How do you think a pony should be used, if at all?

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I thought that since pony threads provides us all some much entertainment that I would start yet another one. Obviously there are some individuals (perhaps including myself) who are overly vocal in their opinions, so I though it would be interesting to get a read on the opinion of those divers a bit less likely to touch a hot stove.

I am withholding my opinion as I am honestly interested in what the group thinks outside of the verbal advocates / critics.

 

[Jax]

:worship:

 

[Jax]

Assumption: a pony is a bottle of gas not used as a deco gas in this particular dive situation.

Therefore - the pony is pure redundant emergency supply and should be a minimum of 1/3rd of your back gas. It should never be in the gas management plan at all. It is the, "Oh, sh!t!!!" scenario use only.

 

[Chugwhump]

My pony only needs to be big enough to get me to my buddy.
His/her pony needs to be big enough to get us both to the surface.
Chug
Free flows only to this point.
So far, so good.

 

[Bob DBF]

None of the above, would have gone with specialized gear option for special situations but solo isn't necessarly a reason to pack a pony.

I use one when I dive as a safety diver during advanced and specialty classes using my doublehose rig. The Instructor insists on a safe second and the J-valve dosen't count so thats as close as I can get. It gives the "kids" a chance to see something different and realize that the buddy check and briefing before the dive might be important. I get a lot of questions but no one has asked to take it for a spin yet.

If I do a deep solo dive or somthing particularly adventurous that may be pressing on my reserve gas, I may drag it along. Other than that, a training dive if its not been used in a while.


Bob
-----------------------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[drydiver]

Before I dived doubles, they are required on NJ boats, so I used one.

Beyond that, the only reasons I would bring one along is in a singles rig:

1. in an insta-buddy situation, which rarely occurs anymore
2. on a cattle boat with a 2 hour ride to shore, even with a regular buddy, because sometimes 7' just isnt far enough away from panicked unknown divers don't dive cattle boats much anymore either

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Before I dived doubles, they are required on NJ boats, so I used one.

Beyond that, the only reasons I would bring one along is in a singles rig:

1. in an insta-buddy situation, which rarely occurs anymore
2. on a cattle boat with a 2 hour ride to shore, even with a regular buddy, because sometimes 7' just isnt far enough away from panicked unknown divers

I don't understand #2. I actually like diving off So Cal cattle boats. They get me to the dive site, let me solo and have the better food. Whats not to like?

 

[drydiver]

I don't understand #2. I actually like diving off So Cal cattle boats. They get me to the dive site, let me solo and have the better food. Whats not to like?

It was not so much a commentary on cattle boats as an operation but rather about the number of x factors on them. What is the typical destination of So Cal cattle boats? I am not really that familiar with them, but my one boat experience was being dropped off in an area and the divers spread out.

I was specifically thinking about diving in NC and Key Largo, where the wrecks are typically deep and even if going in solo, there are are plenty of divers around/on that upline at the end of the dive. Personal observations have led to my rather conservative approach on that one

Food? I think I would like SoCal cattle boats also!

 

[DevonDiver]

I dive doubles if I want redundancy (most of the time, as I pretty much exclusively dive wrecks).

A pony is not much more than an ascent bottle. I've used one before and it made an emergency ascent (freeflow-38m-ice cold water) very simple and straightforward. My concern at that time was that I didn't want extra demand on my buddies' regulator to cause them to freeflow also. That proved to me that there was a benefit to having a pony - and I could never say 'no' because of that.

If someone wants that insurance policy, then I don't think anyone should try and dissuade them from it. The proviso being that it is extra equipment and requires extra training and practice. Emergency drills have to be ingrained, if not, then wearing a pony is just a 'comfort blanket'.

 

[Kern]

Assumption: a pony is a bottle of gas not used as a deco gas in this particular dive situation.

Therefore - the pony is pure redundant emergency supply and should be a minimum of 1/3rd of your back gas. It should never be in the gas management plan at all. It is the, "Oh, sh!t!!!" scenario use only.

Hmm, sounds like something I don't need.

Think I'd use rock bottom rather than 3rd's.