Pony bottle assisted snorkeling/diving

[Lims]

I want to get into pony bottle assisted snorkalling which i have heard mentioned before.

any guidance/tips/info on this at all?

what are the best pony bottles for the job?

Does it go on a belt? how do I dive with it?

 

[Teamcasa]

Diving with a pony is scuba, not snorkeling. I would not mix the two.

 

[jaycanwk]

Teamcasa is right, "pony bottle assisted snorkeling" is really just S.C.U.B.A. diving with a smaller tank and you are therefore subject to the effects of pressure and time that go along with that. So you are either doing one or the other, not both.

So your question should be "how do I scuba dive with a smaller tank?"

 

[Dantheengineer]

Hey Lims, i like the idea! There'll be dangers of course. But we did choose diving as a hobby didn't we?

Where did you hear of it? What sort of profile are you thinking? Just snorkel along until you see something worth looking at then dive for a minute or two?
In that case you'd sort of self limit your depth as you'd only see stuff from the surface. (I'm guessing you'd wanna keep higher than a 10 meter floor to avoid even entering the RDP's.)

This'd be ideal for spearing fish/ crawfish (If legal in one's vicinity)

I'd have a look at around a 7Ltr pony with a belt/side mount and may be a 2 meter cavers hose for the 2nd stage. My first thoughts would lean towards a button gauge on the first stage, just one 2nd stage, obviously no Lp hose. For the rig, may be a cam belt with a SS "D" ring on it and a SS spring gate carrabina to attach it to a weight belt with a second SS "D" ring on it.
Might have some trouble with the cam as it'll be designed for a larger Dia tank. So maybe two large jubilee clips? you could add weights to trim yourself on the other side of the weight belt.
Another difficulty that may occur would be tank twist, so may be add a tank to leg bungee?

I wouldn't wanna fly right after and you might consider EAN to even further reduce Nitrogen exposure but this could be one of those million to one shots that turns up nine times out of ten!!

I'd have thought repeated controlled ascents would actually he healthier than simply free diving ascents (I assume, like me, you currently just bolt for the surface when you cant stay down anymore?)

What do you think?

 

[RalphinOrmond]

It is an attractive idea. I am not especially proud to say that I followed up on the dream several years ago. (I am a card carrying diver from an earlier life.) Bought a pony bottle and a regulator. During our big Hurricane season, while confined indoors, I sewed a tight fitting, padded bag for the bottle, adding nylon straps to keep it fixed in place on my back. Then, one fine day later on, I took it to the ocean with my snorkeling gear and gave it a try. It worked, in a way. But as the wiser among us always point out when this idea comes up, it is diving, not, as the dream would have it, a kind of pumped up snorkeling. Not, to my mind, because of the safety issues, which do not interest me in this case, but because (1) the bottle is HEAVY, even if it is small; (2) the proper diving equipment is made to provide a decent level of comfort. If one is going to strap a metal bottle on his back, diving equipment is the way to go. (3) My recollection is that I was still buoyant but, no matter, if one is going to wear a bottle, he may as well wear a belt and vest. So, after the stuff sat in my closet long enough, I sold the regulator and gave the bottle to a can scavenger, glad to see the last of my folly. I know for sure now I have the heart and mind, the good taste I'd say, to be a snorkeler. Diving or snorkeling is, in my mind, an aesthetic choice. Let each of us decide where his sensibilities lie and get in the right line.

 

[Dantheengineer]

Mmm...I'd argue (debate might be a better word) that you're being hard on yourself with regard to any "folly".
Cavers and wreck divers utilize side mount systems with increasing regularity, full size tanks, one on each side. Albeit with vest. In this instance one is expecting not to remain neutrally buoyant, so, in the even that the diver is adequately weighted, perhaps one could consider the vest superfluous? (I dive with out one regularly, folly or not. See profile pic for me showing off )

Agreed, the tank is solid and relatively heavy but reasonably secured i don't reckon it'd be greatly different from the weight/ bulk a free diver/spear fisherman would be used to carrying. Prolly less.

Outside of the necessity to pigeon hole the action as either scuba OR Snorkeling for the sake of classification with regard to a method of agency training (PADI, NAUI, SSI etc) and the legal aspect, i only see it as something that's not yet been experimented with to conclusion. (To my limited knowledge in the arena)

Truthfully (and i don't think naively) out side of the repeated transition through the largest area of pressure differential by depth and the (slight?) possibility of deco build up during a succession of two minute/ 30' dives, i cant see immediate danger in the pursuit.

I believe one should always try new things. Although.....who was the first guy to get milk off a cow and what did he think he was up to?

 

[TheScubaBOB]

If you're serious about this then Look in the XS Scuba "Pony Pac".

I have that I use to "Scuba" swim in the health club lap pool. In my 3mm shorty I use 8lbs of soft lead so be comfortably neutrally bouyant.

It carries my AL30 (will work with smaller sizes) just fine and is very comfortable.

 

[ivobj]

I want to get into pony bottle assisted snorkalling which i have heard mentioned before.

any guidance/tips/info on this at all?

what are the best pony bottles for the job?

Does it go on a belt? how do I dive with it?

Self Conteined Underwater Breathing Aparatus... your are breathing underwater and it is self conteined, so I guess this is SCUBA. I believe that if you want to go for that better do a proper training to know the issues related to breathing pressurized air and avoid the problems related to that.

 

[Dantheengineer]

Self Conteined Underwater Breathing Aparatus... your are breathing underwater and it is self conteined, so I guess this is SCUBA. I believe that if you want to go for that better do a proper training to know the issues related to breathing pressurized air and avoid the problems related to that.

1. It's not contained if you keep going up for air.
2. with 25-50 logged dives in northern UK it's not unreasonable to assume the OP is already a trained and certified diver. (May be even BSAC? Lims, can you comment?)
3. The actual question doesn't seem to be one of classification, but of blending two fairly similar sports safely and effectively.

 

[Cave Diver]

Sounds like just doing a bunch of bounce diving. What could possibly go wrong?