Handing Off a Pony Bottle

[Robert Thompson]

1996 I had an advanced student on a deep dive that neglected to tell me she was having issues with her gauge sticking. Suddenly she comes to me blue in the face needing a reg. I hand off my octo and she locks her arms into my BC, going completely passive and unresponsive. She's breathing but its like no one is there. I had begun a slow ascent and manage to free her infator and dump her BC. I could not get to my inflator because of the death grip she had. I managed to control our ascent by exhaling all my air and flaring my fins. At the surface I inflated her bc and after a few minutes of floating she came to her senses.

We train for these scenarios, but the unknown factor is how the victim is going to respond. Are they going to maintain their senses enough that you can help them? Is the result of their panic going to kill you in the process? Of course you want to help, that is natural, but what system is going to give the best possible outcome? I can tell you that controlling a diver in an actual emergency when their up in your kitchen is much harder than you speculate. In saying all of this, I'm not giving you an answer but really posing more questions. Would handing off a long hose or a bottle keep their distance? In certain cases sure, but in others probably not. Gear doesn't make the diver, experience and training do. Thinking about the what ifs before you are faced with them and the reality that it could very well be ugly and unpleasant.

I will say that I'm not a big fan of the Octopus. It's better that nothing, but I think either a long hose or bottle is definitely better.

 

[nimoh]

I've never been in such a situation, but it seems to me that transferring the bottle is an unnecessary step and a waste of time. Give the diver a reg to breathe and start the ascent.

For me, I would give them my primary on a long hose and maintain body contact through the ascent, but if I'm breathing a stage at the time of the incident, then they get the stage reg and I switch to back gas. The reason for this is that I never carry a pony, sometimes carry a stage and sometimes carry deco bottles. Verifying that the tank is breathable at the current depth is another unnecessary step and giving the reg out of my mouth works in all OOG situations.

 

[azmodan50]

Hummmmm, I'm no fan of "pony" bottles, but resources are *Team* resources…….

Tobin

That is simply too funny.

---------- Post added May 20th, 2015 at 01:54 AM ----------

No matter what you are breathing from, give the OOA diver that reg. You can donate the entire reg and tank and complete all stops together. The OOA diver can control the tank and reg and you are not attached in any manner.

A pony bottle is never part of your dive planning. Therefore, it doesn't exist. It is not an additional resource to extend a dive. I bring it in case of a catastrophic disaster . Buddies can feel free to bring their own and use it how they see fit.

Now, don't take that as "if my buddy goes OOA they're screwed". That's not the case. I would follow the exact same procedure that someone without a pony bottle would in that situation.

 

[cool_hardware52]

A pony bottle is never part of your dive planning. Therefore, it doesn't exist.

They certainly don't exist in my circle.....


Tobin

 

[PfcAJ]

I kinda think taking the time to juggle a pony bottle with some dude who's out of gas is time spent dillydallying at depth when you should be making way for the big air tank in the sky. Seems silly.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

This ability to hand off the bottle often seems to be referenced as one of the big reasons that slinging a bottle is better than back mounting it.

So far, at least, nobody has said they have actually made use of this capability or even seen it being used. I've seen a lot of "unusual" things happen in the water, but never this.

Maybe it is just one of those myths that is perpetuated by people parroting what they have read on here?

 

[halocline]

If you are talking about a real out-of-air panicking diver, believe me you will not have a lot of choice in the matter, the regulator in your mouth is coming out FAST. Guess how I know about that? This is one of the benefits of the long hose/bungied alternate.

As far as handing off a slung pony in a similar scenario, I guess it could happen after the OOA diver has safely acquired a working 2nd stage from your mouth and is no longer fearing immediate death. This would presumably allow the two divers to ascend separately. I'm not much of a pony fan either, so I haven't thought about it much.

 

[Aquavelvet]

I frequently dive with a pony (when not using doubles), and have decided that the pony is my emergency gas. An OOA diver would get the first stage from my mouth, which is attached by a 7 ft hose. That length of hose will give us a few options for resolving issues and making a safe ascent. The pony remains attached to me for my use if necessary.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[uncfnp]

I have never seen an OOG diver period.

When I first started carrying a pony bottle I envisioned different possible scenarios for this situation. SB posts often included panicked divers battling other divers for their regulator then fighting desperately for the surface. I had no rescue training at this point and I am a petite female. I dive either solo or with my buddy that is equally solo equipped. So any OOA diver I encountered would not be while "buddy" diving. My thought at that time would be to hand off the pony if this ever did happen to me hoping to only need one rescue rather than two.

Since then I have had rescue training, switched my Air 2 to a bungeed secondary for primary donation and gotten more experience. What would I do now? My thoughts are 1) rationale diver low on air - donate pony and accompany ascent, 2) rationale diver OOG (is there such a thing) donate primary then determine best ascent strategy, 3) panicked diver - won't really know till it happens. Hopefully my training and experience will be sufficient for the ocassion.

 

[boulderjohn]

I was taught that the reason for divers holding onto each other after the exchange in an OOA emergency is so that you have more than the victim's teeth holding you together as you ascend. Controlling that panicked diver may become necessary, but it is frankly not something I would look forward to. I would rather have the space myself.

Now, I have close to zero experience with an actual OOA emergency. The only time I was near one happened out of my sight, and the OOA diver calmly took her buddy's octo (without signalling), and they did a textbook ascent. In my old dive shop, I once asked a gathering of instructors about their experiences, and not a single one had ever been involved with one, and the only ones they had ever heard about went roughly like the one I just described. I'm sure there are all sorts of possible experiences, and I am sure they all happen somewhere, but for some reason they never occur to anyone I know.

What I do have experience with, however, is handing off bottles, either stage bottles or deco bottles. I used to train with an agency that was fairly obsessed with this skill, and we had to practice it and practice it and practice it. I assure you it is not something you do flawlessly and easily the first time you try it, and I suspect performing the skill with a panicked diver could easily result in a bottle dropping down into the abyss, doing no one any good.

My conclusion is that there is no point in handing over the pony bottle. Just give the OOA diver your normal regulator and begin the ascent. The only reason to use the pony would be if you were low on air yourself and were not sure you had enough for both of you to finish the dive.