Pony thoughts (I know prob beaten to death)

[Tanked]

When I ride the pony, I prefer to mount it. Super pony tamer, and I don't even know its there.

 

[Rick Inman]

"6cf is pointless"
That comment is exactly what I'm talking about, but I do appreciate your opinion.
I've researched it, I'VE TESTED IT, and for the type of diving I was doing and the ease of transport for travel in my carry-on the 6 cu ft. fit the bill exactly. It may not be for you, or for everyone, but to say a 6 cu ft. is pointless is a poor blanket statement.
As a new diver, and reading comments like yours, I was concerned about a 6 cu ft. not being big enough for what I wanted to use it for, so I tested it. Turns out - it works great for what I wanted it to do. So the moral of the story is - Test it for yourself and don't believe everything you read.

IMHO. 6cf is worse than pointless, it's anti-safe, actually making the dive more dangerous, creating a false sense of security.

6 cf wouldn't work for me, because I assume a sac of 1.0 during stress (like, OOG and all alone), so at 33' I'd have 3 mins, and at 66' I'd have 90 seconds.

But, you have tested it. Can you please tell us what that test was, exactly? And what kind of dives it's great for?

Thank you.

 

[Jersey Chris]

IMHO. 6cf is worse than pointless, in't anti-safe, .

Not if you are diving in 30 feet of water

 

[Rainer]

Not if you are diving in 30 feet of water

If you're running out of gas at 30' then you have other issues... If you're a lot deeper, have fun running out of gas twice...

Again, a 6cf bottle is not pointless. It makes a great argon cylinder.

 

[Jersey Chris]

Again, a 6cf bottle is not pointless. It makes a great argon cylinder.

I was kidding above but I do agree thats about all its good for is Argon.

 

[matt_unique]

Man there are a few topics that will always get some good mileage and this is one of them.

It will boil down to your personal philosophy. I don't consider my buddies gear to be MY redundancy; my redundancy is what I carry. A 6cf tank will give you 6cf more than you would otherwise have but I would not suggest this as serving any practical purpose. The incremental cost for a larger pony, even a 13cf, is very small but double the gas volume. Never use the pony tank unless you need to resolve a MAJOR screw up in air planning. As with all gear, test it and take a few breaths before every dive but otherwise you should never us it unless your life depends on it. It is NOT a means to extend a dive due to a depleted primary source.

 

[grf88]

The person with the greatest vested interest in saving my ass is myself that is why I like to be self sufficient with any items required to sustain my life, breathing gas is one of those and I will carry some form of redundancy of which a pony is one option.

 

[TSherman]

My question would be - Why care about what others think about your personal choice to carry a pony for bail-out purposes?
I'm a fairly new diver and liked the idea of carring a small pony for a bail-out bottle. I researched this a lot on this forum and others, and found like you, that many were pretty opinionated on the topic. If they choose not to carry one, I have no problem with that at all, but no one should have an issue if I choose to carry one, it is a personal choice. I just returned from Bonaire and packed a 6 cu ft. I didn't use it on all my dives but I did use it on most. I attach it with quick snaps to my BC accross my chest and really don't know it is even there. (For me, because of where it is placed, it actually helps with trim in the water)
You will find numerous strong opinions on carry/not carry, bottle size, carry methods, etc.

Bottom line is - As long as it doesn't go against basic safety rules, do what you feel comfortable with.

A pony/bail out should not be carried based on what makes you feel comfortable. The size depends on the depth, and the amount of time required to do your stops. If you blow your main gas on the bottom, 4 minutes from the anchor line at 120 feet then you need enough gas to get you back to the line, up at a safe rate and able to do you min 3 minute stop and any deco incurred.

All in all, you need to do what is safe. I feel very unsafe diving a single tank, many many divers do it though. Its all in how you dive, and how you were trained.

 

[salth2owannabe]

Rick - 100' max dive in Bonaire (82 degree water)
No deco dive.
No panic SAC rate- I'm not the panic type because I carry a pony and have redundancy.
No 3 min safety stop (because of equip failure)- Short safety stop to make sure I'm
not going to get clipped by a boat or kite boarder.

Does it work - Worked for me. "Pointless" I don't think so.
Couple this with a 50lb/bag luggage restriction and the 6 cu ft starts to look pretty good.
Thanks,

 

[Rick Inman]

Rick - 100' max dive in Bonaire (82 degree water)
No deco dive.
No panic SAC rate- I'm not the panic type because I carry a pony and have redundancy.
No 3 min safety stop (because of equip failure)- Short safety stop to make sure I'm
not going to get clipped by a boat or kite boarder.

Does it work - Worked for me. "Pointless" I don't think so.
Couple this with a 50lb/bag luggage restriction and the 6 cu ft starts to look pretty good.
Thanks,

EDIT: N/C