Do you actually see people diving with pony bottles?

[kelemvor]

Oh come on know. Advanced skill. Really. If your carrying a pony, most people will have to clip and unclip to attach it to their kit, or board a boat. Unclipping a pony in not ardious, less so than say deploying a long hose

I think that might depend on the size of the pony. My al13 would be simple to hand off. Larger ponies? I'm not so sure. Also would depend on how far you were from the bottom in case it got dropped.

 

[Diving Dubai]

I think that might depend on the size of the pony. My al13 would be simple to hand off. Larger ponies? I'm not so sure. Also would depend on how far you were from the bottom in case it got dropped.

My comment is based on actual experience carrying ponies/stages/deco either AL 40, or AL 80 - occasionally a AL30

Of course there is a risk of dropping, like anything you unclip underwater. I guess it depends how clumsy people are

 

[2airishuman]

I don't get it. Why would I want to hand my pony cylinder to a 15 year old in an emergency? Why would I want to hand **anyone** my pony cylinder in an emergency? What possible benefit would there be over primary donate? Why would I want to take the chance on the **other diver** who is OOA making matters worse by losing control of the cylinder? How is the other diver going to make even a small buoyancy adjustment once they have the cylinder -- remember, they're out of air and will have to orally inflate, and they are task loaded with turning the valve on the pony on, purging the reg, and attaching it to a d-ring or something. What if it is cold (heavy gloves) or the visibility is poor, as is the case on many of my dives?

 

[lermontov]

My comment is based on actual experience carrying ponies/stages/deco either AL 40, or AL 80 - occasionally a AL30

Of course there is a risk of dropping, like anything you unclip underwater. I guess it depends how clumsy people are

no doubt theres a course for it

 

[kelemvor]

I don't get it. Why would I want to hand my pony cylinder to a 15 year old in an emergency? Why would I want to hand **anyone** my pony cylinder in an emergency? What possible benefit would there be over primary donate? Why would I want to take the chance on the **other diver** who is OOA making matters worse by losing control of the cylinder? How is the other diver going to make even a small buoyancy adjustment once they have the cylinder -- remember, they're out of air and will have to orally inflate, and they are task loaded with turning the valve on the pony on, purging the reg, and attaching it to a d-ring or something. What if it is cold (heavy gloves) or the visibility is poor, as is the case on many of my dives?

I guess it's a matter of what seems easier. I probably wouldn't hand it off either. Is it more difficult to clip your pony to him or to maintain close contact as you ascend? If you're not talking about a long hose to donate, swapping the pony gains appeal in my mind. Of course, the ideal scenario (outside of avoiding the emergency that called for using the pony) is that both divers have a pony and nobody hands anybody anything.

If I've already got someone breathing off my 13, they've probably got the hose in their hand. I think unclipping the tank from my d-ring and clipping it to theirs would be super simple and preferable. Maybe not... I've never actually done it.

 

[lermontov]

I don't get it. Why would I want to hand my pony cylinder to a 15 year old in an emergency? Why would I want to hand **anyone** my pony cylinder in an emergency? What possible benefit would there be over primary donate? Why would I want to take the chance on the **other diver** who is OOA making matters worse by losing control of the cylinder? How is the other diver going to make even a small buoyancy adjustment once they have the cylinder -- remember, they're out of air and will have to orally inflate, and they are task loaded with turning the valve on the pony on, purging the reg, and attaching it to a d-ring or something. What if it is cold (heavy gloves) or the visibility is poor, as is the case on many of my dives?

well if it was me id give them my long hose and switch to necklace THEN get my pony sorted for them.
if theyre OOA then they cant adjust buoyancy regardless of what theyre breathing from
If Im using a pony as go to air then Id already have it to turned on - unlike deco gas that turn on as required

from memory didnt we learn to remove and put back on BCD in OW class this is far more difficult then handling a pony

 

[Coztick]

I would suggest choosing a sop and practicing until you and your family can do it blind.

 

[lowviz]

well if it was me id give them my long hose and switch to necklace THEN get my pony sorted for them. ...//...

I'm of the same mindset.

First is "plug and purge" for the panicked, or simply donate primary for the calm but needy. Now you are joined at the hip.

I've taken to adding a short "drysuit/wing" hose with a blow gun tip to keep the Schrader valve protected. Tip is here: Trident Blow Gun *Buy Trident at DIVESEEKERS.com 888-SCUBA-47 Cheap, great for bag inflation. In an emergency simply remove the tip and drop it then connect the hose to their wing/BC inflation.

Once your victim is calmed down disconnect your pony, clip onto victim, and get him/her all fixed up and independent. Last step is to retrieve your primary and escort to the surface.

 

[ljpm]

I don't get it.

1. Why would I want to hand my pony cylinder to a 15 year old in an emergency? Why would I want to hand **anyone** my pony cylinder in an emergency?

2. What possible benefit would there be over primary donate?

3. Why would I want to take the chance on the **other diver** who is OOA making matters worse by losing control of the cylinder?

4. How is the other diver going to make even a small buoyancy adjustment once they have the cylinder -- remember, they're out of air and will have to orally inflate, and they are task loaded with turning the valve on the pony on, purging the reg, and attaching it to a d-ring or something.

5. What if it is cold (heavy gloves) or the visibility is poor, as is the case on many of my dives?

1. I combined the first two questions since they are related. THEY NEED AIR. Well that's the simple answer. I'll go into more detail in 2.

2. Benefit. 1. I could clip the air source to them. Once it is clipped to them I don't have to worry about becoming separated. Like you have mentioned, you have to control buoyancy manually. If they have their own air source attached to them it is one less thing to worry about.

3. Even if they did loose control of the cylinder, very unlikely, we would still have the option of primary or secondary donate.

4. What buoyancy adjustments are needed. We will be ascending. That means venting bcd. We would orally inflate on the surface. As for task loading for pony, you dive with the valve on! Purging, you would do that with primary donate as well. And I would clip the tank to their D ring. It really is not that challenging.

5. What is actually different between grabbing the reg of a pony and grabbing the secondary (primary). Both are sources of air. Both should be on. As for transferring a tank, its really not that challenging. So, where does the cold water and gloves come into the equation.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I guess it depends how clumsy people are

An OW diver who runs out of air and needs to have a pony bottle handed to them is a lot more likely to be clumsy than a tech diver or Instructor who is used to handling extra bottles.