Pony Bottle Orientation

[shadragon]

Hi all,

I picked up a 40 cf pony bottle this summer which I am side mounting to my (single) tank. It is held in place by a rigid mounting bracket and cannot be moved/removed when diving. I have a new ScubaPro MK2 reg on the pony with R190 Octo and standard length yellow hose.

Before the pony purchase, I had the Octo off my main tank first stage. I could clip it to my chest and the Octo hose wrapped around me nicely with little gap between me and the hose. Minimal entanglement hazard and life was sweet. Now that I have the Pony, it is further off to the left, just enough that I can no longer clip it in its usual place on my BC. So I had to clip it on the opposite side of my chest. In that position, the hose goes way out past my shoulders in a large loop. As I like to keep my gear as streamlined as possible I would like to bring it back in.

I played with my rig for an hour last night trying different things. I found that if I mount the pony upside down the hose goes behind me, under the main tank, up my right side, around my chest and clips off nice and streamlined. The hose is behind me for the most part, which I am not thrilled with, but it works.

So my questions: Are there any reasons to not mount a pony upside down? The reg manual says nothing about orientation being a factor. Second, would that hose position be considered safe as it would need to be brought around me before being extended to another diver?

 

[RICHinNC]

I dont have one way that big. It is only a 13 cuft. But I use the Ponease bottle mount and I mount mine upside down so I can reach the valve.

The only thing I have noticed that is I needed to make sure it was in the mount high enough so that when I take my rig off and set it down, the main tank takes the weight of the rig and i dont bang the valve on the pony.

Many here will zing you just for mounting it and not slinging it....good luck.

 

[Thalassamania]

Hi all,

I picked up a 40 cf pony bottle this summer which I am side mounting to my (single) tank. It is held in place by a rigid mounting bracket and cannot be moved/removed when diving. I have a new ScubaPro MK2 reg on the pony with R190 Octo and standard length yellow hose.

Before the pony purchase, I had the Octo off my main tank first stage. I could clip it to my chest and the Octo hose wrapped around me nicely with little gap between me and the hose. Minimal entanglement hazard and life was sweet. Now that I have the Pony, it is further off to the left, just enough that I can no longer clip it in its usual place on my BC. So I had to clip it on the opposite side of my chest. In that position, the hose goes way out past my shoulders in a large loop. As I like to keep my gear as streamlined as possible I would like to bring it back in.

I played with my rig for an hour last night trying different things. I found that if I mount the pony upside down the hose goes behind me, under the main tank, up my right side, around my chest and clips off nice and streamlined. The hose is behind me for the most part, which I am not thrilled with, but it works.

So my questions: Are there any reasons to not mount a pony upside down? The reg manual says nothing about orientation being a factor. Second, would that hose position be considered safe as it would need to be brought around me before being extended to another diver?

My first preference would be slung on the left, but in the old days I used to mount them upside down all the time and liked it.

 

[atedeschi]

You could try it the way you had it but run the hose under your right arm and attach it to either the right of left shoulder clip. You could also get a smaller hoseand run it over your shoulder.