Tried to Kill Myself but Failed!

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Why do you laugh about a potential failure point? If you do a thousand dives with your rig, there is a reasonable chance that during one or two of those dives, the more complex component of the pony bottle rig will experience a failure, problem or leak. Plus it is extra cost and maintenance. However, if you are careful and lucky during those same 1000 dives, chances are you will NOT ever NEED- the pony. It is a game of balancing simplicity versus additional safety.

If you are worried about safety, then sling the pony and you definitely will have an spg. The relevant question pertains to back mounted bottle.

I don't know how many variations you've tried with pony bottles. My last method (always on my back cylinder) that I used was an SPG on a hose secured to the bottom of the cylinder, so I could always check the pressure in the pony bottle. It isn't that complex.

 

[davehicks]

To put it another way, a properly used pony is in a binary state. It either has air for me underwater, or it does not. If it has air, I'm going to use it. If it does not, I'm going to the surface. A pre-dive check will tell me if I have air, and I'm keeping my pony off during the dive, so if I need it, I will have air. I don't need an spg to tell me that.


Scuba gear is incredibly reliable, but those tiny o-rings in your spg are, in my experience, the most failure prone bit of gear the average diver carries. You said you think they aren't a significant failure point, but they are a failure point.

Someone always has to go a step too far.

Please don't dive with your pony bottle turned off. Even if you charge it first, it will eventually purge and lose that pressure during a dive. And then your 1st stage will flood via the 2nd and take on salt water. It will be a mess when serviced, and might fail to work when you need it prior to service. Some of the corrosion that results may not be easily repaired.

Put a spg on the pony, even if only a button gauge. You probably doing need to look at it during a dive, but you do need to check before and after to understand if it needs a full offer might have a slow leak.

A emergency back up air supply should be available asap. Not only after you take the time to open the valve.

 

[Adamastor]

First of all, congratulations on failing your suicide attempt!

It is not clear from the picture, or maybe I'm getting colourblind, so it might be an idiotic suggestion, but have you considered using different colours for different hoses/mouthpieces?
A buddy check may indeed have avoided the situation, provided the buddy is familiar with and understands the specific configuration you're using.
Good point on checking your SPG regularly. I always teach my students to check their SPG before entering the water, after the descent, then at least every 5 minutes, depending on the depth and other factors such as currents and other sources of stress/exertion.

 

[Angelo Farina]

This is a nice example of why an Air2 is a good redundant device...
I really do not understand people against them.
Of course having an Air2 does not relieves the need of a secondary standard reg.
But you had it on the pony!
So your equipment is adequate for solo diving and provided the redundancy you needed.
Thanks for sharing your experience! A very useful post!

 

[Cthippo]

There is an important component to this I have not yet seen addressed in this thread, and i am very disappointed in you all for not pointing it out...


Happy birthday, NWDD!

 

[happy-diver]

Those clips require a good deal of force to open.

 

[NYCrecdiver]

Why do you laugh about a potential failure point? If you do a thousand dives with your rig, there is a reasonable chance that during one or two of those dives, the more complex component of the pony bottle rig will experience a failure, problem or leak. Plus it is extra cost and maintenance. However, if you are careful and lucky during those same 1000 dives, chances are you will NOT ever NEED- the pony. It is a game of balancing simplicity versus additional safety.

If you are worried about safety, then sling the pony and you definitely will have an spg. The relevant question pertains to back mounted bottle.

I laugh about the omnipresent failure point worry in this instance because I'd rather have an extra failure point than not knowing what the situation is in my back mounted pony. The alternative to sling my pony is not relevant because I have other things in my front (camera) and I need my front clear. And this story shared by OP confirms to me that it's a good idea to have an easy way to check pony air (e.g. with an AI transmitter displaying that information on the same DC I use to check my primary gas). Failure points be damned.

 

[Antonios (Holy Diver)]

@NW Dive Dawg thank you. When us, new divers see the betters of us not just honestly admitting a mistake, but also giving useful input about remedy or avoidance of that mistake, it is a tremendous help to us. Not the least about the kind of attitude that an accomplished, thoughtful diver should have. Just Culture HF in Diving for Dummies: Part 3: A Just Culture in Diving at its best!

 

[jadairiii]

He didn't panic.

Well, maybe not, but the OP was sure was close to it....(did you read his post?)

I have a moment of what I would call “high anxiety” and possibly first stage panic.........and I bet I spent a good full minute or two on my knees just breathing and slowing down my heart rate as I stare at my primary AI computer .......

Now I have to ask you, why is this so hard to understand?

My thoughts exactly. Both you and the OP started breathing from the wrong second stage, proper gear rigging would avoid that problem.

 

[Nemrod]

The alternative to sling my pony is not relevant because I have other things in my front (camera) and I need my front clear

I am not anti rear mounted pony bottle. I too carry a Nauticam mirrorless Sony camera and I was concerned that the slung bottle would interfere with and cause damage to the camera. After adjusting the way I sling the bottle, shortening the loops and using a bungee as a retractor at the valve end to keep the bottle snug to me, it really does not interfere with the camera at all.

I like to be able to clip my camera off tight to my body for climbing ladders and exiting the water or entry or other purposes, the handles/arms clip to left and right D rings and there is a short lanyard that clips into my crotch ring. This keeps the camera stable and prevents it from swinging and flopping around. A coil stretch lanyard is always attached between my camera and crotch ring, thus the camera is attached at four connections. I was afraid the bottle would preclude clipping off in that fashion but I manage okay. But you are right, the bottle is a factor when carrying a camera.

The two bolt snaps you can see dangling on the center strobe arm connection, those go to my shoulder D rings when I need to secure the camera snug to my body, the 3 inches crotch lanyard has a bolt snap also on the bottom of the housing.



The arms can also be clipped to one another and I have a bungee loop on each strobe, look carefully and you can see it on the right strobe, that can be snapped over the handle butterfly knob, this compacts the camera and prevents the arms and strobes from flailing about if I need to put the camera in it's bag or when handing the camera off to the boat crew. I learned the method from a pro-photog and adapted it to my needs.