Pony Bottles

[TheBigPhillyFish]

Being new to diving, and inexperienced. I really don't have fear of the water nor any fear of marine life. I do have fear of running out of air, which I guess is only natural. Its a good thing, because it keeps me on my toes checking my gauges all the time.

My question is, I was wondering being a new diver and all, is getting a small pony bottle and redundent regulator something I should really look into, or is that something I shouldn't worry about right now, and wait till I get some more dives under my belt?

Any ideas on tank size, mounting, etc?

 

[spectrum]

If you own your own regulator set and dive with buddies that are attempting to practice good buddy skills you have the redundancy you need for the dives appropriate to your dive count. (0-24)

That being said if loss of air is a true concern there is certainly no harm in carrying a pony. Off the cuff a 19CF might be a nice size but you really need to consider the fdves you will want to be making and conceivably recovering from. Here is an old post that will give you a sense of what determining size looks like.

Aside from products there are 2 basic formats of mounting.
1. A sling that clips off to shoulder and hip D rings. This is a grab and go item for irregular use and you can hand it off to a distressed buddy. You have full visibility to the regulator, valve and gauge. It actually hangs in a manner than makes it a minimal obstruction.

2. Various cylinder based mounting. This puts it out back out of sight and totally out of the way. An inverted mount allows easy working of the valve. In some cases a bracket per primary cylinder is desirable and that can get out of hand. In general this does not lend itself to handing the pony off to a buddy. A 19CF with regulator represents about 4 pounds negative and will raise your center of gravity when carried up back.

Based on what you say it might be good to hold off for a bit. Before long with regular diving you will get accustomed to your usage rate and be less preoccupied with your pressure gauge.

Pete

 

[mark99]

I'm not a big fan of buddy diving in the recreational setting- I'm more a fan of self-sufficiency. A pony bottle of appropriate size will help you achieve that. And if you do subscribe to the buddy-can-help-you philosophy, a pony will just give you another layer of back-up. When I was a less experienced diver I looked into cylinder mounted solutions, and now I am glad I did not go down that route. Most of them (that I see in use) tend to be smaller than I would think is adequate in an emergency situation, and not as easy to deploy. I personally would go for the slung pony of at least 19cf (that should be enough to make an ascent from 100 fsw with appropriate stop(s)).

If you do get a redundant air supply, you should think about two other things. First, get some training in proper use, and then practice deployment of the hose and switching regulators. And last and most important, please don't think about this as a back-up in case you run out of air (unless of course you get tangled up or something unanticipated). It's not a crutch for poor planning or poor gas management. Rather it's a back-up in case of a major equipment failure- free flow, blown O-ring etc.

 

[salth2owannabe]

I'm a fairly new diver as well and wanted a pony for redundancy. I'm not really worried about running out of air, but more for an equipment failure. I have a 6 cu. ft. and a 13 cu. ft that I can mount with quick clips on the front of my bc. Easy on and off, small size for travel, etc. I new that I wanted a redundant system from the start so I just figured it into the equipment purchase process. You will see numerous suggestions on pony size, just use what is appropriate for the depth and practice with it from depth to see for yourself what works for you.