Pony bottle attachment...

[chickendiver]

I have seen a lot of great customer set ups with attaching a pony bottle to a single. Need some ideas.....I do not own my own tank but I do own a a pony bottle..30. I want to attach it to a 80 and have a way to take it off and on to switch tanks. For those who wonder why ido not have my own tank..not cost effective where I dive.

 

[RICHinNC]

There must be 10 to 15 mounts you can buy. It is a question of which one you like the most.

I use a ponease mount....and it is extremely easy to mount to the bcd....it does not mount to the tank....that way you can use it with rental tanks no problem. It mounts to the bcd tank strap.

The only negative in my mind about the mount is....it is heavy.

Take a look at ....www.sea-lutions.com/ponease

good luck

 

[diverUp]

I carry my pony at my side.

Easy to switch and I can hand off to someone else in emergency.

This is the rig I use: http://www.halcyon.net/acc/stagerig.shtml

I just clip it to my BC.

 

[Uncle Pug]

We recently had a death here in the PNW where the diver was found with a completely empty main tank and his pony's second stage caught behind him (only an unconfirmed report that the pony contained 2200 psi.)

There is speculation that the pony might have played into the scenario as the dive started with a short fill on a HP steel 80 that had around 1300 psi in it six minutes or so into the dive. I do know folks who will dive to the ragged edge presuming upon their pony... no one can say if that was the case on this dive but it was planned to 70' and ended up being to 93'.

The point is... if you are going to carry a pony don't rely on it but don't forget about it either. You should practice deploying your pony frequently. If it is out of service for one reason or another on the one dive that you do end up needing it... you will die.

Additionally, you won't get entangled by a pony that you ebay mount. But if you must carry a pony then sling it like a deco bottle... back mounted it is a line/kelp trapper.

Better in my opinion is to plan the dive and dive the plan so as to never need a pony.

 

[DiveTub]

I always sling my pony and or stage/deco bottles under my right arm, connected to right shoulder DRing and Right Hip DRing. Sits under the arm is out of the way and easy to access.

If anyone for any reason needs the pony I can unclip it fast and hand it over to him or her.
If it gets tangled on or in anything I can either unclip it or because the pony is connected by rope to the SS Clips cut it off myself.

Back mounted is just IMHO silly. You can't reach it, if you get caught or stuck, you can't hand it to a buddy and you can't stage it if you want too.

Here are photos

 

[Dryglove]

Here is a more economical way to rig your pony as a stage http://www.springstraps.com/

 

[Pepsi]

Best mount I have found- Tiger Gear. Pony mounts are billet aluminum machined w/ a quick release pin(s). Main side stays attached to the BC strap so it always remains with the BC and not the primary tank (good if no compressor availible)
http://66.24.169.67/

 

[Genesis]

sucks canal water in the salt, especially if there is any stainless steel in contact with it. Like, for instance, the SS hose clamps that connect the tank to it.

It WILL galvanically turn to white DUST.

Stay away from such "solutions" - they are not. In fact, they are dangerous.

For the same reason if you're using a stage bottle rig with a pony make DAMN SURE you run the hose clamp through a piece of vinyl tubing, so that no part of the clamp touches the tank. Having the TANK corrode (and if its aluminum, in salt water, it WILL!) would be VERY bad.

The best solution for a pony is to sling it like a stage bottle, especially if you intend to actually use a decent-sized pony (19cf or bigger.)

If you doing a 6cf then go ahead and mount it somewhere, but make sure you practice your "Hail Mary" - are 100' you'll have about that long before its gone, and it may actually CAUSE an entanglement!

 

[Pepsi]

Genesis once bubbled...
sucks canal water in the salt, especially if there is any stainless steel in contact with it. Like, for instance, the SS hose clamps that connect the tank to it.

It WILL galvanically turn to white DUST.

Stay away from such "solutions" - they are not. In fact, they are dangerous.

For the same reason if you're using a stage bottle rig with a pony make DAMN SURE you run the hose clamp through a piece of vinyl tubing, so that no part of the clamp touches the tank. Having the TANK corrode (and if its aluminum, in salt water, it WILL!) would be VERY bad.

The best solution for a pony is to sling it like a stage bottle, especially if you intend to actually use a decent-sized pony (19cf or bigger.)

If you doing a 6cf then go ahead and mount it somewhere, but make sure you practice your "Hail Mary" - are 100' you'll have about that long before its gone, and it may actually CAUSE an entanglement!

1st off- I have owned this setup for about 5 years. Have used iton at least 300 dives (not pussy foot 5 min instructor dives, full hardcore dives) Not one bit of corrosion present(look at download)- So thank you for the unexperienced advice, its all about how metals are treated and/or coated.

2nd- as for entanglement, its all how you rig things. My rig is so streamline I gaurantee to swim circle around your "expert ass"- Come on out to Southern California and we can "play" in the kelp- Best divers in the world come from So Cal- not east coast- you can dive here, then you can dive anywhere.

3rd- sling that pony to you side and enter some severe surge areas(after deep, then working up into shallows) and that slinged pony will beat you like a redheaded step child.

Get some more experience then talk to me.

 

[Pyro072]

Nice set up Pepsi...will have to keep that in mind.