30 Cu Pony And Reg Setup

[DON-PNW]

My first post so be kind My primary setup is a Hollis BP and S38 Wing, 7' Primary Reg, Atomic SS1 Octo. I'm thinking of picking up a 30cu Pony attached to my HP 100 with the reg for the Pony attached to a collar bungee around my neck. Therefore I would use my primary as a out of air, use my SS1 and switch to the Pony Reg around my neck if a AOA occured. Looking for feedback if this is a poor decision, trade offs, etc. Thanks in advance!

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I dive like that, however I use a smaller pony, and don't have a 7 ft hose. This is how i rig my pony mount..

 

[Kairoos]

I sling a 30cf or 13cf pony, depending on the kind of dive I'm doing. I couldn't mount a pony to my tank as the racks on the dive boat don't leave any room for that kind of setup. I prefer having the tank in front of me though, it's easily handed off, I can spot any issues, and the reg is always in front of me.

How will you route an SPG? Or will you not use one?

 

[Tug]

My advice would be to sling the pony on your side for many of the reasons Kairoos said.

It is possible to mount your second stage on a bungee under your neck, in fact, that's what I do on my rebreather bailout. I have the second stage on a long hose and keep that bungeed under my neck, similar to what some people do for SM.

 

[DON-PNW]

Thanks for the video Dumpster. Kairoos, I was not planning on an accesible SPG, I'd have a mini SPG on the bottle for predive check only. My reasoning is if I were to need the Pony I'd be in a dive ending mode and ascending. I plan on mounting both ways, meaning strapped to my primary HP100 and in front to see how it feels to me. Since I have dove this setup before I really dont know what I will like/feel best with. My brain keeps telling me that the less gear I have on my bc, or slung off of my BP the better, but thats why I'm sending this out to the board to get some advice, lessons learned etc. I'm just now starting to work my skills up to deco and tech diving and want to carefully plan on how I rig my gear, I believe the more dives you do without any changes the better off I would be. Thanks you all for chiming in and am welcome to receive more comments on the matter.

 

[rongoodman]

I would sling it and set the regulator up just like a deco/stage bottle.

 

[2airishuman]

Don,

There are a couple of related threads on this that you might find insightful.

With a back mounted pony, especially with no SPG, there are various accident risks related to regulator mixups. The most serious risk is splashing with the main tank valve off but main regs pressurized so that the SPG shows pressure, and with the pony reg in your mouth due to a mixup. Then it looks like you have air and everything is OK until the pony runs empty 10 minutes later, then you're OOA at depth and you better hope you can reach that valve.

The mitigations for this risk are:
- Making sure that the pony reg is clearly identifiable through some combination of color, hose color, mouthpiece feel, shape, location and means of fastening, hose location, etc.
- Adding a pony SPG and checking it during the dive
- Being able to reach the main tank valve, and practicing with it
- In addition to taking a breath while watching the (main) SPG, inflate your BC while watching it, or also breath the octo while watching the SPG, since the SPG needle will drop if you have the valve closed and regs mixed up
- Using a slung rather than back-mounted pony