pony tank gauge config, not button type

[ScubaMarc]

I am looking for a new configuration for my pong tank spg. I currently have a button type gauge, but I can not see it on a dive. Normally on my last dive of the day I usually switch to my pony for the accent and safety stop. Being able to see what pressure I have on the accent would be helpful.

I had 2 options I can think of:
1. Tying up a spg on a hose with the pony reg, but I have a mares mr12 1st stage where the high pressure port and main reg port are on opposite sides, so this option leaves a wide loop behind my head, which is a concern for me.

2. Placing a small spg on a hose and connecting it next to my main tank spg. Not a bad option, but I would like my pony and stage kept separated and the 1st idea would tie the hose tighter together.

Any other config Ideas?


Thanks...

 

[wedivebc]

I am looking for a new configuration for my pong tank spg. I currently have a button type gauge, but I can not see it on a dive. Normally on my last dive of the day I usually switch to my pony for the accent and safety stop. Being able to see what pressure I have on the accent would be helpful.

I had 2 options I can think of:
1. Tying up a spg on a hose with the pony reg, but I have a mares mr12 1st stage where the high pressure port and main reg port are on opposite sides, so this option leaves a wide loop behind my head, which is a concern for me.

2. Placing a small spg on a hose and connecting it next to my main tank spg. Not a bad option, but I would like my pony and stage kept separated and the 1st idea would tie the hose tighter together.

Any other config Ideas?


Thanks...

If you sling the pony tank in front of you, you will be able to see the gauge and will have access to the pony tank in case let's say you forgot to turn it on when you splashed in.
Also you can pass it off to another diver in an OOA situation. Also the tank will ride closer to you body making a more streamlined profile Also if you get it caught on something you can remove it to untangle whatever it is caught on.
I am really beginning to hate seeing pony tanks attached to the side of main tanks. I just see too many potential problems.

 

[redacted]

I'm not familiar with the MR12 but what I read tells me it has 2 HP and 4 LP ports. Seems to me you should pick one from column H and one from column L, adjacent, and point them downward with a 6" HP hose and any LP hose that will work. Even if there is a preferred port for you primary, any of the other should still provide adequate, though not necessarily peak, breathing performance.

Even though it is a bail out bottle, I too like to be able to get good pressure readings during the dive. Old eyes and a half flooded button gauge were not doing it for me either.

 

[ScubaMarc]

sling

Did not mention, it is connected to a pony tamer on my back.

I am not debating, but the areodynics of having a sling versus back mount will be small.

Passing off the pony to my buddy is easy. Pull the pin, lift and it is theirs.

My buddy uses a sling and I have thought about it, but i prefer the backmount.

And even with a sling that little tiny button is hard to read and not acrurate since it measure in 1000s. I still need a new spg.

Thanks!!!

 

[redacted]

Did not mention, it is connected to a pony tamer on my back.

I started carring mine hard mounted on the left side of my main tank but opted for the sling. With it back mounted, I had a std SPG on a hose of a length that allowd me to velcro it right next to my primary SPG. The 2nd stage was on about a 26 inch hose that routed across the front of the main tank and bungeed around my neck.

Maybe it was hard mounted on my right side. In any event, it just ment somewhat different hose lengths to route to the same end points.

 

[loosebits]

I've never dove with a back-mounted pony (deco bottles are always slung) so I've always used the 6" hose bent around a tied back to the 2nd stage hose on the reg. If backmounting is your prefered method, I would ensure you pony SPG is clipped off in a completely different place than your backgas SPG. Perhaps have your pony SPG clipped off to a hip d-ring and your primary to a chest d-ring- again I have no experience here but it seems like a good idea, you don't want to accidently mistake the guages. Not sure how you have your second stages routed but be really careful that you don't accidently start the dive off your pony; I've read an accident report where a guy did that.

As you've noticed those button guages are only useful for reading the pressure on the surface. And I'm just curious, why are you doing your ascent/safety on your pony? Doing so completely changes your emergency procedures in the middle of a dive.

 

[PaulChristenson]

I am looking for a new configuration for my pong tank spg. I currently have a button type gauge, but I can not see it on a dive. Normally on my last dive of the day I usually switch to my pony for the accent and safety stop. Being able to see what pressure I have on the accent would be helpful.

I had 2 options I can think of:
1. Tying up a spg on a hose with the pony reg, but I have a mares mr12 1st stage where the high pressure port and main reg port are on opposite sides, so this option leaves a wide loop behind my head, which is a concern for me.

2. Placing a small spg on a hose and connecting it next to my main tank spg. Not a bad option, but I would like my pony and stage kept separated and the 1st idea would tie the hose tighter together.

Any other config Ideas?


Thanks...

Yes...a stand-alone pressure gauge...
Check before you go out...
AC365
Deluxe Fill Checker

http://www.xsscuba.com/fillers.html

 

[Lake Mead Tony]

Most of the time I sling my pony on a D ring on the right side of my BCD and have a SPG on my pony reg with a 26 inch hose. In dives past I have also attached it to the right side of my primary air source and sling both the 2nd stage and SPG under my right arm to a D ring. As said many times in this thread, button guages are very small and hard to read and at the time you are depending on that air supply, you are in no condition to fight with a too small SPG. Primary gear is only as good as your backup gear.

I don't see the reason for using your pony for the accent and safety stop, unless you are using NITROX and hoping for a faster offgas time!!

 

[redacted]

I don't see the reason for using your pony for the accent and safety stop, unless you are using NITROX and hoping for a faster offgas time!!

Practicing OOA ascents.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The philosophical issue is a large concern as it drives the decision making process. Most knowledgeable and experiecned divers will agree that if it is emergency gas, then you don't use it unless you have an emergency. Period. Some of us have learned that the hard way.

Using your pony for ascent and a safety stop at the end of the last dive will leave you at risk for an OOA emergency if you have a failure of the pony system and do not also have an adequate reserve in your primary tank. If you do that you are in effect sacrificing the redundnacy that a pony can provide. This in and of itself leaves you no worse off than a non pony carrying recreational diver except for the fact that, unlike a non pony carrying diver, you will make decisions differently and less conservatively as you "know" the pony is there. This works ok right up until you put yourself in a situation where you absolutley need the pony and discover it is empty, off (with the back mounted valve being unreachable) or equipped with a non functioning regulator.

If you want more gas on a dive while still maintaining redundancy throughout the entire dive, you need to get a bigger tank rather than use the pony to extend the dive time. Alternatively you could go with isolator manifolded doubles or independent doubles.

But if you want to do what you are doing (back mounted pony with an SPG as you plan to use the gas to extrend dive time) then use a regular lenght SPG hose routed where you can see it. (But be aware than SPG needles can stick.) What you will then have is the precursor of an indpendent doubles system with all the components needed except the second larger tank and a set of travel bands. And when you eventually do the math regarding the gas available, the weight differences, bouyancy differences and the redundancy allowed by each system, you'll figure out that for approvimatly 10 lbs more weight, you can greatly expand dive time while increasing your redundancy. Then you can sell the pony bottle to buy the travel bands.

Personally, with independend doubles, I route the SPG for the "other" tank over the right shoulder and clip it to a D-ring. It's streamlined and readily accessible.