Pony Bottle Setup Question

[d33ps1x]

My apologies for offending you. Some people ask silly questions to troll and waste people's time. I thought perhaps that was the case.

So here is an answer.

I think it was still a silly question that you didn't think all the way through before asking. You should have taken the time to step back and think through the possible scenarios before asking others to think on your behalf.

If you are having trouble understanding the flawed logic of losing the second reg on your backgas you have no business diving with a second bottle in the first place be it pony, stage or otherwise. You should wait a while and work on good buddy skills and air management. Those will save your a$$ far easier than fumbling with yet another air source.

I truly believe that pony bottles solve a problem that does not exist. Getting to that point took some time.

So in a roundabout and rude way I asked because I care.
Am I a bit mean?
Yes.

Do I feel bad about it?
No.

How do I know this?
Because I am able to sleep at night which is where I am off to now.

 

[danno]

Some good info. I am taking my solo diving class and am interested in sizes of bottles recomended or used by others. I was thinking about the 2 regs but I think 3 is the way to go.

 

[fldivenut]

But be aware of something you are about to run into.....it is in writing on the
TSA website that pony bottles can no longer be taken on airplanes in either
carryon....or....packed in baggage. They are suppose to be confiscated.

I have heard this from some people and a pilot. Although TSA is a joke, it was more consistency in the airport security checks before than now, so even if you get cleared at one place you can get into trouble at your return.

The work around is H-valves. Buy two H-valves and bring them with you. Have the local operator put them on two tanks that you rent for the duration of your stay.
The above mentioned pilot told me about this and said it works great. He lives in Canada and comes down here to dive regulary, like monthly.

The H-valve is a second valve on the main tank where you put your redundant regulator setup, i.e. 3rd reg.
The H-valve takes care of the real issue that a pony takes care of, namely catastrofic failure of your 1st or 2nd stage primary regulator at deeper depth. The pony also takes care of burst disc and tank neck O-ring failure but those are by many considered not to happen once your in the water. The reasoning being that those failurers would happen when the preassure in the tank is increasing or at its highest, which would be during the fill process and when the tank is in your trunk on the way to the boat (or sitting in the sun on the boat).

--A

 

[fldivenut]

I truly believe that pony bottles solve a problem that does not exist. Getting to that point took some time.

What problem would it be that doesn't exist? Just curious since I still think it does. Would love to be enlighted to be able to light up my load though.

--A

 

[matt_unique]

You should have two regs on your back gas and one reg on your pony. Your pony is a last resort to get you (just you) to the surface. If you had to share air with a buddy you would both breath off your back gas. 13CF is very small. I use a 13CF pony when diving singles from shore down to a max of 75'. I suggest a 30CF bottle for adv. recreational or entry level tech.

--Matt

 

[sharkmasterbc]

Depending on what type of dive I'm doing I may do it with a 30cuft "pony" bottle. When I first started using it I sidemounted it to my main tank with an xbraket...(I look back now at some pic's of me and think....what a freekin stroke !!!) It worked well and I did have my normal 7 foot and bungee as well as a 3rd reg from the pony. The reason I changed from having it strapped to my main tank was because if I needed to pass it to someone in need I could not unstrap it efficiantly and clip it off on them. Now I wear it like a deco bottle on the left side clipped to sholder and hip d ring. It makes it much easier to handle and with the clean DIR setup there are no extra hoses or things to get in the way. I plan to do deeper/deco diving one day and figured that I should start practicing sooner or later. This setup allowes me to practice main system shutdown (with a single tank) and gas switching as well. It did affect my trim a bit when it was mounted on my main tank but now everything is much better as it counters the canister on my right hip .
On wreck dives it can be clipped off at entry/exit point for added safety as well. When I teach deep diving I may also clip it off to the line @ 18 FT, or depending on the situation just leave it clipped to my rig for the duration of the dive.
I also figured a 30 cu ft tank would eventually be the perfect size (for me anyways) for my 02 deco bottle in the future.

As already stated you should definetly keep all 3 regs, as the pony is your last resort. Practice buddy skills and rely on him/her for redundancy. I also can't see how a 13cuft pony could get you to the surface from more than 60 ft without omitting a safety stop but anyways, if you manage gas/dive rule of 3rds and so does your buddy there should be no reason to ever touch the pony...unless of course you both have a main system blowout...then you would be buddy breathing of a 13cuft tank....scary thought.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I use a 19. A single reg on that. I've never had to use it so every so often I breathe that down first so I can get some "fresh" air into it. I now plan to use nitrox in the bottle.

 

[MechDiver]

What problem would it be that doesn't exist? Just curious since I still think it does. Would love to be enlighted to be able to light up my load though.

--A

Essentially that, if you **think** you need a pony bottle, you actually need doubles. If you don't **think** you need doubles, then you don't need a pony bottle either.

It comes down to risk management and gas management, is highly individualistic, and highly debated.

Having been through it, I agree with d33.

MD

 

[MechDiver]

I'm in the process of setting up a 19 cu. ft. pony bottle now, and everything so far indicates to me to have your normal setup on the main tank or duals, and a 3rd regulator on the pony bottle.

Was told that a 6 cu. ft. wouldn't be enough for adv. deep or intro to tech diving, 13 cu. ft. was the minimum.

I'm going with a 3rd regulator.

Dave the Diver

There would be no reason whatsoever to have a pony on duals (I assume you mean doubles), and in this instance, a 13 for any kind of deco bottle is way too small.

I think you need to reanalyze your needs. A pony mounted on backgas is not a good way to go BTW.

MD

 

[R_Deluca]

Essentially that, if you **think** you need a pony bottle, you actually need doubles. If you don't **think** you need doubles, then you don't need a pony bottle either.

It comes down to risk management and gas management, is highly individualistic, and highly debated.

Having been through it, I agree with d33.

MD

I would have to agree. If you are at the stage where you think you need a redundant air supply then you should be thinking doubles.