Rec Diving a Pony

[jeffsky29]

I starting diving with a back mounted pony, with regulator under my chin, many moons ago when I was diving in near zero viz off the coast of Long Island and NJ. I just felt safer with the pony, knowing I would not have to look for my buddy in near zero viz, in the event I had a first stage failure. I guess I was diving kind of solo, before the solo certification was created. I always maintained the octopus because in the event I ever gave an OOA buddy my octopus or he took my primary, I figured I would switch to my pony for the ascent and safety stop air allowing. In the event I sucked my pony dry, I still would have the second regulator to use, a good reason to not get rid of the octopus when diving with a pony. I moved to Florida 2 years ago and I continue to dive this configuration, of course minus the 7mm farmer john 2 piece wet suit and hood. I do miss the main lobsters, but I don’t miss the 7mm! But even with a buddy, I prefer to have the redundant pony system on my back, in the event my buddy needs to share my primary tank, or in the event my gear fails. I now have a second shearwater transmitter on my pony, so I always know the air status. And for the record, I still have a SPG on my main tank, in case my first transmitter fails. I guess I like redundancy. Having that fully redundant pony regulator under my chin, just feels right. And for the record, I have never needed the pony - But, if I ever do, it will be there!

 

[tbone1004]

@jeffsky29 that is not a good reason to keep your secondary. If you run the risk of sucking your pony dry then you didn't bring an adequately sized bottle, but more importantly if you suck it dry, the odds of having any gas left in the big bottle with your buddy breathing off of it are pretty slim. Bring a bigger pony, or plan your dive better.
Redundant SPG's are also pointless.

If you backmount your pony, just dive a set of doubles. 2 tanks instead of 3, don't have to swap stuff back and forth, bigger gas reserves, etc.

 

[Angelo Farina]

I did use the pony a lot when young, diving deep and long with deco.
The pony was not meant to be used for deco, indeed: my main back-mounted twin set was planned to be plenty enough.
I did always use three complete independent regs. Two on the twins, one in each post, and the third one on the 4 liters pony.
However, the latter did not have an SPG. As said, the pony was just for emergency, it was not planned to be used for the dive plan...
I do not see the point having a twin tank with just one reg, so having two on the main tank was the only way to go. And of course a third one was required by the pony.
Now I do not use anymore the twin set. But my regs are the same (old MK5+109), I did not change anything, as my single cylinder also has two posts, so I use two independent regs on it. And the pony is mostly left on the boat as a service kit, with his own reg. Sometimes used by my sons, most times not hanged to my harness. A 15-liters single with two fully independent regs is usually "redundant enough" for the small depth to which I am limiting now...
But in the rare case I keep it with me while diving, then I will again have three complete regs. I would feel unsafe without them...

 

[HKGuns]

Good discussions, I'm glad I asked the question. Lots for me to think about.

 

[BrackaFish]

I use a pony. 2 first stages n 2 second stages for me.

The fundamental flaw in scuba diving is the octopus. Putting your alternate air source on someone else is a defective solution for an OOA situation.

When I first started diving, the OOA situation was solved by buddy breathing. This worked as long as everyone was reasonable. But sometimes they were not and so using an octopus or “safe second” or whatever you want to call it was a better solution. I do agree with you that it is not the “Best” solution, what that would be I am not sure. For me it would be that everyone carries a small pony. However that would involve additional cost and training and I am not sure entry level divers or agencies would like that. Still the sport evolves and that is usually a good thing.

 

[Eyegore]

It'd be of great value to see pics of divers' pony-rigs, mounted/slung and all.

 

[jeffsky29]

@jeffsky29 that is not a good reason to keep your secondary. If you run the risk of sucking your pony dry then you didn't bring an adequately sized bottle, but more importantly if you suck it dry, the odds of having any gas left in the big bottle with your buddy breathing off of it are pretty slim. Bring a bigger pony, or plan your dive better.
Redundant SPG's are also pointless.

If you backmount your pony, just dive a set of doubles. 2 tanks instead of 3, don't have to swap stuff back and forth, bigger gas reserves, etc.

My lower back has enough trouble supporting a steel 100 and aluminum 30 pony. With respect to the octopus, it does not bother me and if someone runs ooa, it is all theirs if they go for it, or my primary. When I was certified, the octopus was for my buddy. I now understand some agencies are training to give or the OOA diver takes the primary. Either way I don’t care as long that pony regulator is under my chin and we are both breathing on the way up .

 

[tbone1004]

My lower back has enough trouble supporting a steel 100 and aluminum 30 pony. With respect to the octopus, it does not bother me and if someone runs ooa, it is all theirs if they go for it, or my primary. When I was certified, the octopus was for my buddy. I now understand some agencies are training to give or the OOA diver takes the primary. Either way I don’t care as long that pony regulator is under my chin and we are both breathing on the way up .

The only agency that teaches to "take" anything is BSAC and it is secondary take. Important to note, they don't allow long hose to be primary.
All other agencies are OK with primary donate, though largely because the use of air mcdoodles necessitates it vs. actually teaching a long hose configuration, but the only agency to my knowledge the strictly prohibits the donation of the primary is BSAC and they are also the only agency that teaches the OOA diver to "take" anything.

Double 100's are only about 25lbs heavier than your current setup...

 

[jeffsky29]

It'd be of great value to see pics of divers' pony-rigs, mounted/slung and all.

My gear is on my boat, but I will try to take a pic of my setup this week. I think the Pony mount brand is Trident. It is so simple - A pin holds it in place. If my buddy needed the pony bottle, all they have to do is pull a stainless steel pin and take the tank. So switching tanks on multi tank dives is simple. I only take a few breaths off the pony to ensure it is working and practice using during some dives, so it has been many months since I had to fill it.

I understand some folks don’t see the need for a pony when diving with a single tank and buddy, and I understand how they feel. But when I am at 100’ and all of a sudden I try to inhale and get no air from my regulator, I’d rather just put the pony regulator in my mouth and breath, rather than swim very quickly to my buddy and grab his octopus or primary. My way I let my buddy know I have a problem and we surface together. If solo, I just do a normal ascent and safety stop. I would also try to switch back to my octopus, to see if I have a 2nd or 1st stage issue.

 

[smb1]

Can I ditch the OCTO, use the pony as the safe second and streamline my REC setup a bit?

Yes, but. If you do that you will always need to strap on the pony and there are times it might not be worth the hassle. At which point what are you going to do, take the extra second stage and hose that you must always carry in your gearbag and swap it with the port plug on the first stage?

Better off with a BCD mounted octo regulator such as an Air2 or as I have, an AirSource. So you're still streamlined, you've got not 2 but 3 second stages and you can leave the pony on the boat or at home if it's not needed for the trip.