Best type of Pony Tank setup?

[Genesis]

And if you do hand off your pony to your OOA buddy how long will it take them to deploy it and then readjust their buoyancy?

Zero Pug. The pony is rigged as a stage with an octo-length hose. It is charged and then turned off. If someone signals me OOA, I pull the second stage free of the bungie straps and extend it to them just as I would my primary, and with the other hand give the valve a twist on. If they take a huff before I twist the valve, that's ok - there's one or two in the hose and reg due to it being carried charged but turned off.

Once they HAVE gas, I can then hand the entire pony set to them at their (and my) leisure. The emergency is over; now we're cleaning up the mess.

The communication that is going on between a team using HIDs is constant in the passive sense and immediate in the active sense. I guarantee you that we could effect an air share should a problem develop before you would even be able to locate your pony bottle reg, deploy it, turn it on, ect.
If I see my buddy's HID beam moving rapidly back and forth I know immediately which direction to turn and will have my regulator extended toward him while doing so.

You would have to see this in action to realize how efficient it is.

You're right in that regard. However, teams have to be practiced in this AND their lights have to be close in terms of power or it can break down. I've tried to explain this to someone who is not skilled in it and they flashed their light at my BODY instead of through my beam when they wanted my attention - their light was not as bright as mine and I simply never saw it, as I don't have eyes in the back of my head! If they had flashed my BEAM (as we went over) I probably would have noted it.

Good thing it wasn't a real emergency eh?

The other annoying thing is that if you flash your buddy (across, not up and down) and he IS skilled in this he will assume that you have an emergency and will immediately come towards you with his reg extended. If you don't REALLY have an emergency this gets old after the third or 10th time and you'll have an interesting discussion when you surface.

 

[NEWreckDiver]

It keeps going and going and going.

 

[Snowbear]

...he will assume that you have an emergency and will immediately come towards you with his reg extended.

This is a good thing, right?

If you don't REALLY have an emergency this gets old after the third or 10th time and you'll have an interesting discussion when you surface.

Slow learner, eh? If I didn't know better and flashed someone like that and they extended their reg to me, I would think, "Hmm self, I think I just learned a new light signal." If I did it another 2-10 times I would expect to get decked for my lack of perception

OK - back to your regularly scheduled pony bottle discussion...

 

[DA Aquamaster]

It keeps going and going and going.

In my limited experience, it seems everything that needs to be said about an issue in scubaboard gets said in the first 4-5 pages (or less) and everything after that tends to just be arguing and finger pointing.

Some of it does make for entertaining reading though. =)

 

[NEWreckDiver]

In my limited experience, it seems everything that needs to be said about an issue in scubaboard gets said in the first 4-5 pages (or less) and everything after that tends to just be arguing and finger pointing.

Some of it does make for entertaining reading though. =)

Yes it does.

I am new to the site, but I can tell those that are stead fast in their opinions and those with an open mind. Those who really are interested in helping people make good decisions and those that just want to argue.

Anyway, I wonder how many more pages this is going to go on?

 

[rds4640]

But it falls short. Hand signals require you to be looking at your buddy. How do you get your buddy to turn and look at you? Sound makers? How long will it take them to look around to see where the sound is coming from and then to focus in on the signal being given? And if you do hand off your pony to your OOA buddy how long will it take them to deploy it and then readjust their buoyancy?

I am by no means trying to say there is anything wrong with the way you describe using your HID for communication. I just wanted to make the point that most of the arguments for not using a pony apply to the can light.

I guarantee you that we could effect an air share should a problem develop before you would even be able to locate your pony bottle reg, deploy it, turn it on, ect.
If I see my buddy's HID beam moving rapidly back and forth I know immediately which direction to turn and will have my regulator extended toward him while doing so.

I am sorry but this just is not possible. For me to use my pony I reach under my left arm, pull the reg that is bungeed to the stage style pony as I turn the valve. This litterally takes 1-1.5 seconds. I know it takes longer than that to signal, recognise the signal, swim to and start breathing from a buddy. I am not saying this does not work, I am saying it does take longer, it takes more practice, it is more expensive, there is more maintanace than a pony. It works for me and my buddies but it might not work for everyone in all situations (read open mind).

 

[Genesis]

That much is true - a HID can light is expensive, and lights are probably the most failure-prone devices you can carry on a dive.

 

[ingreevox]

If I follow what you are saying you will be using the bottle slung as a stage, not a pony. The hardware you need for setting up a stage is 1/4" nylon rope, two large bolt snaps, a 316 ss hoseclamp and if you want t be slick a piece of 1/2" vynil tubing and you're done. Todd Leonard used to have a great site showing a lot of great detail but I don't think it's up anymore. Todd are you out there? A 40 works fine as a stage.

thanks for the good list, honestly, i have seen a few photos on how to rig all that stuff, but i would like to do it right the first time.
does anyone have a pony photo of a slung bottle, without the bottle in it to see howe its done?
i appreciate it

 

[MikeFerrara]

The other annoying thing is that if you flash your buddy (across, not up and down) and he IS skilled in this he will assume that you have an emergency and will immediately come towards you with his reg extended. If you don't REALLY have an emergency this gets old after the third or 10th time and you'll have an interesting discussion when you surface.

We don't use direction of the flash to indicate urgency. We use speed. If you just want to get attention it's a calm gentle sweep. If it's am emergency you make it look like one.

 

[MikeFerrara]

That much is true - a HID can light is expensive, and lights are probably the most failure-prone devices you can carry on a dive.

Lights do fail now and then but it's never life threatening. Depending on the situation we ofen just change the order to put the diver with the failed light in front or in the middle.