Pony tank on Garuda

[billt4sf]

Were there any issues with the pony tank?

No. They wanted to see that the bottle was empty. Dove with it this afternoon - man, what a place this is! (Misool Eco Resort). On the pony tank checkout dive, saw large Napolean wrasse, 2 large bass, 3 giant clams, and a school of 100+ fish (I'm not good at identification) just tooling around the house reef. Great food. Excellent ecological work.

I hate their internet policy though. Internet in the Dive Center only. Each room has it's own login. No more than 2 devices at a time. $0.37/minute or 7 nights unlimited for $55. You have to log out and log in each time -- PITA. Considering all the great things they do at this resort, and the "great" price you pay, they could do better IMHO.

- Bill

 

[billt4sf]

In case anyone is still following this my pony tank is working great! We had a few glitches at first -- my brand spanking highly expensive new ScubaPro reg was breathing very wet (half a mouthful of water each breath) and it turned out to be a folded diaphragm in the second stage. Harrumph! But good now.

+1 for testing all new second stages by trying to take a breath with the tank turned OFF before getting in the water! It should breathe like a brick...

It's a 6L pony, we use nitrox as in the main tank, I am carrying it as a sling on the left. It's giving me just what I wanted : 60 min dives as opposed to the 45 I had been having. It has effected my buoyancy not at all -- well, just in one way -- when I jump in, I have to add more air to the BC before I jump than I did previously.

I have gotten almost used to clipping and unclipping it myself, (I always take my gear off in the water), and the switch from my back gas long hose reg to the pony reg works fine. I'm glad I have the habit of purging my regs before inserting them in my mouth -- once I forgot to open the pony tank and the purge habit made that clear before the switch! Thank you, GUE Training, thank you, Beto!

I usually breathe my back gas down to 2000psi, then switch to the pony, breathe it down to less than 1000, then switch back to the back gas. At this point I see if my wife and best buddy wants to breathe off my back gas (we have long hoses so it's easy) and we typically breathe my back gas down to 1000. Then it's time to start our ascent.

So it's working great! Just what I wanted it to do.

Handling two SPGs is a bit kludgy but I'm working on that.

Thanks,

Bill

 

[helarno]

I hate their internet policy though. Internet in the Dive Center only. Each room has it's own login. No more than 2 devices at a time. $0.37/minute or 7 nights unlimited for $55. You have to log out and log in each time -- PITA. Considering all the great things they do at this resort, and the "great" price you pay, they could do better IMHO.

A bit off topic, but I'm curious - was there a 4G signal at the resort? Was in the area on a liveaboard and the only place where we could get the slightest signal was when we were near the resort. If there was a decent 4G signal there, then there would be little reason to rely on their internet.

 

[Diving Dubai]

@billt4sf

Last time we were there (a year ago *sigh*) they had some brand new AL40 ponies, indeed we left them a couple of travel slings for the afore mentioned tanks. Do they still have the ponies?

I think the internet limit is because it's by Satellite. I didn't use it once during my stay - My friend did, to check emails as he was technically "working from home" rather than on vacation.

Send Marfel Our Best wishes (Martin & Lisa from Dubai)

 

[billt4sf]

@billt4sf

Last time we were there (a year ago *sigh*) they had some brand new AL40 ponies, indeed we left them a couple of travel slings for the afore mentioned tanks. Do they still have the ponies?

I think the internet limit is because it's by Satellite. I didn't use it once during my stay - My friend did, to check emails as he was technically "working from home" rather than on vacation.

Send Marfel Our Best wishes (Martin & Lisa from Dubai)

They do have these ponies. I didn't go that route because we have a LOB after this. And the future.

It's SO NICE to dive without worrying all the time about air consumption!

- Bill