Really Interested in a Pony - What size? How to mount? Other questions!

[NAM001]

The answer depends on a number of things. First what dits goos for one kit is a nightmare for another. You mentioned basically attaching to the back gas tank and the swapping issues with doing that. And you are correct. I would recommend carrying the tank on your front. Which leads to what type of kit you are wearing , BP/w or jacket or jacket back inflate. If you are going the jacket route it will be a pain when ;doing boat diving. The hanging bottle from the shoulder ring and the hip ring has proved to be the best arrangement. If on the other hand you are doing diving with ONE tank .then the attached pony on the main tank will not be as much a problem. But one can not always pick their primo boat, so you have to plan on having to swap tanks between dives. I carry mine on my left front side but i am using a BP/W and it is litrally a snap or 2 to do. Now if you are using a jacket and thinking that well maybe i will move to a BP then the front carry is still a good choice as opposed to the cost of buying the mounts to carry on the back tank. As for size i would say a back tank mount then a 30, but for front carry then either would work. I would select the 40, because it is s standard work horse tank and for future entry to tech or solo you will already have the baseline equipment.

Just to increase self reliance under water, I want to dive with a pony bottle. From all the other "what size pony?" threads, I'm leading towards a 30 or 40.

My diving is primarily drift diving in Jupiter in depths of 70-90 ft from a boat. Is a 30 fine to save a little on tank size?

I've seen others with pony's on boats and it sometimes looks like a logistical nightmare. What I mean is, they have the pony attached to their main tank with bands and there's no room. Sometimes these boats are full and there isn't enough space to mount a pony on your main tank between the other tanks. So I thought about a sling, then I read that it isn't as comfortable. So what's the answer here? Are there other options? How difficult is it to move a banded tank during a surface interval? I do suffer from sea sickness in 3+ft seas if I have to really focus on something. I typically feel the effects when moving my gear to the 2nd tank during the SI. So just how difficult is it to manage a banded pony when the boat is full and tanks are side by side?

Are there special first stages for a pony? Din/Yoke? I currently dive yoke, but am curious if there's a preference for a pony.

Please help me configure my pony setup.

Chris

 

[lowviz]

...//... I would recommend carrying the tank on your front. ...//... I carry mine on my left front side but i am using a BP/W and it is litrally a snap or 2 to do. Now if you are using a jacket and thinking that well maybe i will move to a BP then the front carry is still a good choice ...//...

Yes, hangs on left. Air. Never anything else. So when you upgrade to "rich on right" you sacrifice the pony?

Nah. A pony is a pony. Service dog. 19 or 13 is optimal. Buy a new 40 with a decent regset and it goes on your right. Old dog stays on left. Always. Unless you are willing to bet your life on the buddy system. I won't...

 

[MrChen]

Thanks for all the feedback. It sounds like a sling is the way to go. I don't have a BP/W yet. I dive an Apeks Black Ice back inflate. My next BC will be a BP/W. I'm going to stop by my LDS and check out the difference in size between the 30 and the 19. I don't plan on tech diving any time soon and if I change my mind in a couple of years, then I'll deal with it then.

Lisa, thank you for your local insight and advice, as usual . I just want an additional safety device which I can carry on a charter without it being much of a headache.

Interesting link on the home made sling, I'll bookmark that.

What would you fill your pony with, air or nitrox based on my dive profile 70-90 ft for no more than 45 minutes. I dive nitrox, 30-36%.

---------- Post added March 28th, 2014 at 02:30 PM ----------

When you sling a pony, do you still have an octo hooked up on your main tank or do you just transfer the 2nd reg to the pony?

 

[Rand]

What would you fill your pony with, air or nitrox based on my dive profile 70-90 ft for no more than 45 minutes. I dive nitrox, 30-36%.

You're going to get varying answers on this, and there are quite a few threads covering this. However, my preference is to just fill the pony with air, provided I'm staying within recreational, no-stop depths. My reasoning is that I'd prefer not to have to refill my pony along with my back gas each time I change a mix. If my pony was filled with 36%, and everything went right and I didn't need it, and my next dive was on 32%, that nitrox in the pony would either have to be dumped and refilled, or you wouldn't be able to take the pony with you as the MOD would be exceeded.

21% will cover all of your recreational depths. And, if you need to breathe off your pony, you're heading to the surface, so the additional bottom time you would gain by breathing nitrox is moot.

 

[raftingtigger]

What would you fill your pony with, air or nitrox based on my dive profile 70-90 ft for no more than 45 minutes. I dive nitrox, 30-36%.

---------- Post added March 28th, 2014 at 02:30 PM ----------

When you sling a pony, do you still have an octo hooked up on your main tank or do you just transfer the 2nd reg to the pony?

Do not have anything in your pony with a MOD shallower than the deepest possible point of your dive. If you use the pony it will be a stress situation and your consumption will be higher with a greater likelihood of CO2 retention. Both of which increase the risk of an Ox Tox hit. When the #%^$ hits the fan it is not time to add an Ox Tox event.

I keep my alternate hooked up when carrying my pony. Makes it simpler than taking it off all the time - since I don't always carry the pony. If I am diving independent doubles (eg. AL 80 SM and Steel BM) then I do take the alternate off. If you do take the alternate off of your backmount, then I would bungee the pony regulator rather than leave it stowed.

 

[MrChen]

That totally makes sense guys, thanks.

Air fill and a new reg set. It just got more expensive lol.

My wish list has been getting a nice pair of x7 HP100 (or 120) tanks, pony, then new regs. I've moved pony to the top of that list and I'm now realizing new regs will go in line with that. It's amazing how fast this gets expensive lol.

 

[Nuribromanski]

It's amazing how fast this gets expensive lol.

look at dpv and rebreather

 

[Rand]

When you sling a pony, do you still have an octo hooked up on your main tank or do you just transfer the 2nd reg to the pony?

The standard practice is to have a typical primary and octo on your first stage on your back gas--no change from how you most likely were initially trained. You put just a 1st and 2nd stage on the pony. You want the ability to donate a reg immediately in case of emergency, and if slinging a pony, that pony reg will be turned off and not immediately ready to be breathed/donated.

Others may have other practices, but my way is to always donate my octo first and share my back gas with a diver in need, just like I would if I had no redundant gas source, provided I have enough gas to get us both back to the surface (which should be the case if my gas plan was followed--but that's another conversation). My thinking in this is that if we can both get back to the surface on my back gas, then my pony is available for me to use on a second dive.

Some may advocate passing off the pony, which certainly can be done, but I consider the pony MY emergency reserve. What would you do if you passed off your bottle to someone else and then had a catastrophic failure of your back gas yourself? Similarly, if you donated your pony reg first and had that same failure, you would either need to get that reg back or buddy breathe. Rule #1 in a rescue situation is not become a victim yourself. I'm going to do what I can to take care of another diver in an emergency, but if I'm having an emergency myself at the same time, I've got to take care of myself first.

That may differ from how others do things, but that practice is how I usually see it done, and it works for me.

And while you're thinking about gear you need, don't forget about the SPG for the pony. As was suggested earlier, I advocate going with a full size standard SPG, rather than a button gauge. It's much easier to read and when you put it on a 6" hose, it stays out of the way and can be oriented so you can always read it. NE Scuba has the best price I've found on a quality SPG.

 

[MrChen]

What length of hose for the 2nd stage?

 

[Steve_C]

I would share back to anchor line and maybe part way up depending on depth and air supply. Then put the OOA on the pony for the ascent/final part of ascent. Stuff can happen at the boat in NC and it is good for both to have some air and be able to get back on by themselves and both to have some air at the surface. If all this happened on dive one and it was a deep dive I would probably either thumb dive two or buddy up with somebody else who has redundancy.

Want pony to be good no matter what so it is an air fill. If I have to use the pony for myself I am probably done diving for the day anyway.