Pony Bottles

[MAXFACTOR]

seeing that the board is dead lately, I had to resort to this historical post.

Although this is a very old post, it is a timeless question.  One that I cannot for the life of me understand why there is even a question of diving without a pony.

Case in point. 
a. 
2 years ago,2004,  a local dive shop owner drowned in less then 12 feet of water.  HE GOT TANGLED UP in weeds at Forest Lake.  Now,  fortunately for him,  other divers found him within minutes of running out of air.  They pulled him ashore, and had no signs of life and obviously no pulse.  They started CPR.  He survived.  Actually making a dive the following weekend.  He is currently Jan 28 2006, in FIGI, leading a dive. 
SOLUTION.  Although he had absolutely no air left in his 80 cubic foot. IF HE HAD A 30cu ' PONY WITH HIM,  it would have given him at that depth at least 20 more minutes to get unstuck, and most likely never had completely run out of air.

b.  as far as it hitting someone in the face,  try slinging it at an angle.  ie  HIP TO CHEST. close in, never hits face, and doesn't increase drag while diving. 

c.  I too never heard of "warm water setting" on a reg. but I agree never sacrifice saving a couple of bucks for a quality reg. from a LDS.  ITS THE ONE LIFE SAVING DEVICE YOU SHOULD NOT PUT A PRICE TAG decision process on. 

CONCLUSION.
I WOULD NEVER DIVE WITHOUT A BACKUP no matter where or how shallow the dive is.  Its just not worth the risk. 
IF YOUR GONNA BUY YOUR OWN EQUIPMENT< MAKE SURE YOU BUY A PONY WITH IT AND A VERY HIGH QUALITY REG TO GO WITH IT.

Personally, if I was a shop owner, I would not sell a setup without selling a backup, or having the diver sign a wavier that he has a backup.  BUT THEN AGAIN,  I'M  STILL NOT A SHOP OWNER.

MAXFACTOR