First time to 60 feet

[guruboy]

Not to sound dumb but what is a CESA?

I think it's what NAUI calls an ESA (swim to surface with no air).

What is SD?

 

[Dan]

Solo Diver? Scuba Diver? Shark Diving? People here throw abbreviation left & right & confuse the heck out of me. LOL

 

[Luke Fosburg]

I think it's what NAUI calls an ESA (swim to surface with no air).

What is SD?

Ha Scuba Diver... Sorry about the confusion

 

[Dan]

I think you worry too much. My 1st deep dive was in Cayman Brac, dive site called Son of Rock Monster, 126', on July 2005, dive log # 15. My more experienced dive buddy was with me, closely watching me. I felt like diving in 30' deep.

 

[guruboy]

Ha Scuba Diver... Sorry about the confusion

So the basic Open Water (OW) cert then?

 

[2airishuman]

Here's my problem with pony bottles. If diving a pony bottle, it is not going to be my donate bottle because I donate out of my mouth. This means that my long hose is still on my backgas bottle and then the pony is the secondary on a suicide strap. Very annoying to deal with due to hose routing and you can't just pass it over to someone. Alternatively you can dive a normal reg configuration on your backgas and have the pony as something you can hand over, but now you need to donate normally, then get the OOA guy to switch bottles which is easier said than done. Means you now have to switch regulators which can get interesting depending on the situation. Not to say it can't be done, but probably more of a PITA than necessary.

Why is this hard? I dive a 7' hose and bungeed secondary under my chin, both on back gas, and a slung pony with its hose held to it with elastic bands and the secondary bungeed to the valve. If I'm helping an OOA diver they get the long hose, and I can take my pick of the secondary under my chin or the pony reg.

If you are diving deep enough that you need a large pony, I.e. 100ft, then I believe you should be diving doubles or sidemount anyway, and if you are carrying a sufficiently sized pony, I.e. minimum of 30cf for 100ft depth, then a set of double 80's or 72's isn't that much heavier or annoying.

Well, we're far adrift from the OP, but...

I've done both. If I bring a pony, I can do any reasonable series of dives with however many primary cylinders it takes to do them and use the same wing and the same regs for all the dives. If they're shallow dives, I can leave off the pony, if they're deep, I attach the pony with two bolt snaps, either before or after I get in the water. If I'm doing two deep dives I can use the pony on both dives.

If I'm diving manifolded doubles for my deep dive and a single for a shallow dive, then I've got to bring the two different regulator sets, and two wings, and have the considerable extra weight of the twinset, which I can't just split apart if I decide to do a shallow dive instead. If I'm going to do two deep dives then I need two twinsets, which I don't have.

If I really need all that air then the twinset makes sense, or if it's cold and there's a serious risk of a reg freeflowing.

Any shallower than that, i.e. 60 ish ft, just do a CESA if you are dumb enough to run completely out of air or unlucky enough to have a total loss of gas, AND not be close to your buddy. Either of which are your fault for not having proper buddy diving technique.

Because if your buddy isn't there the moment the seat in your 1st stage delaminates without warning you deserve to die for, um, which poor life choices in particular?

 

[al248005]

Having dove Lake Erie before and doing again this weekend, you can probably expect temps in the lows 50s high 40s depending at what depth the thermocline is at. Just don't "overbreathe" your reg. That will cause a possible free flow which is not good at all. It can happen very easy from nervousness, excitement to see the wreck, over exertion, etc. Just stay relaxed and dive your plan. By the way where are you diving? I'm diving with Osprey in Barcelona NY this weekend.

 

[tbone1004]

the pony is just annoying if you are diving with 3 second stages and it's excessive imho

for the deep dive then shallow dive paradigm, you just dive with the one set of doubles. 2x singles+pony<doubles in terms of logistics, weight, and cost. You are limited in dive time by your buddy diving singles, so if you have double 80's and he has a single 80, you are restricted by his gas for the first dive where you should have well over half of your gas remaining, then he has a full new tank for the second dive and you just hop right back in. Less effort because you don't have to do anything other than shut the valves off and then back on again before you get in. No reg removal, no tank swap, etc.

If you are unlucky enough to have a true catastrophic loss of gas, and you can't hold your breath for 15 seconds to get an AAS from your buddy, then you boogy on up to the surface. It is completely your fault for relying on your buddy as an AAS and not following proper buddy technique. If you don't trust your buddy, then you can't rely on him for an AAS and that means CESA or carry redundant gas supplies. Doubles are easier than singles+pony bottle in my opinion, and are also cheaper and better for the job. Hence why pony bottles aren't allowed in technical dive training, but doubles are. I don't dive single tanks unless I absolutely have to, whether that is at 30ft or 30m because I refuse to rely on anyone else to save by a$$ in a situation like you presented above because I have been in that situation before and it sucks. Thankfully I was in sidemount so it was not an emergency condition but I lost complete use of my right bottle and had to exit the cave.

 

[Luke Fosburg]

I think you worry too much. My 1st deep dive was in Cayman Brac, dive site called Son of Rock Monster, 126', on July 2005, dive log # 15. My more experienced dive buddy was with me, closely watching me. I felt like diving in 30' deep.

You are probably right!

 

[Luke Fosburg]

So the basic Open Water (OW) cert then?

Correct