PSDarchives.ponybottles

Pony Bottles

2-28-03

We have one dive agency in the area who has gone with rear mount pony
bottles hooked to block manifolds then routed to their Auga mask so that
the diver can turn a valve switching from his primary tank to his pony
without removing his mask, more of a commercial rig. We have other dive
teams in the area looking into this as a possible option for their
divers. Our team on the other hand dives 19cu.ft ponies rear mounted
with the reg. on a break away neckless. We are also looking into other
options such as front mounted "passable" ponies but we dont feel the
manifold is for us. Is the manifold system getting any kind of use in
the PSD world? How many of you dive with your ponies up front if so why
and if not why? Sorry if this is a little off topic but we have been
going through a lot of changes as of recent and could use some input.

Trevor Hanshew
Assistant Dive Commander
Indianapolis FD

2-28-03

We use that rig with a quick-release for the pony hose from the block and
for the pony itself...works great for us.

2-28-03

There is many options for a bail out, If you want a front mount that is easy to deploy and inexpensive try a banded 30 with snap shackles attached under the bands. you can rig them together with a small PVC pipe so that both will release at the same time. I recommend a crown knot and back splice for your lanyard (nearly snag proof) This set up will allow quick release and secure attachment to the needed diver. It also allows for down line connection. I would also say that the manifold block is a reliable and recommended safety feature that should be used with any diver on surface supply.

W.H. BEAL

2-28-03

We use a manifold block with a mounted pony. The line has a 'Hansen' quick disconnect in it. We did this for two reasons. One, if a diver is trapped and it looks like we will be a while freeing him, with the disconnect we can continually feed him new bottles of air without him ever removing his EXO or AGA.

Second, we also dive surface supplied and should a diver become trapped with a scuba rig, the standby diver can come down with the surface umbilical and 'plug in' to the disconnect and now the diver in crisis has his air controlled by topside.For our standby diver, we have rigged an 80 with both a regulator and the male end of the quick disconnet and he carries the bottle in front of him on a strap. Our thinking is, that if a diver is in need of air-especially with a full face mask, he's in need of a lot more than a pony will supply. Ponies are for when you run out of air and need a few more breathes to get safe. But to supply a trapped diver they are a band aid slapped over an arterial bleed.

Lt Paul May

Fortescue Fire Rescue Dive Team NJ

2-28-03

We also have the similar set up w/ RSV1's and AGA's. We have no surface supplied air option, but use a Super 80 as a contingency bottle w/ the quick disconnect. Can you send me info on your surface system, I'm interested in looking at it for our team.

Keith Mahoney
Stony Point Fire Department
Chief Diver/Swift Water

3-1-03

Anne Arundel County uses a manifold block with a 30cu.ft bottle.

Why is the safety diver PASSING a pony to the primary? Why doesn't the primary already have their own pony for out of air emergencies? There isn't enough time for a safety to get a pony to an out of air diver. Can someone explain why others are passing the pony.

We also have surface supplied air and would take that to a trapped diver with an extended disentanglement. We currently don't have the quick disconnets but are exploring the posibility.

3-2-03

As Andrea repeated time and time again, question what you've been
taught ... don't take anything for gospel. We were taught the "pass the pony"
technique in the LGS PSDR/R course, and are not using it. When the diver
signals that they are in trouble or low/out of air, the backup automatically
goes down with the contingency bottle. We do not just send in the backup to
check it out and pass off the pony ... it seemed like a redundant step. It
also allows the backup to retain his/her pony in case some other problem
crops up.

Craig S. Ardel, Asst. Commander
Tolland County Rescue Dive Team
Tolland, Connecticut

3-3-03

The primary diver does carry his/her own pony bottle. The reasoning behind a pass off is so that a trapped, low on air, diver has an adequate air supply to remedy the immediate out of air problem while the safety diver returns to the shore base to obtain either an eighty cubic foot or larger contingency bottle or a surface supply line. At this time the safety diver is re-ponied so that he/she too has an emergency air supply should it be needed. The safety then takes the contingency bottle or surface supply to the trapped diver. With this amount of air available to the trapped diver the backup diver can now work at freeing the trapped diver without the worry of running out of air. If the primary diver is on hard wire or radio communications they could relay that they were low on air and eliminate the need for the pass off by telling the tender or safety diver to bring the contingency bottle on the first trip down. If they do not utilize these types of communications the safety diver would need to have a face to face with the primary diver to know that he/she was in need of additional air, thus resulting in the pass off maneuver. If you automatically send the contingency bottle and it is not needed at that time you now have an extra piece of equipment to work around.

Tom Peddle

Akron Fire Dept.

Akron Ohio

3-5-03

Pony Bottle . to pass off a pony bottle from the Safety Diver to the Primary Diver, with the bottle mounted behind you to your 80 cuft tank.. how do you release it?

The primary diver and backup diver are in a good hand-to-hand grip. The primary diver taps the backup diver's hand on the primary diver's mouthpiece. That tells the backup diver that the primary diver's main cylinder is dry and the primary diver is breathing on a pony bottle. The backup diver then bends forward and places the primary diver's hand on the backup diver's pony first stage. They release hands. The primary diver releases the backup diver's pony as the backup diver releases the pony mouthpiece from it's neck strap. The primary diver switches to the backup diver's pony. This is done in case, God forbid, the primary diver drops the backup diver's pony - in that case the primary diver still has air left in his own pony that is still on his back.

There are several pony holder options:

1. a web type pony harness - release the Velcro and pull the bottle out

2. a metal system: our favorite by far is TigerGear. In most metal systems a pin is pulled and the bottle is then pulled out.

3. A BCD pony pocket, (e.g. LGS BCD) - pop open the quick release fastex buckle and pull the bottle out.

2)Why isn't the pony attached to your front or side for ease of passing it off? Good question. There are several reasons why a back mounted pony is better for bottom dwelling low/zero vis searching divers.

a)Side or front mounted pony's are right in the way of bottom entanglements, and are thus more likely to become entangled than back mounted pony bottles.

b)Side/front mounts may cause male divers discomfort as the bottom of the cylinders end up in the crotch area, creating a pressure there as the divers lay on the bottom searching (as we were told by several divers whose instructor changed their back mount to a side/front mount)

c)Side/front mounted pony bottles can get in the way of a weight belt buckle or a weight harness release. That is a real safety hazard.

d)Side/front mounted pony bottles have a tendency to move around more than back mounted bottles. This makes it proportionately more difficult to control one's buoyancy and movements.

e) to keep a taut tether line with minimal physical or mental effort the diver's position is angled 135 degrees (45 degrees away from perpendicular) away from the tender. This puts the tether line against the diver's side/hip. That allows the diver to always feel the line (one of the many reasons why hand loops in the tether line are not needed). A side/front mounted pony can get in the way of the tether line.

Andrea Zaferes

Lifeguard Systems/RIPTIDE

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