Do you actually see people diving with pony bottles?

[gcarter]

It also gives you a redundant regulator in addition to the extra gas.

Which can be significantly more important on cold, deep dives where freeflows are a real possibility and a redundant tank is a better option than two breathing off of one tank.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

1) a pessimist takes a 40cf pony on a 130 fsw NDL dive in clear, calm, and warm water.
2) a realist takes a 13cf pony to 130 fsw for an NDL dive because that is all he/she needs and the possibility of something happening are nil.
3) an optimist takes no pony and uses rental gear for a solo dive to 130 fsw.

... that depends entirely on the nature of the dive. Sometimes it's less about how deep you go than it is how practical it is to make a direct ascent in the event of an emergency. My local mudhole is near an active fishing pier and boat ramp. Although it's difficult to get below 100 feet there, it is far safer to bring adequate reserves to swim toward shore before attempting an ascent ...

... a realist considers all the factors before deciding how much reserve is adequate ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[markmud]

... that depends entirely on the nature of the dive. Sometimes it's less about how deep you go than it is how practical it is to make a direct ascent in the event of an emergency. My local mudhole is near an active fishing pier and boat ramp. Although it's difficult to get below 100 feet there, it is far safer to bring adequate reserves to swim toward shore before attempting an ascent ...

... a realist considers all the factors before deciding how much reserve is adequate ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Hi Bob,

I think you are correct to consider diving in those conditions to be an overhead dive.

At Lake Tahoe I always dive with a dive float and plenty of gas (on the Nevada side, it is the law, not so in Commiefornia). Thankfully, we don't have currents there and the water is clear. Not much of surface swim to get to a wall either. Boat traffic is definitely is an overhead consideration at Tahoe.

You wrote:
"...a realist considers all the factors before deciding how much reserve is adequate...

I think your thought should be rewritten:

Realist SCUBA diver: a diver who considers all factors before deciding how much reserve and redundancy is adequate.

markm

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I don't consider it an overhead ... if I absolutely HAD to ascend I'd shoot a bag and ascend. There's nothing preventing me from doing so. The reality is I'd prefer not to, as it's a safer idea to simply swim closer to shore before ascending ... a viable option for those who considered the potential risk of a direct ascent and brought sufficient reserves to mitigate that risk ...

I bring redundancy when I'm solo diving ... I plan my reserves according to potential risk whether solo or buddy diving. They are two separate mitigation factors ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[lermontov]

No ... the easier solution is to pay attention to your dive plan, if you need more gas use a bigger tank, or if you don't have a bigger tank modify your dive plan to accommodate the one you have.

Again, all of this stuff is taught in OW class. It only takes following your training.

... and writing stupid-ass remarks doesn't contribute anything at all to the conversation, but thanks for your contribution anyway ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

wow bob you need to lighten up youll blow an O ring
but thanks for your passive aggressive contribution anyway

 

[markmud]

I don't consider it an overhead ... if I absolutely HAD to ascend I'd shoot a bag and ascend. There's nothing preventing me from doing so. The reality is I'd prefer not to, as it's a safer idea to simply swim closer to shore before ascending ... a viable option for those who considered the potential risk of a direct ascent and brought sufficient reserves to mitigate that risk ...

I bring redundancy when I'm solo diving ... I plan my reserves according to potential risk whether solo or buddy diving. They are two separate mitigation factors ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Hi Bob,

I understand what you are writing.

I had a boat come up to my dive float and prepare to bring it aboard their boat. Thankfully, others in the vicinity screamed at them to leave the dive float alone as a diver was below. On another occasion, people were throwing rocks at my bubbles (yeah, I know my bubbles were directly above me).

Occasionally, maybe we should consider it an overhead type dive.

thanks,
markm

 

[barth]

No ... the easier solution is to pay attention to your dive plan, if you need more gas use a bigger tank, or if you don't have a bigger tank modify your dive plan to accommodate the one you have.

Again, all of this stuff is taught in OW class. It only takes following your training.

... and writing stupid-ass remarks doesn't contribute anything at all to the conversation, but thanks for your contribution anyway ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I think I did never learn how to plan a dive during OW class.

(Theorie was not enough, maybe we were told to surface with 50 bar. Before we started the dive we never did a good diveplanning.)

 

[lowviz]

I think I did never learn how to plan a dive during OW class. ...//...

I didn't either. Not even mentioned. As I remember it, it was all about the excitement of breathing underwater.

And I've come to be fine with that. I have no ax to grind.

It is my observation that most ponies are being used by solo divers. Real solo divers. Maybe soloing in a group, mostly totally alone. Solo divers are a mixed bag. Some of the nicest people I would ever choose to meet along with lots of others. Most notably, some son of a bitch who chained a railroad tie in a favorite fishing spot in Indian River Inlet just to collect lures and re-sell them. He was a solo diver and had a pony too.

So, as a group, we aren't holier than anyone else. I have proof. So let's just drop that diversion. (not speaking to you, barth) I use a pony rather frequently. It is for me alone and my piece of mind. It is a clean non-problematic tool that speaks to having NOBODY to call in times of stress. Quiets the little voices in my head when I splash in the wee hours and there isn't another car in sight.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Hi Bob,

I understand what you are writing.

I had a boat come up to my dive float and prepare to bring it aboard their boat. Thankfully, others in the vicinity screamed at them to leave the dive float alone as a diver was below. On another occasion, people were throwing rocks at my bubbles (yeah, I know my bubbles were directly above me).

Occasionally, maybe we should consider it an overhead type dive.

thanks,
markm

Yes, back in the day when I was doing a lot of wreck diving in Lake Washington we'd often have boaters approaching our dive float. Many boaters don't know what it is, and sometimes I just think having something floating around in the middle of nowhere attracts them. We'd sometimes be sitting at our 20-foot deco stop looking up at boat bottoms and spinning propellers hoping they'd move on before we needed to ascend. And once we even had a fleet of small sailing boats mistake it for one of the turning marks on their race course.

Boaters are basically ignorant when it comes to dive floats ... but that's perhaps a conversation for a different thread ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I think I did never learn how to plan a dive during OW class.

(Theorie was not enough, maybe we were told to surface with 50 bar. Before we started the dive we never did a good diveplanning.)

Not surprising, given the deficiencies I've seen in some of the new divers I've mentored over the past several years. But dive planning is in the curriculum ....

... Bob (Grateful Diver)