Pony Bottle Regulator

[leigh]

Hey all,

Just wondering if people have opinions (what am I saying, I'm sure you have opinions!) on whether you should have the same brand or different brand regs on your primary and octo versus your pony bottle. I have a Sherwood Oasis now that I intend to put onto my pony, but am debating getting the Sherwood Blizzard to turn into my new primary (I like the Sherwoods and dive cold water a fair amount) versus something of the different brand. And yes, I know Sherwood doesn't make the most high performance reg in the world, but I rather like the Oasis and it treated me just fine in 45 deg water at 130 feet when the fancy schmancy expensive things belonging to the people around me started freeflowing .

-leigh

 

[MechDiver]

when the fancy schmancy expensive things belonging to the people around me started freeflowing .

-leigh

Thats because a 450HP Corvette will need tuning before a Dodge Neon.

As long as the regulator works, use it. And, just for kicks, I did a search on "pony bottle regulator" and got 7 pages of posts. You might want to look those over as well.

 

[leigh]

MechDiver, thanks, I did that very search and those 7 pages were almost exclusively debates on to pony bottle, or not to pony bottle, to spair air, or not to spair air, yadda yadda. Didn't turn up the answer to the specific question of "Should one use a different brand regulator on a pony bottle than on their primary rig"

(And personally I'd rather drive the neon if I know it'll consistently get me to work without any problems.)

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Any type of regulator will be good for a pony bottle. Just don't get a crappy one, because remember, when you are going to be using the pony bottle is when you are in an OOA situation and under quite a bit of stress.

 

[leigh]

Thanks Dr. K...I guess I should be clearer, what I'm really wondering is if there is a benefit to having regs of different brands under the theory that their weaknesses are different and are thus less likely to both fail under identical conditions?

 

[MechDiver]

Thanks Dr. K...I guess I should be clearer, what I'm really wondering is if there is a benefit to having regs of different brands under the theory that their weaknesses are different and are thus less likely to both fail under identical conditions?

No. Actually the opposite would be true, in that you have one place to have them serviced, one type of spare parts, etc.

Sorry on the search. I know we've discussed this exact question before and that's why I suggested it.

MD

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I don't think it would really make a difference. Today's regulators (the good ones, anyway) aren't going to be failing that easily. If you're really worried about it, get one like the serious techies use which can be stripped, cleaned, and rebuilt while diving. But you really don't have to worry about it.

 

[rescuediver009]

Leigh,
According to your theory about different makes of regs failing under different conditions, if your oasis is serving you well (and so it should, sherwood makes a good reg) then I would stick with it as another brand of reg may fail under the conditions that you are diving. hypothically speaking of course...

Keep your oasis, and go for the blizzard as your primary. Most people by a new primary reg and bump their old one down to pony ranks rather than buying a pony reg. The only flaw I find with people that I have seen diving with a sherwood as their stage/pony reg is that the first stage is not relatively low profile. I don't know if you have thought of this or if it poses a problem to you.

Some solutions are a DIN reg instead of yoke (this can be done to a sherwood) or a smaller desing of first stage. If you at all consider a new reg to put as a pony reg, I would recommend the OMS deco regs, they are small low profile, perform fairly well and they are dirt cheap. My LDS sells them for $200 Canadian ! Yes that is first and second stage.

Of course as mentioned there is the concern of servicability, and going with the new blizzard route is the best option as far as that goes. If you dive alot of cold water, get a blizzard and bump down the oasis.