Carrying a Pony....

[wreckvalle]

Check out
http://www.aquaexplorers.com/pony_bracket.htm

 

[Trickie Dickie 99]

I don't really care about hearing how a 19 is to small
I agree with Nimrod if doing no deco dives. I sling a 19 when I dive the deeper wrecks in Lake Huron and (just for practice) I came up from 120 ffw using the pony and with stops at 60 & 30 ffw for over a minute each and a stop at 15 ffw for five minutes and I had just under 500 psi left in the tank. I do like slinging the pony because I can monitor it (gauge, leaks), be able to hand it off, and I hardly notice its there.

Only thing is, you have practiced in "practice" conditions. When the pressure is on, and you are OOA, you will probably find that your air consumption is somewhat higher than under ideal practice conditions.

 

[Trickie Dickie 99]

I have a 19 cf pony bottle that I recently acquired. I want to start using it but I'm not exactly sure how to set it up to carry. I dive with a BP/W and mostly a single tank. I've seen divers that carry pony's in the front and others with brackets on their tanks. What are the pros and cons? Does anyone have photos or a web site for information on how to sling the bottle?

Sidesling - cylinder is accessible, you can see it, check spg, if present; you can unclip it to hand it off to another OOA diver but it gets in the way (a bit) before entering the water, otherwise fine.

Clamped to primary cylinder - out of the way, you don't know it's there but none of the above pros apply and it's an inaccesible tangle hazard for fishing line or confined spaces etc.

For my own set up, I use a 10, 12 or 15L x 230 Bar steel main cylinder but my side slung pony is an Aluminium 4L (ie 30 cu ft). I don't believe that 3L (19-20 cu ft) is really adequate for dives much beyond 30m (100 ft).

Why Aluminium though, given that I normally dislike Ally for it's bulk and buoyancy? Basically, the Ally 30 is only slightly negatively buoyant, meaning I can hand it off to another diver, or leave it behind for a quick shallow dive, without suddenly becoming more buoyant (as would be the case if it were steel.) Also, it doesn't affect my trim, regardless of how or where I carry it. This is an important practical consideration.