40cf too big for pony?
- Thread starter sh0ck1999
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Ok well got it back from hydro. Does this setup look right for slinging on the left ? Wasn't sure if the din opening should face towards me or away. Also my hose is probably a little long. If I were to get a shorter one what's a good length or should I just leave it as is?
Tom_Ivan
Contributor
Another idea to just throw out there. Since you've already got the extra hardware why not learn to properly side-mount it with your other tank? That way you can go ahead and breath that extra 40 cubic feet (instead of just dragging dead weight around) while still having the redundancy. Assuming you use a AL80 or something normally you'll be somewhat lopsided but hey, no worst than side-mounting a single tank.
DIY sidemount kits are easy enough to make if your worried about harness costs.
DIY sidemount kits are easy enough to make if your worried about harness costs.
Cyborg Pirate
Contributor
This is not a good idea nor is it the point in a pony bail out.....
A bail out is NOT to be calculated into your breathing gas. It is to be used as a redundant air source and for contingency purposes. Mounting in it to your Al80 is NOT called sidemount either. This is not the best option for it. Slinging the pony is usually the best option for a bailout. That way you have access to it. You can see it, turn it off and on etc. also it is there so you can get your buddy air and also I clip it and hand it off to them. Keeps you from being attached to a ooa panicked diver. Also with it attached to your back and you buddy or another diver is breathing off of it. You cannot see them. And they are so close to you with that short hose. You will be kicking their mask off or worse getting all bunched up so neither one of you can swim to the surface or do your safety stop safely. Sling it, practice regularly with it, and do not calculate it as part of your bottom gas and as a bailout on the same dive! Have fun and happy diving.
As for the rig itself.... looks good. Minor changes. If you are wearing on the left. Which is correct, move the hose and 2nd stage to other side. You want them on outside away from you body. Flex the dog to the other side away from the valve knob. Also I would remove the dust cap. It’s an entanglement hazard and also will be a n issue when clipping and unclipping. Hose length looks good.
I’m going to be rather blunt in this post:
Take the pony out to a pool or quarry and practice with it a good bit before you take it on a Great Lakes wreck dive. There is a post under Near Misses about another SB poster who had to air share with someone from 110ft because of a free flow. The SBer said that person, who is a very inexperienced diver, did not go for his pony at all. Like it was dead weight.
I dive Great Lakes wrecks, too. I practice.
If SBer, who handled the situation very well, had not been there, the diver with the free flow very well may have died.
Practice with the pony and use it on shallower dives before you go deep. It’s dead weight if you don’t use it in an emergency.
Pony or planned gas, use it to its fullest. If you plan your dives and then, like holy crap, dive that plan,,,you have or should have figured the extra gas into your contingencies. A wise man once told me, use it however the mission or dive dictates. I have planned my 30 cu ft tank into many of my dives as a dual purpose. However that is how I see it and I'm sticking to it!! Whatever you do, someone, some where, will tell you it's wrong. Enjoy your dives, my theory!
@sh0ck1999
This is the thread I referred to that you want to read.
Pick apart my rescue: air-share ascent from 110'
I reiterate: practice, practice, practice! A pony is dead weight if you don’t practice.
This is the thread I referred to that you want to read.
Pick apart my rescue: air-share ascent from 110'
I reiterate: practice, practice, practice! A pony is dead weight if you don’t practice.
When I first started using a 40 cf for my stage bottle in tech diving, the size of it seemed a little intimidating, in particular it seemed really long and unwieldy when trying to gear up on the boat. A few dives later and I realized it wasn't a problem, and as others have said, you'll hardly notice it in the water. @Marie13 makes a good point to practice with it, really good advice for any new equipment configuration you adopt.
The size or practice is all Moot if you are narced beyond good reasoning. Some people should not dive deep, and some people do very well deep. From the description in the begining of this thread, he was beyond his limits!! Again, dive within your limits, and or get training to expand them.
I plan on diving with it everywhere. I try to get in a lake dive every week. Not lake Michigan but local lakes with a group. Im starting to like junk collecting seems like every week they pull out at least two anchors . This week was 4 anchors a vintage 50s rod and reel and a dive mask. And coincidentally a group the next day found my dive light that I didn't know was missing till yesterday. Which I need to pick up at the dive shop because; Tomorrow I'm going to wazee never been there but I believe it makes haigh look like a puddle.
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