renegade17
Contributor
I was on the fence on this issue for a little while until I saw a "narked" divemaster on a deep dive in cold water cough on some water after her reg free-flowed at depth and neither she or her husband reacted quickly enough. She ended up using his alternate, but they both went up too quick due to the sudden OOA situation and panick. If I ever have a free-flow, I will grab my pony reg, turn on the air and continue to sip air until I need to switch. I'm never totally dependent on my buddy realizing what is going on and responding, but I'm self-reliant. I practice using my pony at all depths throughout the diving season.