Is there a valid reason for a pony bottle

[-JD-]

-snip-
Yeah, your buddy should always be right next to you.
-snip-

Personal, anectdotal results from admittedly very limited experience ... in about 15% of 'buddy' dives I've been effectively a solo diver.

Buddy just swam off and never looked back (actually that time I was having issues, fortunately only equalizing on a sawtooth tour dive.)

Buddy separation in the murk several times, once surprisingly, a couple not. All to easy in the fall at Dutch where viz in the training area is terrible at baseline and goes to hell when it is packed like a Manhattan sidewalk at rush hour.

Got tired of chasing an othewise competant instabuddy flying high in the Coz current and chasing underwater squirrels ...

So now I carry a pony which gives me full redundancy of gas, valve, & 1st/hose/2nd. And additional time to sort out a problem for myself or others.

 

[tarponchik]

I can be slow on the uptake, so what did you mean?

markm

I mean exactly what I said: those unfortunate guys who got trapped in caves (or wrecks) won't be saved by ponies. Stats that exclude entrapments might be meaningful (if anyone has such).

I really can't see why cave diving has anything to do with "Basic Diving Discussion".

They are included into basic statistics in the post I replied to.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

What happens at say 80 feet and your friends first stage O Ring gives up the ghost and your occupied trying to get that elusive nudi Branch picture! What would you tell next of kin We dive solo from my boat....too bad he left his pony topside?

We dive solo from my boat. Everyone is self-sufficient and has enough experience to know how to maintain their gear. If they did have an O-ring blow at 80 feet they would have enough gas to make it to the surface. We don't dive inside wrecks at 100 feet with an aluminum 80 as one poster wrote, and we don't wait until our tanks are low before getting shallow. By the time any of us are at 500-600 psi, we are either on our way up the anchor line or already back on the boat.

My no-pony policy is not aimed at making diving less safe. It is aimed at making it more safe by not diving with a security blanket attitude. We know before we get in the water that our gear works and will get us back safely. We don't cross our fingers and rely on extra gear. I also have a waiver for my friends to sign stating that they are aware of the inherent risks of diving and they understand the importance of well maintained gear. We're not a bunch of cowboys. We're simply photographers using the needed tools to allow us to find our subjects.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

No, but if a restaurant owner told me shoes weren't allowed because one time someone tracked dog
ѕhit inside, I'd eat my dinner elsewhere.

What if, like many households, your friends invited you to their home but asked you to remove your shoes before stepping on their carpet? Would you leave and visit other friends instead? Everyone is free to set boundaries. You don't have to agree with them, but there is no need to call them stupid.

 

[doctormike]

Sorry, as an almost exclusively solo diver, my primary hose is shortened to make it perfectly comfortable for me and neckaced to me, and too short to reach you. You ain't getting it. I'm set up for you to grab my all neon yellow pony reg set up and I'll pass you the pony released from QR shackles - explained & practiced before we splash. Grab my primary and you have a serious problem.

Yeah, that's one approach. If you are solo diving, then not really an issue. Primary and pony, good to go.

But tough talk aside, if you ever do dive with other people, you might be surprised what a large diver who hasn't taken a breath in a minute or so is capable of doing. Personally, I felt that the long hose, primary donate setup is the best option for non-solo OC diving. You will never get an OOG diver plugged into gas as fast with any other technique, and those seconds can really make a difference in how it all goes down.

But I guess that's not the point of this thread.

 

[doctormike]

What if, like many households, your friends invited you to their home but asked you to remove your shoes before stepping on their carpet? Would you leave and visit other friends instead? Everyone is free to set boundaries. You don't have to agree with them, but there is no need to call them stupid.

Yeah, I still don't understand why you won't allow ponies. I mean, I get the story about that diver, and if you have a small group of friends who don't use redundant gas supplies, it's sort of a non-issue. But you might want to rethink your blanket ban on pony bottles.

If they did have an O-ring blow at 80 feet they would have enough gas to make it to the surface.

They actually wouldn't have enough gas to make it safely to the surface if they were close to NDLs. I have taken a chamber ride. I don't ever want to do that again.

Do you allow rebreathers on your boat? Are they also not allowed to have bailout?

 

[caruso]

What if, like many households, your friends invited you to their home but asked you to remove your shoes before stepping on their carpet? Would you leave and visit other friends instead? Everyone is free to set boundaries. You don't have to agree with them, but there is no need to call them stupid.

Yeah if the reason given was something like "once a person came to my house wearing their shoes on the wrong feet so now I don't allow anyone to wear shoes in my house" I'd decline the invite and I would visit only other friends who didn't have stupid rules.

 

[Wookie]

Yeah if the reason given was something like "once a person came to my house wearing their shoes on the wrong feet so now I don't allow anyone to wear shoes in my house" I'd decline the invite and I would visit only other friends who didn't have stupid rules.

And maybe you would both be happier. Not being snarky, I don’t get in the water without a pony on any dive, as mine is rigged to not even really notice it’s there. If max and his no pony rule invited me to dive, I’d politely decline, which wouldn’t stop me from inviting him on my boat, on which no one wears shoes, ever. And I’m 100% serious.

 

[caruso]

I’d politely decline, which wouldn’t stop me from inviting him on my boat, on which no one wears shoes, ever. And I’m 100% serious.

The difference between your "no shoes" rule and the "no pony rule" is that your rule (for the most part) does not directly impact diver safety although both are rather odd, questionable and certainly not in line with generally accepted diving and boating practices.

 

[Wookie]

I am rather odd. Good call.

You can wear booties. I have a hard time adjusting as I work on a naval vessel that requires steel toed boots. I rarely dive from it, but I do on occasion