The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
Personally, I think he was spot on... adding a pony with only 12 dives does not seem wise. They need to perfect the skills with the equipment they already have. In this case his redundant air should be his buddy.
pony or spare air?
- Thread starter penitent1
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GOG, I don't know what else you want me to say. I provided some explanation for each suggestion. If you want to debate them, have at it. If your point is that there wasn't enough information available, that little pony is already lying in a bloody heap on the ground
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
Maybe he's feeling a bit grumpy today! 
GrumpyOldGuy
Contributor
Pony, geddit?!?
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
Yeah, I thought that was way funny dude! We need an avatar about that!
JFK01
Registered
just get a pony bottle. the price difference is a bit more but you will get alot more air! fact: anything below 60 ft you will need more that a SpareAir.
I used to dive with a apare air until I started teaching Public Safety Diving courses for the local Sheriffs Dedpartment. In researching this issue, I found that almost all Public Safety dive teams use pony bottles for several reasons:
1. You are ususally diving in blackwater conditions and your greatest danger is entanglement.
2. You are solo diving, tethered to a tender who is monitoring your time down and controlling your search pattern.
3. You always dive with a safety diver who has to be on the way to you in less than a minute. Both divers carry pony bottles.
4. In the event of serious problems, the safety diver can use the quick disconnect features on his pony bottle and leave it with you while he goes back to shore/boat for a larger cylinder.
5. If your BC becomes entangeld, you have sufficient air to slip out of your BC, untangle it and re-don the BC. (Because of hte risk of the BC becoming entangled, it is reccomended that a weight harness be worn).
6 In recreational diving, if your buddy has a need to share air, you have plenty of extra air for your buddy without depleting your primary air supply
It is not expected that as a newly certified diver, you will be engaging in this level of diving, but I believe that the extra margin of safety that the 19cuft pony bottle provides is worth the additonal money. I do a lot of underwater photography and I feel much safer using the pony bottle. I am a SCUBA Instructor, having taught recreational SCUBA for over 10 years. It is also recommended that you make the ascent from your last dive for the day using your pony bottle. Either one is better than nothing at all. Hope this helps. Safe diving!!
1. You are ususally diving in blackwater conditions and your greatest danger is entanglement.
2. You are solo diving, tethered to a tender who is monitoring your time down and controlling your search pattern.
3. You always dive with a safety diver who has to be on the way to you in less than a minute. Both divers carry pony bottles.
4. In the event of serious problems, the safety diver can use the quick disconnect features on his pony bottle and leave it with you while he goes back to shore/boat for a larger cylinder.
5. If your BC becomes entangeld, you have sufficient air to slip out of your BC, untangle it and re-don the BC. (Because of hte risk of the BC becoming entangled, it is reccomended that a weight harness be worn).
6 In recreational diving, if your buddy has a need to share air, you have plenty of extra air for your buddy without depleting your primary air supply
It is not expected that as a newly certified diver, you will be engaging in this level of diving, but I believe that the extra margin of safety that the 19cuft pony bottle provides is worth the additonal money. I do a lot of underwater photography and I feel much safer using the pony bottle. I am a SCUBA Instructor, having taught recreational SCUBA for over 10 years. It is also recommended that you make the ascent from your last dive for the day using your pony bottle. Either one is better than nothing at all. Hope this helps. Safe diving!!
A pony or a redundant air source is NOT part of your normal dive planning. If you've had to use it on a dive you have FAILED somewhere else in your dive planning or dive conduct. That doesn't mean dont take one but if you do have to use one accept there is a more serious problem elsewhere that needs addressing.
If you're carrying one as you're worried about running out of air then your mental approach is wrong. Running out of air through not checking should never happen. If you do then you have FAILED and should not be diving without an instructor or nanny.
At an early stage you have enough to worry about just diving without adding to the task loading. At a later stage i'd argue that EVERY dive should carry the gear to get themselves out of a situation unassisted and believe that relying on a buddy (ie a 3rd party) is dangerous as you cant 100% guarantee their reaction. At that stage id say its either dive shallow enough to bolt n pray or redundant gas.
As for which redundant gas is enough - do the maths based on your own air consumptions and NOT what other people tell you. You'll be able to know based on your own consumptions what size tank will allow you to safely ascend from what depth and what their limitations are. Without doing this you arent making the dive any safer.
Spare air is worthless. It doesnt provide enough gas to get to the surface at a safe controlled rate from even depth a swimming ascent can do.
If you're carrying one as you're worried about running out of air then your mental approach is wrong. Running out of air through not checking should never happen. If you do then you have FAILED and should not be diving without an instructor or nanny.
At an early stage you have enough to worry about just diving without adding to the task loading. At a later stage i'd argue that EVERY dive should carry the gear to get themselves out of a situation unassisted and believe that relying on a buddy (ie a 3rd party) is dangerous as you cant 100% guarantee their reaction. At that stage id say its either dive shallow enough to bolt n pray or redundant gas.
As for which redundant gas is enough - do the maths based on your own air consumptions and NOT what other people tell you. You'll be able to know based on your own consumptions what size tank will allow you to safely ascend from what depth and what their limitations are. Without doing this you arent making the dive any safer.
Spare air is worthless. It doesnt provide enough gas to get to the surface at a safe controlled rate from even depth a swimming ascent can do.
Groundhog246
Contributor
When I looked at this I revisited at my course materials. One of the repeated themes was the rule of thirds. 1/3 of your air on the way out, 1/3 on the way back, 1/3 in reserve. Therefore it seemed that to be a useful backup it needed 1/3 of my normal air supply. Since I most often dove with an AL80, I decided on a 30cf pony bottle slung stage style. With a single reg and small gauge, it wasn't all that expensive. All that said, I carry it on dives planned below 50-60 feet and/or cold water where free flows become more common. I use cold water gear, service by an great shop and have never had a free flow, but I've had a buddy with a free flow and it's a bit stressful an experience.
This is not firsthand knowledge, but I've been told that a spare air reg is difficult to service (annual?) and can the bottle be hydro'd or does it need to be replaced when it's time is up?
This is not firsthand knowledge, but I've been told that a spare air reg is difficult to service (annual?) and can the bottle be hydro'd or does it need to be replaced when it's time is up?
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