redundancy or failure point?????

[Zodiacdiverdave]

When I go diving I wear 2 ponys, 6 second stages, 12 knives, 4 masks and carry an extra pair of fins.................................NOT, loose the crap man.:thumbdown:
ZDD

 

[Steve_C]

I like having one configuration. When I dive there is always the chance of meeting some one else. I am usually diving from a boat. Open water ascents are to be avoided if possible. My pony is a slung 19. My tank is an HP 100. 19 is enough air to get me to the surface but maybe with an open water ascent a price I will pay for the smaller pony but I would rather not do that with an inexperienced diver. If I need to help somebody with air, we will breath off the main tank until we get back to the anchor line, then I will pass them the pony and we will ascend separately.

I have also had an air share where they had an equipment issue that got resolved and dives continued. Was good to leave the pony untouched.

So I dive with 3 regs.

 

[NCBusguy]

I dive with 3 regs, and I have it set up with the pony (19cf)slung . On my pony, I charge the reg but keep it off until needed. I also have a spg and depth gauge on the pony for a redundant in case my computer craps. Both the 2nd stage and SPG/Depth are secured with a bungee cord wrapped around the pony bottle. This allows me quick access to the pony if I need it and I can get two breaths from a charged 2nd stage which gives me plenty of time to turn the valve on. I keep the octo because it is 50/50 on diving solo or with someone.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

The 2nd stage on the pony should be positioned in the same place an octo would be (where an OOA diver would look), should be yellow (familiar octo color), and should be easy to pull free. Also the pony should be easy to hand off. Also, it should be frequently practiced with while diving to insure a calm, collected, trained response to an emergency.

All good points, and I'd like to add one.

Part of your pre-dive routine should include making sure that in the process of donning your rig you didn't trap the pony bottle reg hose. With some BCD's it's easy to get it caught under a waist strap or cummerbund. A trapped hose will not be deployable ... and since you aren't going to have a buddy to look you over before the dive you may not be able to detect that it's trapped without actually deploying it. It's easy to skip this step because of how some octo holders work ... being a pain in the neck to put back in place once deployed ... but it's vital to make sure that if you need that bottle you can deploy easily and quickly. Always do a "routing drill" by unclipping your pony reg and holding it out to make sure the hose is free before jumping in the water.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)