stage bottle style.

When you are diving with a stage and using it for deco gas you always presurize the tank and then turn it off- since losing the gas to a free flow would be very bad, but, for a true bailout bottle I say turn in on and leave it on, if you have a problem with it just end your dive early.
 
Always use the pony . . .

In a recent dive, I realized how important it was. I was at 1000psi about to signal to my buddy to ascend. I then became separated from my buddy (I know, not good diving practice) and had a reg freeflow. The freeflow was a severe one- equivalent to holding the purge down, and it drained my tank before I could stop it. Without the pony, I would have had to do an emergency ascent. I still did my ascent immediately, but at least I was able to make a controlled one.
 
I dive with a 19cf pony slung whenever I do not have enough faith in my buddy to be RIGHT THERE. That is typically whenever I am spearfishing.

I decided to do this not after an "oh no" incident, but rather after lots of contemplation at 110' about "what if my reg dies now" as I was lining up, spearing, or stringing a fish.

I turn it on at the surface before entry, then turn it OFF prior to going in. After clearing the surface and just before starting the real "decent" phase of the dive I look to see if I lost any significant amount of pressure in the SPG (sometimes I do get a freeflow on entry for a second or so); if the gauge is still showing significant pressure I leave it alone.

You'll get one "pull" from the reg before you turn it on, which is enough to calm the instant "oh oh" and allow you to crank on the valve. Pressurizing ahead of time keeps water from accidentally entering the LP hose and winding up in the first, which can happen if you accidentally bump the purge and there is no pressure in the system. Since its "right in front of you" slung in this fashion there is never a question as to where it is or how to reach it - the reg, valve and gauge are right there where you can see them, and the bottom of the tank swings nicely up under your arm and out of the way.
 
Anytime there is even an outside chance you'll need it, bring it.
 
Well, I dive doubles alot of times, so that kinda rules out a pony bottle. However, whenever I am teaching, I think a pony bottle makes a lot of sense. When I am in the water with four to six students, I am my own buddy. I like to have a pony bottle with me just for my own safety. Also, when I am diving single tanks deeper than 60 feet, I will be using a pony bottle...
 
I would disagree and say that you never really NEED a pony bottle. With proper planning, practice and a good buddy, a pony is not really needed. I would look into doubles before I bought a pony.
 
Aquaguy,
A Rule of Thumb that was suggested to me was "If you lose your air supply at the end of a breath, can you make it to the surface?
If you can't, then you need redundancy" Whether you go to doubles, pony, or use an H valve, is your decision based upon the dive.
No matter what, be safe.
Larry
 
Why would someone look into doubles instead of a pony if they were only using a single tank? Doubles does not give you true redundancy. How are doubles going to fix a 2nd stage failure, or a first stage failure for that matter?
 

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