Is a Pony Bottle too complicated for a beginner?

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

I am new to scuba diving with only a couple dives under my belt. I am a little OCD and tend to pay attention to my gauge more than enjoying the dive as I am always worried about my pressure. I have a 13cf pony bottle. Would being a new diver and having the pony tank connected to my main tank for the piece of mind confuse me and be tougher for me starting out? When I started paramotoring, they recommended not flying with a reserve because it is more likely to accidentally deploy and cause more problems.

Be happy to have a pony, carry it and practice with it. I was you, last Sept. I met a bit of resistance from some people, and tons of inspiration and positive reactions from the rest. Sling it though. I would recommend diagonally across your chest, as it counter-balances itself. No need to worry about weight differential, because your tank is mounted on one side of your tank. Leave an octo on your rig and know how your hand needs to move to so you can recover your pony stage 2, and do it blind. If your pony is mounted to your tank, you will have to counterbalance it. You will also want to have an spg on your pony, and if the tank is right in front of you, a little 6" hose on the spg is all that is needed.

These are not the fatalities, these are the obvious pony related mistakes from the reports currently on the BSAC web site. I have older ones on other machines. Edward also remembers there being fatalities. Do you really need a fatality to believe that it is a terrible idea for a novice diver to have a complicated bit of extra kit? A bunch of rapid ascents and particularly the failure to switch to back gas.

New divers are easily flustered by unexpected events. How someone deals with weird stuff is a good measure of comfort and ability. Someone with hundreds of dives will manage better than someone with five or ten. Someone dived up will probably manage better than someone coming back after a layoff. Adding unnecessary complications when less able is a mistake.

Nothing complicated about slinging a pony, if it is slung, less likelihood of breathing off it by accident. Quite easy to carry actually, rather light.

 

[SlugLife]

I need a bit more to say it is a bad idea, given that myself, @MikeWD, and probably thousands more have used them without killing ourselves. I just don't find it all that complicated, and my initial scuba training sucked. I do however handle stress well. Maybe that's the difference?

I do not consider a pony bottle an "unnecessary complication" or "complicated", but a valuable safety device. For those that think it is complicated, maybe diving isn't for them. A rebreather is complicated. But I don't think anything OC is complicated, not even sidemount.

I'm basically in agreement.

As a general rule, I think divers should (1) practice basic skills with any equipment or configuration in a safe environment before trying it out in the wild. (2) It's also good to ask (for most anything scuba) if there are any precautions or risks to be aware of. I learned a few from this thread & a few from another thread I started.

My current preference is to sling (side-mount style) a 19 to 40cu pony, because it's by far the simplest, least tangled, etc. I basically clip on 2x d-rings, and go. The regulator is tucked in a bungee & SPG on a short-hose. It's also easy enough to turn on/off mid-dive, or even hand to another diver if absolutely necessary. It's also lightweight and compact enough I have (almost*) no excuses to not bring it on every dive. The "almost" exception is side-mount, since you have redundant air anyway.

Practice (swapping to pony, turn on/off air, and even feathering valve) has helped me be confident I could swap easily under pressure. More importantly, asking about redundant air sources has helped me pursue a cleaner setup. Had I not asked, I'd have back-mounted the pony, had extra hoses over my shoulder, and overall a more complicated and less flexible setup.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

I am new to scuba diving with only a couple dives under my belt. I am a little OCD and tend to pay attention to my gauge more than enjoying the dive as I am always worried about my pressure. I have a 13cf pony bottle. Would being a new diver and having the pony tank connected to my main tank for the piece of mind confuse me and be tougher for me starting out? When I started paramotoring, they recommended not flying with a reserve because it is more likely to accidentally deploy and cause more problems.

I would recommend you sling your pony, diagonally across your chest

I'm basically in agreement.

As a general rule, I think divers should (1) practice basic skills with any equipment or configuration in a safe environment before trying it out in the wild. (2) It's also good to ask (for most anything scuba) if there are any precautions or risks to be aware of. I learned a few from this thread & a few from another thread I started.

My current preference is to sling (side-mount style) a 19 to 40cu pony, because it's by far the simplest, least tangled, etc. I basically clip on 2x d-rings, and go. The regulator is tucked in a bungee & SPG on a short-hose. It's also easy enough to turn on/off mid-dive, or even hand to another diver if absolutely necessary. It's also lightweight and compact enough I have (almost*) no excuses to not bring it on every dive. The "almost" exception is side-mount, since you have redundant air anyway.

Practice (swapping to pony, turn on/off air, and even feathering valve) has helped me be confident I could swap easily under pressure. More importantly, asking about redundant air sources has helped me pursue a cleaner setup. Had I not asked, I'd have back-mounted the pony, had extra hoses over my shoulder, and overall a more complicated and less flexible setup.

I started out slinging a 13cu pony on my left side. Then I moved it to diagonally, which eliminated the need to counterbalance it. I do however, turn the pony on, all the way, before I enter the water. It is live to go whenever I need it. Also practice switching to it blind.

 

[SlugLife]

I would recommend you sling your pony, diagonally across your chest

I started out slinging a 13cu pony on my left side. Then I moved it to diagonally, which eliminated the need to counterbalance it. I do however, turn the pony on, all the way, before I enter the water. It is live to go whenever I need it. Also practice switching to it blind.

I'll try both configurations. The "side-mount" style is just what I started with. I always have it on in the water, unless I'm practicing skills. Having a way to transfill helps a lot to keep the pony topped up, without having to constantly pay for fills.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

I'll try both configurations. The "side-mount" style is just what I started with. I always have it on in the water, unless I'm practicing skills. Having a way to transfill helps a lot to keep the pony topped up, without having to constantly pay for fills.

I made a deal with my LDS, to include my pony on my unlimited fill card.

I used my pony slung ion the left for around 25-30 dives, before I moved it to diagonal. I have now done 136 dives total, with a pony..

 

[lexvil]

I made a deal with my LDS, to include my pony on my unlimited fill card.

I used my pony slung ion the left for around 25-30 dives, before I moved it to diagonal. I have now done 136 dives total, with a pony..

How about some pictures of the diagonal set up?

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

How about some pictures of the diagonal set up?

How about some pictures of the diagonal set up?

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

My buddy and I heading out. He has his setup opposite to mine. Still hip to shoulder, just opposite shoulder. Brings the bottle and reg, into the air triangle on your chest. We are both packing 30cu tanks.

 

[Marie13]

View attachment 665700

View attachment 665700

I have never liked the diagonal across the chest thing. Looks so damned awkward. It’s not uncommon on some instructors at the local quarry. But I guess if you’ve got a jacket BC without D rings in the proper places to sling on your side, I guess it’s the only choice.

At least yours isn’t hanging very low. I’ve seen that, too. Ugh.

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . .
I do not consider a pony bottle an "unnecessary complication" or "complicated", but a valuable safety device. . . .

Kosta, if a pony is such a valuable safety device, why do none of the training agencies teach a pony as standard equipment in the OW course?

Could it be implicit that the training agencies believe diving is safe enough without a pony? If a pony is analogous to airbags or seatbelts, as some here have implied, why is diving without a pony the baseline gear configuration across all agencies? I can only speculate that there isn't a widespread belief that "ponies save lives." Maybe a car crash is a lot more common than the kind of catastrophic reg failure scenario (i.e., fails to deliver air AND no buddy around AND too deep for a CESA, etc.) contemplated in this thread? Is it really a "valuable safety device" for all divers, or for the baseline diver is it more of a security blanket against a bogeyman?