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hey all, I picked up a pony bottle today and am wondering if it you guys think it would be a bad idea to just use that as my alternate air source. you know, remove my octo and use that instead. thanks.
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It depends a bit on the size of the pony and how you monitor it, IMO for many divers it is a bad idea as a replacement vs. a supplement, but probably some exceptions such as solo divers.
The beauty of an octo is you always know how much air you have, you know the 1st stage works, and it on / ready to go and your buddy knows how to use it. There are a lot of qualifiers on the pony before you get to this level of preparedness that make replacing the octo questionable.
Why not have both? (even if diving solo)
You get the benefits of having a pony with another source your buddy can grab if they want to. Plus if your buddy need to bail early on in a dive you won't need to refill your pony. When diving solo your primary second could malfunction in a way other than free-flowing, meaning an alternate second (octo) would allow you to surface with more gas available.
yes get rid of the extra second stage. It provides little benefit and complicates the rig.
If you get a free flow, now you have to figure which of three second stages. i think that if you are slinging the pony like a stage bottle, then this is less of an issue, but if you back mount, get rid of the extra second stage.
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Originally Posted by bigbassballin
hey all, I picked up a pony bottle today and am wondering if it you guys think it would be a bad idea to just use that as my alternate air source. you know, remove my octo and use that instead. thanks.
That pony will absolve you of all potential gas issues while diving.
Please feel free to disconnect any alternate sources you have been trained with.
There is no chance the bottle will fail you. Fail you or your buddy.
It depends entirely upon the capacity of the pony bottle, related to the depth of the dives you will be doing. You need to make sure that the pony will have sufficient gas to bring your buddy to the surface in an emergency.
This concept of replacing the AAS with a pony does kinda defeat the main benefit of a pony tank - that being; the creation of a redundant air source.
Why not just give the pony to your buddy to carry and say "there you go, now... don't come asking me for air on this dive"... it's the same result.
You might be reducing your configuration by one extra second stage.... but you would now be carrying an extra tank... at no extra benefit whatsoever.
I'd recommend keeping your AAS/Octo.... and using the pony for what it is intended/ideal for - being a redundant air source for yourself.
It depends entirely upon the capacity of the pony bottle, related to the depth of the dives you will be doing. You need to make sure that the pony will have sufficient gas to bring your buddy to the surface in an emergency.
This concept of replacing the AAS with a pony does kinda defeat the main benefit of a pony tank - that being; the creation of a redundant air source.
Why not just give the pony to your buddy to carry and say "there you go, now... don't come asking me for air on this dive"... it's the same result.
You might be reducing your configuration by one extra second stage.... but you would now be carrying an extra tank... at no extra benefit whatsoever.
I'd recommend keeping your AAS/Octo.... and using the pony for what it is intended/ideal for - being a redundant air source for yourself.
If a pony bottle is only for yourself.. then why would you need an octopus? You donate your primary and use the pony bottle right? Where does the need for a AAS/Octo come in and why is this benefit great enough to subject yourself to additional potential failure points and freeflow sources?
yes get rid of the extra second stage. It provides little benefit and complicates the rig.
If you get a free flow, now you have to figure which of three second stages. i think that if you are slinging the pony like a stage bottle, then this is less of an issue, but if you back mount, get rid of the extra second stage.
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Originally Posted by bigbassballin
