Pony Bottles

[lamont]

Assuming it's slung (I don't like it in back because I can't reach it, work the valve, see the gauge, hand it off, etc.). What's the problem?

Terry

you're still misreading what i wrote. most people who use ponys don't appreciate that their first stage may be leaking, they may not be able to reach their valve, they don't know the pressure, they don't know if their reg is free-flowing, they may not be able to reach their reg, etc, etc. if you're diving a pony slung like a stage or deco bottle and know how to use it, then you're probably past all that. most people who have that all figured out are diving doubles instead, though. that's all that i was saying.

 

[matt_unique]

you're still misreading what i wrote. most people who use ponys don't appreciate that their first stage may be leaking, they may not be able to reach their valve, they don't know the pressure, they don't know if their reg is free-flowing, they may not be able to reach their reg, etc, etc. if you're diving a pony slung like a stage or deco bottle and know how to use it, then you're probably past all that. most people who have that all figured out are diving doubles instead, though. that's all that i was saying.

I think what Lamont is trying to say is "among the pony divers I have seen..." rather than the all inclusive "most" reference.

--Matt

 

[PhinDiver]

I pretty much understand all the problems that happen in most regulator configurations and I dive with a pony as a redudant air source. Since I am purely a recreational diver, I don't need/want the extra weight/cost.

 

[lamont]

I think what Lamont is trying to say is "among the pony divers I have seen..." rather than the all inclusive "most" reference.

--Matt

No, I honestly think if you took a survey it would turn out "most".

Contratulations, you guys are the edge case.

 

[Daryl Morse]

How many of you use a pony bottle?

I occasionally dive with a 40 cf sling bottle (clipped to the left side D-rings of my bp harness), which is equipped with a DS4/ATX40. (Same as my backgas.) This configuration is used in ANDI Level 2 courses (safeair and wreck). Sometimes I have air in it, sometimes I have nitrox in it. When I dive with a buddy who's using doubles, I often use some of the gas in the sling bottle to extend my dive.

 

[Rick Inman]

In my case it was a 30 cuft Luxfer with MK2/R390... I had configured my weight belt with +5 pounds on my left side [compared to right].. Still very unstable.

Sling was much easier.. IMO

BTW, the Luxfer 30cf is only 1# negitive full, so 5# could be real overkill, FWIW.

 

[deadend]

BTW, the Luxfer 30cf is only 1# negitive full, so 5# could be real overkill, FWIW.

The reg. adds more weight though and on back mounted ponys require more weight to balance out. For my type of diving a slung pony is far more hazardous than a back mounted tank.

 

[tlawler]

I use one and if I didn't, I'd use a spare air. The fact is, I picked up a 13 ft Luxfer several years ago really cheap and already had an unused reg setup, so it was just a cheaper way of obtaining an alternate (and independant) air source. At first I did'nt like it because it banged around and got in my way, but over the years I've devised different methods for different types of dives that keep it at the ready and out of my way. I'm pretty anal about the possibility of running out of air; I use an alternate air power inflater in addition to a standard octopus. I think the reason for this was because of an incident that happened on my third dive after getting my OW cert. I was young and dumb and pushing things to the limit too soon after my buddy and I got our OW. I had actually been diving for years with my Dad and felt pretty comfortable, but my buddy wasn't a real good swimmer and it was actually his 7th dive (4 for cert and 3rd after). We went right down to 120ft and I should have noticed going down that my buddy seemed to be having trouble with his reg. (we were lowly enlisted Navy guys who bought cheap used equipment so we still had liberty money). Anyway he took his last squeaky breath about the time we hit bottom and the first thing I saw that alerted me was when he pulled his reg out of his mouth and appeared to be franticly pushing the purge. Luckily we were only about 10 ft. apart, vis was good and light was good (even for 120fsw). He looked at me and just shrugged like it was no big deal so I swam over to him and gave him my reg after taking a good breath. We ended up doing a textbook ascent while buddy breathing the old fashioned way. There was no panic (thank God) and we even dove later on in the day after a quick trip to a LDS for a rental reg. He started having reg problems about 40ft with each breath getting increasingly difficult. He was still getting full breaths, but just really working for them until we bottomed out and his reg just locked up. He had a pretty good breath and knew I was right there and we had just done the buddy breathing thing in a pool the previous weekend, so I attribute that to his not panicing.
He said he didn't alert me or abort the dive because he thought it was just a transient issue that would clear up and he didn't want to disappoint me or the other divers with us and cut the dive short.

Needless to say, in the intervening 24 years since that incident, I've learned a lot (mostly restraint and my limitations) and that redundancy is indeed a good thing. To us back then, an octopus was something you pulled out of it's hole and put in front of a moray eel to sit back and watch the fun and BC's were called stab jackets and we couldn't afford them anyway. By the way, his reg was a third hand us divers calypso that he had bought from an officer that was on the same ship as us and hadn't bothered getting it checked out prior to use.

That's why I use a pony. I might still get a spare air when I can afford one but I won't give up my pony even then.

 

[mnj1233]

Always mount a 19cf. at least. Sometimes sling a 40. Never used either because I needed to but will always strive for redundancy.

 

[jwvanno]

Wish I had one yesterday!!!

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=112552