Pony Bottle - Safety Considerations

Safety Considerations

It is very important that the diver includes testing of pony bottle functioning as part of the pre-dive tests to insure that it is fully ready for use. (Some divers take pony bottles mounted in a way that the cylinder valve is easily accessed, and deliberately dive without first opening up this cylinder valve -a highly dubious and dangerous approach, especially in recreational diving). Because of the disparity between pony bottle capacity and main tank capacity, it is vital that the regulators and the associated SPG for these different units be easily and noticeably different, as mixing up these regulators or gauges can quickly lead to a false ”out of air” emergency. It is also important to never use the pony bottle as part of the normal air supply for a dive or to extend an enjoyable dive by means of pony bottle gas – even if it is within decompression limits. The pony is an emergency device, and needs to be treated as such.