Rigging a pony bottle

[Nailer99]

Well....small bubbles coming off a first stage can be a sign that an O ring is thinking about blowing out. If your pony is slung, not only can you see it, you have ready access to the valve, in the event you forgot to turn it on. I'm still gonna be tank mounting mine for now, though. I'll probably try slinging it too, after a while, just to see which one works better for me.

At least 2 people I know who dive ponies put their alternate on the pony and their primary on their main, so that they only have 2 second stages instead of 3- I hadn't realized that at first, so I thought it might be worth pointing out to the OP. I still haven't dived with mine yet; I may give it a whirl tonight, though.

 

[ClayJar]

At least 2 people I know who dive ponies put their alternate on the pony and their primary on their main, so that they only have 2 second stages instead of 3- I hadn't realized that at first, so I thought it might be worth pointing out to the OP.

I've heard about people doing that, but frankly, it seems to me that basically removes much of the benefit of having a pony (especially while buddy diving). Personally, I like to have the additional second stage when diving with a buddy.

To make up the requisite completely artificial scenario, if I had a buddy's regulator blow apart, dazing him and putting him into a free-fall, and I managed to swim down fast enough to catch him, shake him to his senses, stop the descent, and donate air, and if I then discovered that we were quite deep and making a slow ascent with stops may be required to save life or well-being, and if I determined that my pony isn't big enough to make the ascent all the way from the depth to which I had to go to save my buddy's life, being able to share the air in my tank (which is almost full, since this was at the very beginning of the dive) in addition to draining the pony could possibly be a very, very good thing.

(See, I told you it was completely artificial. Is something like that likely to happen? Probably not, at least in my diving. Is it worth having one little extra second stage? For me, it certainly is -- how much drag does it have compared to the pony, anyway? )


Incidentally, as to problems that can be discovered because a pony is slung: I had a very, very small pinhole open up under the hose protector on the HP hose on my pony. Even with it slung, I didn't see anything in a bubble check. During the dive, however, I was about 85' down and saw a bubble, then two... I pulled the hose protector back and discovered the very slow pinhole leak. It was far too slow to have registered on an SPG (except maybe over hours), and it was so slow that it didn't make enough bubbles fast enough to notice it during a bubble check. It wasn't a "big deal" for the dives; I finished the weekend just monitoring it. Still, I don't like losing *any* of my emergency pony reserve; so being able to catch it was a good lesson for me. (I got the faulty hose swapped out under warranty at my LDS as soon as I was back.)

If it had been a bigger problem, would I have caught it even on a tank-mounted pony? Yeah, probably. Could I have possibly missed any potentially bigger problem with my pony slung? I do not believe I could.

 

[Sasquatch]

I'll sling a 30 or 40 and bubble check my mounted 19 for now.

 

[TheRedHead]

At least 2 people I know who dive ponies put their alternate on the pony and their primary on their main, so that they only have 2 second stages instead of 3- I hadn't realized that at first, so I thought it might be worth pointing out to the OP. I still haven't dived with mine yet; I may give it a whirl tonight, though.

On a deep dive where a pony would be prudent, I like having 3 DIN regulators and an H-valve configuration. I'm small and 120 cu ft of air is a lot of backgas for me so I will dive with single H-valve config over doubles. For use as a pony, I would fill a 40 cu ft. deco bottle with EAN36 instead of EAN50 with a 110 MOD. This configuration would be adequate for any deep recreational dive.

I don't understand the desire to get rid of hoses when safety is an issue.

 

[pir8]

Some people want to minimize hoses and anything else as snag hazzards. Personally I keep my octo intact when I use the pony. I dive the quarry a lot and don't carry a pony there. Plus I would rather be able to share my main tank without having to buddy breathe. Its just not practiced enough.

 

[Scuba_Steve]

On a deep dive where a pony would be prudent, I like having 3 DIN regulators and an H-valve configuration. I'm small and 120 cu ft of air is a lot of backgas for me so I will dive with single H-valve config over doubles. For use as a pony, I would fill a 40 cu ft. deco bottle with EAN36 instead of EAN50 with a 110 MOD. This configuration would be adequate for any deep recreational dive.

I don't understand the desire to get rid of hoses when safety is an issue.

I guess the simplicity and real redundancy of twin ALU80's are lost on some folks.(and don't tell me they're too big given the above total convoluted config you have going on above....). And that's putting a lot of what the last few pages contain, IMO nicely...

Now ya see what this pony nonsense brings out? It just gets worse and worse as you go.

regards

 

[Packhorse]

I guess the simplicity and real redundancy of twin ALU80's are lost on some folks.(and don't tell me they're too big given the above total convoluted config you have going on above....). And that's putting a lot of what the last few pages contain, IMO nicely...

Now ya see what this pony nonsense brings out? It just gets worse and worse as you go.

regards

Twin alu 80s are too big.
OK a pony is not right for you, but not everyone is you.
I find my pony a very quick and easy solution. I can choose to take it and it takes less than a minute to set up. I dont require a BP/W with more lift to use it. I can keep it on my boat as an independat dive system.

 

[TheRedHead]

I guess the simplicity and real redundancy of twin ALU80's are lost on some folks.(and don't tell me they're too big given the above total convoluted config you have going on above....).

What's convoluted about diving an HP120 with an H-valve? It is the same configuration as doubles, but you don't have to change wings. If all I have available are recreational AL 80s, I can dive one and sling one. I don't have to worry about manifolds/bands.

 

[Diveral]

Now I really liked diving with a Pony. I use it on deep (>100 ft) dives and wreck penetrations. I have been diving 80's with a 19 cu ft pony banded to the side. configure it with the valve up and bungee the coiled hose and regulator to the side. I just reach back and grab the regulator and bring it under my arm for use.

A 19 cu ft Pony gives me about 4-5 minutes to exit the wreck at 110' and perform a safe ascent.

 

[ChrisM]

I guess the simplicity and real redundancy of twin ALU80's are lost on some folks.(and don't tell me they're too big given the above total convoluted config you have going on above....). And that's putting a lot of what the last few pages contain, IMO nicely...

Now ya see what this pony nonsense brings out? It just gets worse and worse as you go.

regards

How do I travel with doubles to the Galapagos? Cocos? Belize? 13 cu ft pony is portable and easy to travel with

To the OP, I'd advise your dad to do some research, if he's new to diving, adding a redundant air source may be a bit too much task loading, I'd advise him to acquire some good buddy skills.

Everyone I know that dives with a pony are photographers that end up all by their lonesome now and again, and the pony is for that you know what hitting the fan moment. As for me, I hope the pony and reg is the worst $200 I've ever spent (or whatever it was.....) and I never have to use it. If I am wrong, I'm sure I'll be glad that I have it.

Dive how you like.