My Little Pony!

[RonFrank]

Well both myself and Dimitri just purchased Pony's. I got a 19CF. Every time I think I'm done, I never am! In any event, when diving Coz Dimitri brought up a good point, in current how the heck do you get to a buddy quickly? After some thought, and $$$ I will now carry a pony just in case!

If anyone is interested, ScubaToys has the MK-2 first stages, new with warranty for $50. A heck of a good price on a first stage for stage bottles, and well, my little Pony!

 

[Scuba-Jay]

Ron why did you go with the 19 and opposed to say a 30? What's your planned carry method?

J

 

[RonFrank]

Ron why did you go with the 19 and opposed to say a 30? What's your planned carry method?

J

I chose the 19 because I plan on traveling with it. I also don't plan on using it except in an emergency, and 19CF is enough to get me up safely from any recreational depth with a slow ascent and a SS.

If I'm diving my Zeagle Stiletto, I will attach it to a tank as I'll likely be carrying a DSLR. When diving cold I will sling it at least initially. If I find I don't like carrying it with the sling, I can attach the straps to my CAM bands on the BP/W fairly easily. I purchased the Zeagle pony CAM bands. They will not arrive until later this week/next week, so I can not comment on their design.

 

[Web Monkey]

Well both myself and Dimitri just purchased Pony's. I got a 19CF. Every time I think I'm done, I never am! In any event, when diving Coz Dimitri brought up a good point, in current how the heck do you get to a buddy quickly? After some thought, and $$$ I will now carry a pony just in case!

By staying close.

In fact, in current, it's even more important, since if you get seperated, you're pretty much diving solo.

Terry

 

[dimitrik]

My wife freaked out when she saw my new pony tank. She thought I was getting my 6 month old daughter geard up for scuba. :no

She likes it now that she knows what it's for. She thinks it cute.

 

[RonFrank]

By staying close.

In fact, in current, it's even more important, since if you get seperated, you're pretty much diving solo.

Terry

Understood. But we found that when in current staying close is not always as easy. Even if you're five feet apart, if one diver is up current it maybe difficult to get to them quickly.

I'm not looking for a debate in the buddy system, solo diving, or pony's in general on this thread, but after discussing this with my Buddy, we both felt that it was a good idea, and we both purchased them. When I'm not in current, and doing general lake diving where the vis poor, or even good, we tend to stay together better. When you are diving on travel insta-buddies IMO are not all that reliable, and I think a pony is a great backup air source. The reality is I may never need it, but just imagine how glad I would be if I did!

 

[RonFrank]

My wife freaked out when she saw my new pony tank. She thought I was getting my 6 month old daughter geard up for scuba. :no

She likes it now that she knows what it's for. She thinks it cute.

That is TOO FUNNY!

I ordered all my stuff from ScubaToys. They are back ordered on the tank, but it should ship out by Friday they said. I'll let you know what I think of the Zeagle Bands. They look like they will work out very well, and appear to be easily transfered between BC's. I'm curious to see if this will impact my weighting or trim when mounted to the AL80.

 

[Web Monkey]

Understood. But we found that when in current staying close is not always as easy. Even if you're five feet apart, if one diver is up current it maybe difficult to get to them quickly.

I have a pony and actually like and use it.

I was just mentioning that if you're in heavy current and your buddy is significantly behind you, he's pretty much solo, since there's no way an OOA diver will be able to make enough headway to grab you.

Terry

 

[Divedoggie]

That is TOO FUNNY!
I'm curious to see if this will impact my weighting or trim when mounted to the AL80.

Hi Ron,
I got the same set up last year. Those Zeagle pony bands hold the 19 to the 80 securely. I ended up removing one of my trim pockets, and off-setting the tank to that side. When its full, its about 5lbs negative. I put 5 lbs in one trim pocket, and the tank on the other side. You may find that 4 lbs works better. Try it out in the pool. I didn't use mine, or even bring it, last time I saw you, because you and Matt are really good buddies.

I agree that the 19 is a perfect size. Its still streamlined and out of the way, but will provide air in an emergency. Certainly until you get to your buddy's AA.

The buddy system is an excellent system for recreational diving as long as you both abide by it!

Between the department of redundancy department, and fear of this or that piece of proven gear failing, at some point, the safest way to dive will be not to dive!

 

[RonFrank]

Hi Ron,
I got the same set up last year. Those Zeagle pony bands hold the 19 to the 80 securely. I ended up removing one of my trim pockets, and off-setting the tank to that side. When its full, its about 5lbs negative. I put 5 lbs in one trim pocket, and the tank on the other side. You may find that 4 lbs works better. Try it out in the pool. I didn't use mine, or even bring it, last time I saw you, because you and Matt are really good buddies.

I agree that the 19 is a perfect size. Its still streamlined and out of the way, but will provide air in an emergency. Certainly until you get to your buddy's AA.

The buddy system is an excellent system for recreational diving as long as you both abide by it!

Between the department of redundancy department, and fear of this or that piece of proven gear failing, at some point, the safest way to dive will be not to dive!

Hey DD,

I was not aware you had the pony setup as well. Yeah, I don't feel much need of it diving at places like the Hole, or Lakes with known buddies. I will use it next at the Hole just to try out the weighting. I thought about putting offset weight on one side, but on the BP/W I don't have any pouches on the bands. I can move one from my Zeagle however, or I considered just mounting the pony directly behind the AL80. It would stick up farther, but maybe more balanced. Thoughts?

Give me a call or PM when you want to get together. We are also planning a trip to BH tentatively the third weekend of Feb if you are interested.