Reg on a pony bottle question

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I am about to do a solo diving course and I will be needing a regulator to go on the pony bottle. I was wondering, since this is a cold water set up do I need an environmentally sealed cold water regulator on the pony or would my piston stage Z2 be ok on the bottle without the cold water kit? My LDS technician was saying that since the regulator will not be breathing throughout the dive it does not need to be sealed but I was wondering if I ever have to breath through the pony, wouldn't the chance of free flow increase with every breath?

Thanks.

 

[elan]

Answering the question - yes you need it to be a cold tolerating reg, even more than usually because at that moment the breathing rate might climb up due to emergency. If it starts flowing at this time it will not be that interesting as you now have 2 emergencies.

Side note on the atomic though , although some people use them that would be the last option I would consider as if you do not keep your reg pressurized all the time (for example when you sling it) acidently bumping the purge will purge gas and anti-set feature of the 2 nd stage will release the pressure of the seat and the water might start going into the hose flooding the reg .

 

[rhwestfall]

I'm a big fan of the SP MK-2 as a very tolerant and rugged first stage for a pony.

 

[halocline]

I'm a big fan of the SP MK-2 as a very tolerant and rugged first stage for a pony.

Me too. Ironically it has better cold water tolerance than a high flow, flow-through piston like the atomic as well.

 

[skankpile]

I'm a big fan of not solo diving. Instead of the pony how about a sidemount class so you will have redundancy, more air/downtime, and work on streamlining. When technical guys see your pony setup or spare air they will likely ignore you, but if they see a sidemount guy you'll be more apt to get responsible dive buddies and dive better profiles... IMO..

 

[Wookie]

If anything, I want my pony reg to be the most reliable reg I own. After all, the main reg just failed....

 

[flots am]

I am about to do a solo diving course and I will be needing a regulator to go on the pony bottle. I was wondering, since this is a cold water set up do I need an environmentally sealed cold water regulator on the pony or would my piston stage Z2 be ok on the bottle without the cold water kit? My LDS technician was saying that since the regulator will not be breathing throughout the dive it does not need to be sealed but I was wondering if I ever have to breath through the pony, wouldn't the chance of free flow increase with every breath?

It should be the best reg you own and definitely not one that's prone to free-flows.

If you have to use the pony, chances are good you'll be hoovering more than normal which increases the risk of a free-flow, so I'd suggest a sealed reg.

Also, I'd suggest a DIN connection on the reg and tank. When the brown stuff hits the fan, the last thing you want to discover is that instead of turning on your gas, you just unscrewed the yoke, It's too easy to confuse the knobs if you're not careful.

flots.

 

[lloyd_borrett]

I just like to always be able to breathe from a very good and reliable regulator. So now I have Apeks XTX-200s as the main and ocy and both my technical and recreational setups, plus on my stage cylinders. When things are going pear shaped, you want to be able to grab and breathe from the best you can get. This is MY life support system. So NO corners are cut.

 

[MSDT476614]

... When the brown stuff hits the fan, the last thing you want to discover is that instead of turning on your gas, you just unscrewed the yoke, It's too easy to confuse the knobs if you're not careful.

flots.

I've seen that happen on rec/pro courses not to mention tec!

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

It should be the best reg you own and definitely not one that's prone to free-flows.

If you have to use the pony, chances are good you'll be hoovering more than normal which increases the risk of a free-flow, so I'd suggest a sealed reg.

Also, I'd suggest a DIN connection on the reg and tank. When the brown stuff hits the fan, the last thing you want to discover is that instead of turning on your gas, you just unscrewed the yoke, It's too easy to confuse the knobs if you're not careful.

flots.

Good point.