pony tamer or x-bracket

[rkru]

I'm looking for a way to mount a 13cf pony. I've narrowed it down to these two. My question is can the pony tamer be used with the valve down, or does it have to be valve up?
Any comments?

 

[Blackfish]

I don't know about the pony tamer, but why would you want a bracket that mounts onto your tank---you'll have to switch it every time you switch your bottle. The x-bracket or the quick draw brackets mount on your BC strap, so you'd avoid a lot of messing around. If you are diving doubles, then the pony tamer works....

 

[diveborg]

The pony tamer would not be my choice. What will you do with rented tanks? Are you going to mount/unmount the tank part?

I do know a dive shop owner that uses the pony tamer, but he uses his own personal tanks that have the tank part mounted on both of them.

As for the x-bracket, I sure wouldn't want to have to un-thread my tank strap every time I changed tanks. What a PITA.

If you are going to mount the pony tank instead of sling it like so many people seem to recommend, the Quick Draw bracket as mentioned above is a superior product.

 

[RICHinNC]

I agree on why make it difficult to switch. Look at www.sea-lutions.com/ponease for a mount that is attached to the bottle and then attached to the cam straps of your bcd.

Of course....soon there will be many saying you should sling it, but its a matter of preference and purpose.
rich

 

[dbg40]

I love the tamer, but then if im in a situation whrere I would use a pony, im diving my own steels.

 

[Dive-aholic]

I'd rather sling a pony, but a 13cf is a little small for that. I've got a couple of 13cf back east that get mounted to the tank if needed. For under $15 on LP, you can get a cam strap/buckle and use it to mount the x bracket, so no threading every time you change tanks. It's an inexpensive way to mount until you get a bigger pony you can sling.

 

[james croft]

I have used both. Had a problem with a pony tamer during a training dive and needed to detach my pony underwater. Had the tank in a bind and could not get the pin out to remove it. Good luck cutting it loose as it is metal to metal connections. I find slinging tanks the only way to go for the diving I do now. Avoid any metal to metal connections unless you plan on carrying bolt cutters with you when diving.

 

[ronrosa]

I'd rather sling a pony, but a 13cf is a little small for that. I've got a couple of 13cf back east that get mounted to the tank if needed. For under $15 on LP, you can get a cam strap/buckle and use it to mount the x bracket, so no threading every time you change tanks. It's an inexpensive way to mount until you get a bigger pony you can sling.

I sling a 13cf. Works great.

Picture of slung pony

For reference, I'm a small guy. 5'6" 150 pounds, that's a steel 120 on my back

 

[Dive-aholic]

I sling a 13cf. Works great.

Picture of slung pony

For reference, I'm a small guy. 5'6" 150 pounds, that's a steel 120 on my back

Looks good. I'm 6' and a 13cf isn't quite long enough for where I keep my D rings.

 

[Tom Winters]

I've looked at all of the pony bottle harnesses out there, and there is some darn fine engineering on some of them. Beautiful machining, well thought out designs. I'd still rig a pony deco-style though. I don't want all that fancy machine work behind me - easier to clear a slung bottle any day of the week, plus swapping tanks is easy. Those 13 cube bottles are a little small in a real bail-out situation unless you are really good on air. I'd lean towards a 19 as the smallest to consider, and the 30 is pretty nicely sized if you're 6' or over.
For resale later on, you can't beat a 40 since it's a standard-sized deco bottle.