pony up...

[JacobsonC2]

okay so i have done alot of searches on this topic and found alot of responses. so, i am sure some of ya are going to get upset that i started another thread. but, here goes anyways...

i dive cold water only with no chance a a warm salt water getaway any time soon. i dive dry with a bp & wing, apeks regs, al80, and air for now (no deco or mixed gases) most of my diving is done in the great lakes and inland quarrys/lakes. i think i provided most of the important info. so, heres my question. most of the people i dive with, dive with al 30 pony bottles for redundancy on single tank dives which is what i do. no doubles for me, probly not for awhile. i am thinking of getting a pony. the reg that i would put on it is a aqua titan tx that is enviormentaly sealed. do i need a pressure gauge? were does the reg get cliped of to my bp&w? or does it get stuffed? ideas and opinions?

the main reason why i am thinking of this is because i would really want to go out on winter charters on lake michigan and a redundant air source (ie pony bottles, doubles) is required. not to mention a good idea for winter diving on the great lakes.

 

[wmspdi]

I use a pony bottle sometimes (19 or 30 ft3 depending on needs) and I do have a mini SPG on it, with a standard length HP hose. My pony bottle is on my right side, and the pony reg and spg run down my back, along my side and clip to my BCD near my belt line near my right hand. I tried having the pony reg on a necklace DIR style, below my chin, but it didn't work for me. In my case the tubing around my neck gets in the way if I have to quickly shed my BCD in the water during a rescue situation. In the rescue drills I almost hung my self with it. Not every setup works for everyone and my needs are a little different. The necklace setup may work for you. With the pony on a necklace, during an OOA (or in your case a freeze up), you only have to drop your chin to pick up your pony reg. The spg is handy to let you know how much air is available for a saftey stop, and as a check that you turned the stupid thing on during the dive. BTW- I wouldn't go any smaller than a 30 ft3 in your situation. Just MHO... Good luck.

 

[strider]

I agree with wmspdi and would like to let you know some of the things I've tried with a pony.
I have mounted it against my main tank, along the side of my backplate with some small quicklinks and hardware and I have slung the bottle. I have always used a 30cuft, but I do dive pretty deep and wanted to have plenty of gas to ascend and a 20 min deco. I will probably buy myself a 19 cuft to mount next to my tank for shallower dives and with students because the 30 really pulls you around the whole time, no matter what, adjust weight or tank weights, I could always feel it and it was annoying.
Mounting it along the backplate was allright, makes changing the main tank easy, but I plan to put argon on one side and a canister on the other, so I don't want to get too used to the pony on my backplate that way and it's a little large to have so close to your arm.
I don't notice it pulling me around nearly as much when I sling it though and it's very easy to unclip and hand to someone else if I needed to.
WIth the reg I have had problems bungying it around my neck, but I was mounting it low so I could use a longer hose. A friend of mine mounts his pony higher, so that the hose comes over his shoulder and he bungies it and it works very well, but the hose is just a standard reg hose.
I have used no pressure gauge, just check it at the beginning with your main. A button pressure gauge, which you check at the beginning and a regular single console gauge on a 6 in hose and on a longer hose clipped in front of me.
When I used the pony just for emergencies the button gauge was the best, nothing was dangling and it was very quick to check. The 6 in hose on a gauge was nice when I was using a pony for deco and the longer hose was only because I was diving ind. doubles sometimes and thats how I had the regs set up, with a pony it's fine, but can get in the way.
Good luck, almost any choice you make will have benefits and consequences, as long as you use sound reasoning you should be ok.

 

[PonyBottle]

I pony a 40 'sling load'...that is I clip it off to the left of me like a stage bottle.

I have a mini SPG with a 6 inch hose that is tie strapped to the first, with a second stage bungied on the 40.

 

[Boogie711]

I take a pony bottle with me on every dive, and it always has an SPG on it. The pony is usually at LEAST an AL80, but sometimes can be as big as a pair of doubled 104's. The SPG is clipped off to my dive buddies left D-Ring, most of the time.

 

[LUBOLD8431]

Ok, this my advice, there are many others like it, but this one is mine. Forget the pony bottle idea. There is something that is much better available. Spare Air X 2. Thats right, two spare airs. One on each side of you. Quick release, easy access, less cumbersome than a big bulky pony bottle. I started using this system and I cant believe what it has done for my trim, and my confidence underwater.

Oh ya, forgot to add: This has been a horse that has beaten to death and much beyond in many recent threads. Search, Read, Learn...

 

[Bob3]

.... Spare Air X 2. Thats right, two spare airs. One on each side of you ...

Are those the trimix models?

 

[JacobsonC2]

Are those the trimix models?

thankx for some of the good advice. my favorit was the spare air idea. i was thinking about up grading to that later on and yest that trimix model is definatly what i was looking at. maybe i could just put a few on a necklace.

 

[tech.diver9]

First of all if people are getting upset with you for doing research then they are wrong for that. Your life could depend on the results and conclusions you make from your research and for other people (Maybe the people who are getting upset) lack of research!!!
I want to give you some back ground on my experience, I like you only dive cold water (as many as one hundred dives a year). I hold multiple technical dive certifications as well as equipment technician certifications.
As for the first question yes you will need a gage for the pony (you will want to check the pressure of the tank before every dive) You never know when you could have a leaky o-ring draining your cylinder not to mention the multitude of other problems that could arise, second you do not want to attach the gage to you in any way…. Attach the gage to the pony (use a custom hose so the gage will not dangle) as well as the second stage. The best way of attaching the second stage and gage to the tank is by using a bike inter tube (cut the inter tube just larger than the diameter of the pony then stretch the inter tube around the pony and use tie wraps to secure the inter tube making a band around the pony that has tabs to pull when you need to free your second stage. Now for the next part you will need light nylon rope, two clips, a hose clamp large enough to fit around the pony and a length of hose. Make a loop in the center of the cord to fit around the valve then tie in a clip, place the cord through a peace a hose to make a handle, tie in the second clip then make a knot in the cord and place the hose clamp above the knot so you can place pressure on the knot with the clamp to make the handle taunt. (the handle will only be for in water use) If every thing is positioned correctly you will be able to clip the pony to a shoulder d-ring and a waste d-ring, this way you can ditch the pony if it becomes dangerous.
Not to step on toes but spare air does not have adequate volume. If you need to go for a alternate air source you are going to be stressed increasing your respirations and you are diving in winter water or at least cold water also increasing you berating rate when you couple that with a dive of any depth (do not forget that you breath twice the volume every ATM) the average spare air unit will run out on you with in a matter of breaths!!!
To further support what I am telling you I would like you to do a search on cave diving. You will find the set up that I have described to you being used for decompression cylinders (usually Al 80’s) I have two 80’s as well as a 30 setup as I have described to you. If you need any advice or pictures of the setup that I describe please send me a e-mail. I want you and all the divers out there to be safe!!!

 

[leigh]

Out of curiousity, and not to threadjack, but wouldn't most people who do cold diving below 60' say having a pony of some sort is a good idea (even if you have a good buddy)? I've been doing searches on it and there are all sorts of posts from people saying 'you never need a pony if you have good buddy skills and aren't an idiot'. Do they all live in areas where freeflowing and reg freezing don't happen? (Heck, even one of our instructors had a freeflow during the deep dive of our AOW class--water was 46degrees. Between all the instructors and divemasters though there were like 5 pony bottles...not much to worry about...). Surely, and I'll grant it's unlikely, but there is a non-zero possibility that both you and your buddy could freeflow and/or freeze?