My girlfriend/dive buddy just bought me a pony bottle for my birthday . Why is it frowned upon to use the pony bottle for increased down time. She consistantly uses 800 -1000 psi less then I do and is disapointed that she has to come up so soon. I have only used it once since I have gotten it and sswitched over to the pony with 800 psi left in my primary tank and we at 15-20 fsw.
19 cu/ft pony= happy dive buddy
- Thread starter cjprzed
- Start date
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Blackwood
Contributor
almitywife
Vegemite Mod
congrats on the birthday :multi: ..... maybe a bigger tank for your next birthday???
my hubby has switched to a rebreather so ive gone from a 12ltr tank to a 15ltr tank just so i can get that extra dive time with him (although i did need his bailout tank as well the other week.....)
cheers and enjoy!!
my hubby has switched to a rebreather so ive gone from a 12ltr tank to a 15ltr tank just so i can get that extra dive time with him (although i did need his bailout tank as well the other week.....)
cheers and enjoy!!
1_T_Submariner
Contributor
Bigger tank along with the pony and you will have more bottom time and redundancy. Or get her a smaller tank.
UWDoc
Contributor
As stated before, you lose the advantage of redundancy that way. I find it is more practical just go with a larger primary cylinder; that way you don't need to have a second regulator for the pony either. Plus, if you do more than one dive a day and use the same bottles, you would need to get them both filled instead of just one.
Well you have a nice girlfriend that buys you things you can use.
As for using the pony to extend the dive, thats a bad thing and you shouldn't be doing it.
The pony is like life insurance, you buy it and hope you never use it. If you get in the habbit of using the pony to extend the dive you are borrowing against the insurance policy.
My buddy, (17 yr old daughter) dives an al 80 while I dive a steel 100. Our air runs low at just about the same time.
You may want to look into getting a larger tank for your girl friend for her birthday, but you would use it.
Win / Win on the gift thing.
Jim Breslin
As for using the pony to extend the dive, thats a bad thing and you shouldn't be doing it.
The pony is like life insurance, you buy it and hope you never use it. If you get in the habbit of using the pony to extend the dive you are borrowing against the insurance policy.
My buddy, (17 yr old daughter) dives an al 80 while I dive a steel 100. Our air runs low at just about the same time.
You may want to look into getting a larger tank for your girl friend for her birthday, but you would use it.
Win / Win on the gift thing.
Jim Breslin
verybaddiver
Contributor
side sling the pony and use it as a stage
If you plan it as dive air as opposed to burning your lifeline I don't see where it's any different than a stage bottle.
Being a single bottle it's only good for the first dive but maybe the OP does a lot of single tank outings and that's just fine. If nothing else it gives him what he needs to make a meaningful first, perhaps deeper dive.
I agree that longterm for local use getting a larger primary cylinder is the cleanest and cheapest way to go. The pony has the advantage of being transportable to a dive destination that offers nothing larger than an 80.
cjprzed, Be sure to keep her in mind in your consumption plan remembering that only your primary cylinder allows you to support her if needed. I'd do the pony time before your primary cylinder gets below 50% that way you always have ample air accessible to her.
cjprzed, Have you also considered sharing some of her air? My wife will use some of mine at times and with planning it maximizes the dive while building coordination. This worked out great on Bonaire. We'd head up current at a chosen depth, as an example 60 feet. When she hit her turn pressure (50%) she'd take my alternate and we'd perhaps go another 10 minutes. When I hit mine we'd turn back and return at a sallower depth, say 30 feet. Heading down current and being shallower we'd both get back with ample air and always had plenty do deal with an issue if something came up. The pony's a fine solution but this is another option for a second dive or if the pony is not available.
The reason it is frowned upon is that some people are not open minded enough to see a pony bottle as anything but a sacrosanct emergency air supply.
Pete
Being a single bottle it's only good for the first dive but maybe the OP does a lot of single tank outings and that's just fine. If nothing else it gives him what he needs to make a meaningful first, perhaps deeper dive.
I agree that longterm for local use getting a larger primary cylinder is the cleanest and cheapest way to go. The pony has the advantage of being transportable to a dive destination that offers nothing larger than an 80.
cjprzed, Be sure to keep her in mind in your consumption plan remembering that only your primary cylinder allows you to support her if needed. I'd do the pony time before your primary cylinder gets below 50% that way you always have ample air accessible to her.
cjprzed, Have you also considered sharing some of her air? My wife will use some of mine at times and with planning it maximizes the dive while building coordination. This worked out great on Bonaire. We'd head up current at a chosen depth, as an example 60 feet. When she hit her turn pressure (50%) she'd take my alternate and we'd perhaps go another 10 minutes. When I hit mine we'd turn back and return at a sallower depth, say 30 feet. Heading down current and being shallower we'd both get back with ample air and always had plenty do deal with an issue if something came up. The pony's a fine solution but this is another option for a second dive or if the pony is not available.
The reason it is frowned upon is that some people are not open minded enough to see a pony bottle as anything but a sacrosanct emergency air supply.
Pete
Get a set of doubles.....
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