Pony bottle question

[Jim Lapenta]

Make a reg holder out of shock cord or surgical tubing and fasten it to the hose near the first stage and put the mouthpiece through that. While the bungee seems to work those metal hooks on it are scary looking. I set my stage regs up like this and it works well. Keeps the second secure and easy to deploy as well as re-stow it.

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[Bearded_fire_worm]

Thanks for showing a different method. Right now i just took a pair of pliers and bent the hooks closed so the ends can't catch or poke something and won't become unclipped and fall off until i can implement something better as you have.

Thanks for the all the ideas and replies, i think i will charge the hoses then turn off the valve, i don't think a free flow should happen with the unbalanced R190 with the valve open but i definitely wouldn't want one to happen and dump most of the air in it.

 

[tbone1004]

I prefer this attachment, when Brett showed it to me a while ago it was a game changer, and I'm glad he published videos on how to do it so we can share. Not sure how to embed facebook videos, but these are public and you don't need an account to view

[video]https://www.facebook.com/brett.hemphill.5/videos/10204662913152333/[/video]

[video]https://www.facebook.com/brett.hemphill.5/videos/10204662937192934/[/video]

 

[rhwestfall]

as much as folks hate them, I have found a "scum ball" as a nice holder for the octo on the pony as all the load is really taken by the tank straps (and I have heavy 109/156 seconds on my ponies). As a plus, it practically eliminates free-flows, keeps the reg a lot more free from crud, and is easy to deploy and re-store... again, YMMV

 

[Patoux01]

Should I dive a pony, here's how I'd do it:
- one long-ish hose on the main reg
- pony reg necklaced. Pony is to be open at all time, with no such thing as an inline shutoff and other fancy gadgets.
- no octopus

Reasons for this:
- At the level of diving that (imo) requires a pony bottle, there's never a problem to ascend, a pony will always be enough to get out. So if I give the main reg to someone, my backup is at a known place and not somewhere far away, tied nicely on the 1st stage for instance.
- If ANYTHING goes wrong, I'm out. Don't hope we'll stay down there once your reg started freeflowing and/or you needed my air "just for a second".

I really dont see any reason for both an octopus and a pony.

Edit: Ah, I see you want to close the valve now. How much time do you think it'd take you to realise that it's not working, when you're in some kind of ****ty situation?

 

[OldNSalty]

When I dive solo I usually have a pony with me and it is charged with the valve shut off. As to how much time it would take me to realize it wasn't working - notta, cause I practice the switch over and the only time I thought i was going to have to need it the practice paid off.

 

[BFRedrocks]

Edit: Ah, I see you want to close the valve now. How much time do you think it'd take you to realise that it's not working, when you're in some kind of ****ty situation?

This is exactly why I open the pony valve as soon as I hit the water and keep it open. No reason to have to add yet another task (opening the valve) to an already loaded situation (OOA). Plus, it's slung essentially in front of you, so any leak can be seen and addressed.

 

[DJ457]

I turn mine on, test the reg, and leave it on.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I'd leave it as is, no reason to change the regulators unless you want to. Personally I would leave it open, but if you are concerned, the better solution would be to put an OPV on the first stage and an inline shutoff at the second stage. That way you can keep the valve on and not have to touch the first stage, but still have it shut off so it doesn't freeflow.

so you want to add two additional failure points to the rig.. What benefits are derived from that? If the reg is left on and it begins to freeflow (when worn as a stage) it should be pretty obvious and can be managed by shutting the valve off.

Also i can see a lot of potential confusion with an inline shut off valve. What if the diver charges his reg, trurns the tank valve off and then has the inline valve open.. and the air leaks out and he tries to use the reg? He is going to flip the inline switch and get nothing...

Then he is going to flip the switch back and try again to suck.. now the in-line is off.
Then he is going to think oh crap, i must have forgot to turn on my pony bottle, so he open the tank valve and tries to suck... again NOTHING - (because the inline is off).. Now he's confused.. and air starved..

So he thinks oh maybe I turned the tank valve the wrong way, so he shuts the tank off....

The whole scenario is way too confusing...

Leave the pony bottle on or off, but you don't need an in-line valve .. not that I can see.

 

[Got2Go]

Also i can see a lot of potential confusion with an inline shut off valve. What if the diver charges his reg, trurns the tank valve off and then has the inline valve open.. and the air leaks out and he tries to use the reg? He is going to flip the inline switch and get nothing...

Then he is going to flip the switch back and try again to suck.. now the in-line is off.
Then he is going to think oh crap, i must have forgot to turn on my pony bottle, so he open the tank valve and tries to suck... again NOTHING - (because the inline is off).. Now he's confused.. and air starved..

So he thinks oh maybe I turned the tank valve the wrong way, so he shuts the tank off....

The whole scenario is way too confusing...

I got confused just following along with that description!

So yea, I agree...KISS.