Pony SPG a necessity?

[dumpsterDiver]

I've read through all the posts so far and you've been given some good advice. How would you check your air on the pony before the dive? Hook up your regular reg to it, pressurize it, check it, depressurize it and then hook up the pony reg?

I would frankly think this would get old after a while. Spending the dollars for an actual SPG or a button gauge seems like good money for just making your life easier, not to mention safer.

Yes and every time you do that check with the primary reg and pressurize and de-pressurize the hoses you waste more air. If you are using a small pony loosing a 100 lbs here and a 100 lbs there could add up to a problem.

It is also good practice to have a tank equalizing whip at the dive site, if you are doing multiple dives and the pony should get low for some reason.

 

[OldNSalty]

I sling a 19 and use a button gauge. I would think the setup would be incomplete without some way to check the PSI at all times. Yes, I could just check it on the surface and not have a gauge but then if I need it-well, kinda hard for me to determine how long or even if I should do a safety stop if some stranger is breathing off my pony. It is a good idea to know how much air you have when you are in an environment where breathable air is rare.

 

[drdaddy]

I do have a button gauge on it, only because it makes it easy to check on the surface. But I don't understand why you think it's important to be able to check it underwater. If you plan on being able to share your pony under the water, you should have taken into account the gas consumption rate of you and your buddy on an emergency ascent.

Hello Carrie,

I agree with you, "if you don't have proper gas management once you are underwater it no longer matters if it has a gauge". I never plan on using my pony, and the only time I did use it (due to my foolishness/never to be repeated, "one more crab") - it was up to the surface! I also agree, "My pony isn't for anyone but me. It's attached to my primary tank in the back with the regulator bungeed around my neck. If I have a buddy out of air, that's what my octo is for." It is a consideration that a panicked OOA diver may grab my any of my regs from me.

I'll explain now why I use a full sized gauge. I'm 59 years old, and my eyesight used to be excellent, when I was young - not now, so I have a full sized gauge that may be easily read. I also found that I was a bit anxious, even about my pony air, when I was low on air in my "one more crab" foolishness. To be able to watch the air in a primary reg failure (or something else) even if coming up and possibly wanting to do a safety stop, is important to me to know where my air is. Also, especially since my pony is back mounted, I want to know that I haven't been unknowingly bleeding air out of my backup system. I found it easy to just add a longer hose on my pony's air gauge (which is attached parallel to the primary reg's hose) so that it can be read easily.

I also want to add, in my "one more crab" stupidity, I found that it can be difficult to orally add air to one's bcd in rough surface water - better to add some when down below - especially if one has a full load of crabs and has dumped out all the air to grab just one more!

Good gas management, stick to your plan (no matter how big that crab/lobster is), thinking through and practicing emergency plans, are all so important. I'm glad to be alive to share with all who will listen.

DrDaddy

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

For some (including myself), there is a difference in the gauge requirements based on pony size and intent. I need something, because you need to check it before every dive at a minimum.

- For a smaller pony (13cu and less), the typical intent it to bail out, that is make a direct ascent to the surface and at most make a short safety stop. No deep stops, no working things out. No real decisions to make, you either have enough air to ascend or do a partial cesa if you don't and suck the bottle dry. In this case a button gauge works because all you really need to do is check air before the dive.

- For a full sized pony (19cu+) you have enough gas for other options (time to work things out, deep stops, etc...). To use these options, you need to be able to monitor you gas in real time, thus a readable SPG which might need to be a full sized SPG on a hose depending on how you have your bottle rigged.

 

[carrielsal]

I also agree, "My pony isn't for anyone but me. It's attached to my primary tank in the back with the regulator bungeed around my neck. If I have a buddy out of air, that's what my octo is for." It is a consideration that a panicked OOA diver may grab my any of my regs from me.

Last summer during OOA drills with an OW class, I did have a student decide he really wanted to use the reg bungeed around my neck instead of using the octo I was trying to hand him. I didn't realize my bungee would stretch that far! Needless to say, we surfaced "up close and personal."

 

[ScubaMarc]

No one mentioned; while using a pony for any reason underwater it is good to know if you need to speed things up or you can take more time for safty on your way up if you knew how much gas you have. Can i slowy go up the line 5 feet per min or 20 feet per min? Can i make a safty stop?

 

[DandyDon]

No one mentioned; while using a pony for any reason underwater it is good to know if you need to speed things up or you can take more time for safty on your way up if you knew how much gas you have. Can i slowy go up the line 5 feet per min or 20 feet per min? Can i make a safty stop?

That's part of what I tried to say but good job.

 

[drbill]

I used to dive with a pony that had no SPG and later discovered the valve had a slow leak. Since I have only needed my pony twice, I found it out on a 200 ft dive. Fortunately I was just checking it and didn't have to use it. Never happened again.