Do you actually see people diving with pony bottles?

[kelemvor]

Lorenzoid. Pony bottles for emergency gas redundancy is so simple it would be really hard to mismanage, unless they start trying to use it for other issues.

I carry a pony, so I'm not in the "against" crowd.

That was covered earlier in the thread. There is an actual risk that was news to me. Apparently attaching the pony to your tank using one of those tank mount kits results in a risk of the diver using the wrong tank and has directly resulted in at least one death. Search the first few pages of this thread. Doing it the normal way where you just clip the pony off to a d-ring doesn't seem to present the same risk.

I searched for it. There were two fatalities that resulted directly from the diver carrying a backmounted pony. @2airishuman shared the details here: Do you actually see people diving with pony bottles?

It's reasonable to say that using a backmount pony attachment is mismanaging the pony and or it is dangerous.

 

[lowviz]

...//... I doubt most newer OW divers are gonna handle these situations totally relaxed and perfectly calm as if they didn't just find their breathing supply interrupted, all while staying still, maintaining depth and trim so you can "simply" remove a bottle from yourself and attach it to them. I especially have a difficult time picturing this smoothly done with the 12 year old being discussed. ...//...

I can answer this from personal experience with my son.

Step one, donate primary. Signal OK, STOP, OK, STOP, OK, STOP... while they are calming down on your backgas. You start fussing with them, it is calming for both. Transferring a pony rigged with large clips is no big deal even with big coldwater gloves. Never let go of them. You get them all hooked up, they again have buoyancy control and you make the call as to when you recover your primary, put them on THEIR pony, and begin your paired ascent. Once again, you are both independent, but this time I move to the divers back and control their buoyancy as taught by LaPenta.

 

[MichaelMc]

Pony bottles for emergency gas redundancy is so simple it would be really hard to mismanage, unless they start trying to use it for other issues.

Missmanaging a slung pony is fairly easy, how about this:

'I' carry it slung, turned off to ensure I have the air, reg looped on tank but often undone and dragging, behind the collection nets and other stuff I carry on that side, I practiced twice when I got it, and serviced the reg 10 years ago.

NOTE: Collectively this pony procedure is NOT a good one. And none of that had anything to do with becoming lax about my main tanks air.

Pony procedures vary in how good they are. If you have to keep switching regs with sidemount, you learn where they both are. For travel, being able to dive redundantly with any two tanks is convenient.

 

[Misfit12]

Maybe another question could be, how many people have had to use it? Not just to extend a dive by choice, but in an emergency?

 

[kelemvor]

I can answer this from personal experience with my son.

Step one, donate primary. Signal OK, STOP, OK, STOP, OK, STOP... while they are calming down on your backgas. You start fussing with them, it is calming for both. Transferring a pony rigged with large clips is no big deal even with big coldwater gloves. Never let go of them. You get them all hooked up, they again have buoyancy control and you make the call as to when you recover your primary, put them on THEIR pony, and begin your paired ascent. Once again, you are both independent, but this time I move to the divers back and control their buoyancy as taught by LaPenta.

Do you put an LPI hose on your pony?

 

[Misfit12]

Is there a good thread on different ways to sling a pony?

 

[uncfnp]

I carry a pony, so I'm not in the "against" crowd.

That was covered earlier in the thread. There is an actual risk that was news to me. Apparently attaching the pony to your tank using one of those tank mount kits results in a risk of the diver using the wrong tank and has directly resulted in at least one death. Search the first few pages of this thread. Doing it the normal way where you just clip the pony off to a d-ring doesn't seem to present the same risk.

I searched for it. There were two fatalities that resulted directly from the diver carrying a backmounted pony. @2airishuman shared the details here: Do you actually see people diving with pony bottles?

It's reasonable to say that using a backmount pony attachment is mismanaging the pony and or it is dangerous.

Granted, bm ponies are a bit of an exception because you can’t “sling it and leave it.” It requires a certain amount of active preparation and awareness during the dive.

 

[lowviz]

@kelemvor Yes, go back to post #380 to see how I keep the schrader valve on the LPI hose clean. I use that simple blowoff tip that can't freeflow or freeze up. Fabulous for filling bags. Cost is about $12 US. Remove it and drop it in an emergency.

 

[ljpm]

Do you put an LPI hose on your pony?

How is that relevant? When out of air you are either using buddy's secondary or you are using a pony. In either case there is no LP hose. As for buoyancy, you don't lose buoyancy when you run out of air. You also don't need to add air for buoyancy unless you decide to descend when you realize you are out of air.

 

[lowviz]

@ljpm No, you don't lose buoyancy. But real life doesn't work like that. Did you ever dump too much gas? Heading back down with no gas supply creates instant near panic.

I have done three paired ascents, hope to hell I never do another. First and worst was where my son appeared to have it all together while he was on my primary second stage.

He fell in love with some stupid short hose on his BC that attached to his shoulder. Bainbridge, just over the 'kiddie pool' that drops to about 90'. I found him in the darkness trying to find his inflation. I assumed he was OOG and donated. During the ascent, he signaled for a safety stop. Cool. Two of us floating there with a hose between us.

Next thing I know, my long hose comes spiraling down without a mouthpiece on the secondary. He corked.

All ended up well, but lesson learned. NO screwing around on an emergency ascent. Never, ever let go of the distressed diver.