Pony thoughts (I know prob beaten to death)

[PM-Performance]

Just wanted to get others' thoughts on carrying a pony.
I know for NJ dives they make you carry one. So that is one reason to have one.

I see some thought that just say, have a good buddy and dont worry about a pony.

My thought on the Pony is for personal redundancy. I dunno for some reason i always have this thought in the back of my mind. What if?
What if my 2nd stage locks up and my backup has a problem. What if I have a whole 1st stage problem and cant get my buddies attention quick enuff?

With this being said , who here carries a pony and do they feel the annoyance of carrying the extra equip makes them feel safer?

 

[Blackwood]

I know for NJ dives they make you carry one. So that is one reason to have one.

Really?

Well, if that's true, and if you dive in NJ, then yes.

I see some thought that just say, have a good buddy and dont worry about a pony.

...snip...

What if my 2nd stage locks up and my backup has a problem. What if I have a whole 1st stage problem and cant get my buddies attention quick enuff?

Then you don't have a good buddy, or you aren't a good buddy, or both.



Personally, I don't care if people want to carry ponies. If you feel more secure with one, go for it.

I dive with one, but it's the same size as my other tank, and they're manifolded together

 

[String]

I dont find carrying it an annoyance. I side mount it like a stage and dont know its there at all when diving. It really makes no difference at all.

And im of the view that every diver should be able to get themselves out of any situation they put themselves in. Blindly relying on a 3rd party no matter WHO he is strikes me as dangerous. Humans aren't robots and no matter who they are they make mistakes and aren't 100% predictable in 100% of situations.

Until they invent cyborg-humans that can ALWAYS be predicted to the same thing in the same situation blindly relying on another one for your life doesnt strike me as intelligent.

 

[Rick Inman]

Until they invent cyborg-humans that can ALWAYS be predicted to the same thing in the same situation blindly relying on another one for your life doesnt strike me as intelligent.

Well, as my buddy's have done some hundreds dives with me and we've trained together, practiced together numerous times, and I know exactly how they will respond and what they'll do (because we've done it so many times) and because I can see them breathing right next to me on perfectly good tanks that are obviously functioning flawlessly and have the right gas, I will trust them for easy gas long before I'll blindly trust some inert piece of gear that I hope will work - which doesn't strike me as intelligent.

 

[String]

Nice to be married of a robot that despite acting predictable 99.9999% of the time still may occasionally make a mistake.

Ive never yet met a human being that hasn't made a single mistake in their lives or can guarantee with 100% certainty they wont ever make one.

 

[PM-Performance]

I totally agree on your points above which is why I posted.
I understand the good buddy thing and I think me and my normal dive buddy stay very close and very good with looking over or behind to check on each other very periodically thru the dive. But I look at it again as just that chance of not being able to get over in time to your buddy, or something happening that you get seperated.
Stuff happens one way or another. We all know that not all circumstances can be avoided.

My main thing is I would prob feel better being more reliant with my own redundancy too. Just wanted to see who feels the same and why?
Personal experiences making them feel this way?

 

[seaducer]

Just wanted to get others' thoughts on carrying a pony.
I know for NJ dives they make you carry one. So that is one reason to have one.

I see some thought that just say, have a good buddy and dont worry about a pony.

My thought on the Pony is for personal redundancy. I dunno for some reason i always have this thought in the back of my mind. What if?
What if my 2nd stage locks up and my backup has a problem. What if I have a whole 1st stage problem and cant get my buddies attention quick enuff?

With this being said , who here carries a pony and do they feel the annoyance of carrying the extra equip makes them feel safer?

Yes, NJ boats require redundancy, whether you dive with doubles you can isolate or a pony rig, you have to have one to get off the boat before she gets back to the dock.

I have one. I like the idea that I can get myself safely to the surface with safety stops without having to rely on anyone else. I do buddy dive, however if I enounter an OOA at depth, I want my buddy to follow me up, but I prefer to breathe off my pony if at all possible. I do not see the point to being attached to another diver if you do not need to be.

I am not annoyed at having or carrying a pony, I would have one regardless of the dive boat regs. However I am a bit annoyed at having to have one. If that makes sense. I would rather make my purchases and decisions on personal safety myself, as oppsosed to some guy I never met deciding what is best for me. YMMV

 

[PM-Performance]

very true above. Great feedback.
That brings my next point. Being coupled practically on top of your buddy in case of an OOA scenario is far from comfortable and could add to the stress of the already stressful enviroment. Not only for you trying to get close to the buddy and get it all worked out and accend with them, but also for the buddy, trying to keep their stuff together and getting you a reg and holding you with them and accending. Unless they have like a 6ft backup hose, I dont see this being very comfortable.

I think in theory this works well, but I think being able to make yourself redudant would prob work good.
At least thats my thought with lack of much diving history and close call scenarios.

 

[Rainer]

Nice to be married of a robot that despite acting predictable 99.9999% of the time still may occasionally make a mistake.

Ive never yet met a human being that hasn't made a single mistake in their lives or can guarantee with 100% certainty they wont ever make one.

For recreational dives, I'd trust my buddies more than a pony. Seriously, they're more predictable than dive gear. And I have good buddies, and good gear.

I'm of the opinion that if you think you need a pony for a more complex dive, you probably should have doubles instead.

 

[PM-Performance]

How does doubles help in redundancy though? If they are manifolded this does not help if a reg, or first stage or even manifold goes bad in some way.
I know very unlikely, but there is always a chance.
I do not know much about doubles, but assume the manifold links the tanks together so you can have both tanks activated and breathe thru them both. I guess they have seperate first stages? So I guess you can shut one tank down if there is a prob?