Do you actually see people diving with pony bottles?

[2airishuman]

I think that you're really arguing - and I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I'm trying to understand - that extra air can help you out of a bad situation. I agree with you and dive accordingly. What am I missing? I honestly want to know. I'm not set in my ways - maybe I can be saved, but I don't think I'm taking any crazy risks. If I am then I will stop.

There are two things I see in this.

I like to end a dive with plenty of gas. I find that the best way to do this is to start the dive with plenty of gas, and to that end, I prefer to dive an HP120 for most dives, or an HP100 if an HP120 is unavailable. Yes, a pony can help extend the duration of a dive by allowing a smaller reserve in back gas, but I prefer to just use a larger cylinder.

Regarding a pony and entanglement. The pony helps two ways. First of all, in the unlikely event of entanglement combined with a loss of back gas, it provides safety. Second of all, it provides the possibility of ditching the kit, either temporarily while disentangling the kit from whatever it's stuck in, or to allow the kit to be abandoned entirely. To some extent a long hose helps with this but not to the same degree. I've encountered wreck divers who use twinsets, and who are concerned enough about entrapment that they also bring a pony cylinder to facilitate abandoning their kit if necessary, particularly if falling objects block egress.

 

[Wookie]

Like I said I can't CESA while entangled. I think I've answered your question unless you're trying to ask something else. I also said why I have more extra air than divers with a 19 cf who consume all of their usable volume of back gas. You're arguing that your risk of entanglement is lower with a pony? That's impossible. The bottle is a bulky thing, and it can be entangled.

I think that you're really arguing - and I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I'm trying to understand - that extra air can help you out of a bad situation. I agree with you and dive accordingly. What am I missing? I honestly want to know. I'm not set in my ways - maybe I can be saved, but I don't think I'm taking any crazy risks. If I am then I will stop.

I don't think you are taking crazy risks. I just don't think there are good reasons not to carry a pony. Except 'I don't want to'. That one works.

 

[rek_diver]

Regarding a pony and entanglement. The pony helps two ways. First of all, in the unlikely event of entanglement combined with a loss of back gas, it provides safety. Second of all, it provides the possibility of ditching the kit, either temporarily while disentangling the kit from whatever it's stuck in, or to allow the kit to be abandoned entirely.

My pony bottle wouldn't help me in the second scenario because it's strapped to my main tank. I mean I guess I could find a way to remove it from the main tank without removing the regulator and BCD but it wouldn't be easy. Especially given the circumstances under which I'd be doing it.

 

[2airishuman]

When I dive with a pony, I carry it slung. The main reasons are accuracy of regulator identification and access to the valve and SPG. The ease with which it can be detached is a secondary benefit, at least for the kinds of dives I make.

 

[rek_diver]

When I dive with a pony, I carry it slung. The main reasons are accuracy of regulator identification and access to the valve and SPG. The ease with which it can be detached is a secondary benefit, at least for the kinds of dives I make.

The first two aren't an issue for me. My pony regulator second stage hangs on a necklace below my neck. I'd have to be totally out of it to somehow lose my primary out of my mouth, then somehow confuse it with the smaller pony regulator that has that thick rubber bungee around it. It's also smaller and is detuned to breathe a bit harder to avoid freeflow because I leave the valve open when I dive so I don't have to worry about accessing the valve.

 

[lowviz]

When I dive with a pony, I carry it slung. The main reasons are accuracy of regulator identification and access to the valve and SPG. ...

I carry one as a TOTALLY independent source of air. Nothing at all to do with whatever kit I'm diving, not 'attached' to my kit either. Slung with clips and cuttable loops. I monkey dive with it. It is its own thing. Self-sufficient. It happens to be a 19. YMMV.

...//... The ease with which it can be detached is a secondary benefit, at least for the kinds of dives I make.

I sling mine too. But in a way that is quickly cuttable should everything hit 'RESET' during my dive.

 

[vam]

Much honest thanks to all who replied to my take on the pony. You've given me much to think about, and I really do appreciate it. I was thinking of moving to side mount, and that's probably still my direction. I'm not sure I'm swayed enough to give up "simple" solo dives until then, but I will seriously think about it. I'm also not 100% sold on side mount vs twins, but that's for another thread. Thanks again!

 

[DustyC]

On just a regular recreational dive in the Caribbean vacation, I would not even get on the boat if someone was going to use a pony bottle. Just a sign that I am about to dive with an incompetent. Sorry.

quite possibly the silliest thing I've ever read.

 

[boulderjohn]

I hope that my hypothetical OOA wouldn't be an empty lungs and mouthful of water sort of thing.

What would lead to that scenario? I have breathed stage bottles down to near empty. I have breathed my O2 deco bottles down to empty while on the shore after a dive and preparing for a long drive over a mountain pass. I can always tell when I am getting near the end. As for the mouth full of water, how would that happen if there is a regulator in it?

My primary 2nd stage is on a 7' hose which itself contains a lot of air to expand on the way up

Not really. The air in the tank and the hoses does not expand as you ascend because they are in inflexible containers. What does happen, though, is that the regulator, which could not deliver air to you at sufficient pressure to overcome ambient pressure at depth, will be able to deliver air at sufficient pressure once you get shallower and the pressure around you decreases.

 

[vam]

What would lead to that scenario? I have breathed stage bottles down to near empty. I have breathed my O2 deco bottles down to empty while on the shore after a ive and preparing for a long drive over a mountain pass. I can always tell when I am getting near the end. As for the mouth full of water, how would that happen if there is a regulator in it?

That was kind of my point... That there wasn't much I could imagine that would lead to that scenario. Broken mouthpiece plus OOA? Again, nothing I think of as a likely risk.

Not really. The air in the tank and the hoses does not expand as you ascend because they are in inflexible containers. What does happen, though, is that the regulator, which could not deliver air to you at sufficient pressure to overcome ambient pressure at depth, will be able to deliver air at sufficient pressure once you get shallower and the pressure around you decreases.

I see what you mean. So the hose length doesn't matter but the decrease in ambient pressure does matter. The volume of air in the hose would only matter if the 1st stage stopped delivering air, and in that case the volume is low enough to not matter. Do I understand you? Thanks.