Pony Regulator

[Hoosier]

Hi all,



If you have to buy the regulator for the pony bottle, what regulator do you recommend and why? Unfortunately, I don’t have any spare or unused one. I can save one extra Octo (Aqualung Calypso with adjustable valve, 2nd stage only) after buying Air2 or Tusa Duo for my GF. Do you think it is ok to match up with pony 1st stage?
My diving environment is up to 40 F degree water temp.

Please let me know your insights.

Thanks in advance,

 

[DA Aquamaster]

How deep do you plan to go?

Opinions will vary and there are essentially two schools of thought on the matter:

1) Your backup second stage should be of equal quality to your primary as you will be the one using it and it will always be diving just as deep as you and your primary. (This theory on octos often gets generalized to pony regs)

or

2) A pony reg does not need to be as good as the primary reg as you will be using it for less time duinr emergencies only. Plus a pony first stage never has to support anything other than a second stage so less performance is needed than a primary first stage that may have to support 2 divers and a BC inflator at depth.

In my pony diving days my preference was to go with bullet proof reliability for the redundant system over any other consideration. In that regard it does not get any simpler or more failure resistant than a simple unbalanced "flow by" design first stage and a downstream poppet designed second stage.

My preference was a Scubapro Mk 3 with an adjustable 109 second stage. In terms of a current production reg, my choice would be a Mk 2 Plus with an R190 or R390 second stage. The unbalanced designs has a further advantage in that it gives you ample warning that the pony is getting low as breathing resistance will increase noticeably as tank pressure falls to about 500 psi. So you can stay at the safety stop and finish off most of the pony even without an SPG and not have to worry about suddenly having the tank go dry on you. It makes your "emergency" ascent as normal and safe as possible. The out of production Mk 3 Mk 200, Mk 2 and the current production Mk 2 Plus all deliver enough air for a diver at recreational depths.

The older Aqualung Calypso was also a flow by piston design and was an excellent choice for the bulletproof pony reg role. However Aqualung recently redesigned it to use a balanced inline piston. This has improved breathing performance but at the expense of more complexity and the exposure of the high pressure piston stem o-ring to high pressure air. You also lose the warning that your pony is almost empty. So an older Calypso would be great.

It is a bit unfortunate as Aqualung other wise offers a coupel packages that make a lot of sense for a diver starting with a pony. The Calypso O2 would make a great pony reg and would naturally fall into the deco reg role if you move into deeper technical diving. The Calypso based Aqualung Partner already comes with a 39 inch hose and 39-40 inch hse lenght is ideal for slinging a pony or deco reg.

Another new regulator option is the classic Conshelf 14. It is a balanced design but is also very bullet proof and offers good perfromance in a compact design. There are many of these around on the used market and e0bay and the same can be said for the Conshelf 12 which is just a 14 with 1 less LP port. These work great for pony regs and can be very good buys on the used market or e-bay. I bought one for $9.95 once including the second stage (which is also very durable and offers good performance.) Parts are still available for all the conshelf 11 thru 30 whatever first and second stages and I have never seen one that looked good on the outside that could not be saved and put in service after a good cleaing and service.

 

[jonnythan]

Well, don't buy a Sherwood because they constantly bleed air.. it may be a small amount but over several dives you'll notice your pony losing air.

By "up to 40F" do you mean you dive water colder or warmer than that? If warmer, almost anything will do fine.. if colder, you will need something that works for cold water.

 

[JustDiveIt]

Like anything, when you need it, you want it to work.. Remember, your pony is still a part of your life support system even though it's a back up. Personally I purchased a brand new reg. for my pony that had retailed for $350.00 but was purchased for $125.00 on a close out sale. Did I want to spend $350.00 for a pony reg.? Of course not, so I looked around for a good deal and found one at Leasure Pro. Didn't have to sacrifice quaility nor would I have when it came right down to it. I treat my pony reg. or any other reg I dive with as if it were my primary because I don't know when the time will come that I will depend on it as my primary. So, I recommend you purchase a quality regulator for your pony that will perform when you may need it the most. Just my thought on this issue.

 

[jonnythan]

BTW, if it were *me*, I'd head to www.scubastore.com and pick up an Apeks ATX40 for $265, since I know this particular regulator is inexpensive, bombproof, and as reliable in both cold and warm water as anything else out there.

 

[lundysd]

I chose the Atomic Z1 as my pony reg because it has a 2-year maintenance schedule and I already have another Atomic reg

Scott

 

[Lead_carrier]

If you are just looking at using the pony as a emergency bailout, pretty much what DA said. If you are going to be using it for deco with high O2, I'd tend to learn toward the Calyspo O2, TX40/DS4 NITROX, or a Scubapro MK25. Any can be used with high O2.

 

[matt_unique]

Well, don't buy a Sherwood because they constantly bleed air.. it may be a small amount but over several dives you'll notice your pony losing air.

By "up to 40F" do you mean you dive water colder or warmer than that? If warmer, almost anything will do fine.. if colder, you will need something that works for cold water.

The tiny volume of bled air is not a reason to dismiss Sherwoods for this purpose. They are extremely reliable and almost never freeze. I dive every weekend and one pony fill can last the summer with minimal pressure reduction.

--Matt

 

[jonnythan]

I dunno about that Matt.. turn the regulator on, leave it on all day, possibly overnight.. over the course of several dives in a weekend.. and I'm fairly sure it will be significant. It's something I wouldn't want to be thinking about.

 

[matt_unique]

I dunno about that Matt.. turn the regulator on, leave it on all day, possibly overnight.. over the course of several dives in a weekend.. and I'm fairly sure it will be significant. It's something I wouldn't want to be thinking about.

The reg is turned on for the dive, not for the day or for the weekend. I own this system and use it as I mentioned, the air loss is not significant.

--Matt