Pony Setup Feedback
- Thread starter HKGuns
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
how easy is it to get to your valve knob with the regulator pointing over it? i have my first stage pointed in toward me while the valve knob points out away from me. my way works great but ive never tried it your way, so that may be fine too.
This is just my 2 psi. On any pony or deco bottle, I prefer to use button gauges instead of a full spg. That way, there is no possible way to confuse the pressure reading from my smaller bottles with my back gas. It also streamlines the rig a tad. If you have done good gas planning (i.e. sufficient size pony to get you to the surface including a SS), there is no need to look at the remaining gas in your bailout bottle. The button gauges will confirm if your bottle is full before you splash.
You also might want to put a choker (bungee loop) around your valve that you can clip your nose clip onto. This will hold your bottle nice and snug, so it's not dangling.
You also might want to put a choker (bungee loop) around your valve that you can clip your nose clip onto. This will hold your bottle nice and snug, so it's not dangling.
I like a button gauge on my pony. Also, I managed to find a valveulator (valve/integrated first stage) pretty cheap for it. The latter costs a little money but it makes the whole setup far cleaner.
DeepSeaExplorer
Contributor
I don’t bend the SPG up. I just leave it against the tank and put the top rubber band over it to keep it from banging against the tank. Prevents stressing the HP hose and banging the guage around.
There’s actually very little need to be constantly checking the guage during a dive. You should know pre-dive whether you have enough gas or not.
There’s actually very little need to be constantly checking the guage during a dive. You should know pre-dive whether you have enough gas or not.
undrwater
Contributor
Yep, button gauge (or do as @DeepSeaExplorer suggested so you're not buying a solution}. Additionally, I'm curious to see the whole thing.
@RyanT , do you have a pic of what you're talking about? It sounds similar to what they talk about in side mount, but I'm not sure what it looks like, and don't know what a "nose clip" is.
@RyanT , do you have a pic of what you're talking about? It sounds similar to what they talk about in side mount, but I'm not sure what it looks like, and don't know what a "nose clip" is.
The only thing I would change is loop your second stage hose the other way (clockwise starting at the 1st stage) so that the mouth piece is against the tank and then secure the 2nd stage further by pushing the mouth piece under the hose.
As another poster suggested, I keep my spg flat against the cylinder and secured in place by the top rubber band that my 2nd stage hose slips under. When I started diving with the pony bottle I bent it up and secured it in place like you depict but I realized that it was not necessary for the type of diving that I do and I don't need to constantly look at it like it is a dashboard. If I need to switch to my pony bottle, I can easily alter the position of the spg if I need to...I have loop of bungee that lives doubled around the short spg hose for this purpose if needed....but I figure i can just as easily grab the spg and tilt it up to glance at it as needed/desired....if it was my primary gas source such as if diving doubles I would take a a different tack on this but if I find myself using my pony bottle I am either ensnared somewhere and have burned through my back gas which means the **** is hitting the fan and my effort is better spent trying to free myself than focus on my spg because that really won't matter if I can't free myself, OR I have suffered a casualty to my first stage or LP hose that is causing a rapid loss of air and in this case I will be heading to the surface and will have time to take a glance or two on the way up. I have already calculated how much air time my pony bottle will give me for 10 meter depth increments at an elevated consumption rate so in the 2nd scenario I present, I would only need to look at it once or twice to ensure my consumption rate is on track....perhaps I will print and laminate that info and tape it to the side of my bottle so that I don't have to rely on memory when things go tits up.
-Z
As another poster suggested, I keep my spg flat against the cylinder and secured in place by the top rubber band that my 2nd stage hose slips under. When I started diving with the pony bottle I bent it up and secured it in place like you depict but I realized that it was not necessary for the type of diving that I do and I don't need to constantly look at it like it is a dashboard. If I need to switch to my pony bottle, I can easily alter the position of the spg if I need to...I have loop of bungee that lives doubled around the short spg hose for this purpose if needed....but I figure i can just as easily grab the spg and tilt it up to glance at it as needed/desired....if it was my primary gas source such as if diving doubles I would take a a different tack on this but if I find myself using my pony bottle I am either ensnared somewhere and have burned through my back gas which means the **** is hitting the fan and my effort is better spent trying to free myself than focus on my spg because that really won't matter if I can't free myself, OR I have suffered a casualty to my first stage or LP hose that is causing a rapid loss of air and in this case I will be heading to the surface and will have time to take a glance or two on the way up. I have already calculated how much air time my pony bottle will give me for 10 meter depth increments at an elevated consumption rate so in the 2nd scenario I present, I would only need to look at it once or twice to ensure my consumption rate is on track....perhaps I will print and laminate that info and tape it to the side of my bottle so that I don't have to rely on memory when things go tits up.
-Z
I use only a 'button' SPG. My pony is only there for situations where the poo has hit the fan, and I don't need a terribly accurate measure of what's in the tank
Holy smokes, great feedback. I considered a button gauge, but bought this one as I thought I'd be checking in the water.
- Point taken that I won't need to be monitoring except to check it before getting wet.
- Very little knob interference, can manipulate (the knob) just fine with the gauge there.
- I will try looping the 2nd stage hose the other way, it appears that may create less potential interference between the harness and the hose routing.
- I will also look at laying the SPG flat and securing with a piece of inner-tube as i won't need to be looking at it in the water.
- I may even buy a button to clean it up which will leave me a decent SPG to use elsewhere.
For those of you who recommended a button, which do you use?
Here is a picture of the entire unit, just prior to adding the SPG.
- Point taken that I won't need to be monitoring except to check it before getting wet.
- Very little knob interference, can manipulate (the knob) just fine with the gauge there.
- I will try looping the 2nd stage hose the other way, it appears that may create less potential interference between the harness and the hose routing.
- I will also look at laying the SPG flat and securing with a piece of inner-tube as i won't need to be looking at it in the water.
- I may even buy a button to clean it up which will leave me a decent SPG to use elsewhere.
For those of you who recommended a button, which do you use?
Here is a picture of the entire unit, just prior to adding the SPG.
I suggest staying with your SPG on the pony rather than a button gauge fixed to the 1st stage. I have used the button gauges in the past and they usually end up broken, cracked, or scratched so much I can't read them. I suspect this is because they are fixed in place and any bump or brush while diving or transporting do damage. With an SPG you can turn the face inward and if it gets bumped it just bends out of the way.
If you really need to monitor pressure if you are bailing out on the pony, it's better to be able to read it easily.
If you really need to monitor pressure if you are bailing out on the pony, it's better to be able to read it easily.
Similar threads
