Skills For Carrying And Using A Pony
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For me I use the side sling method. I use 40, 50 or infrequently 80cf cylinders. Back mounted pony's to me always seem a faff when changing tanks. You seem to have to juggle the top cam band off, then the pony mounting and then the bottom band. whereas I just undo two dog clips
The side mount for me gives greater flexibility as I can attach it maybe just before I jump (or not), take it off in the water if the surface conditions have changed - hand it off to another diver in an emergency etc. But these are my personal choices which suit me.
By choice I prefer my cylinder to the right. I use a modified set up for mixed gas Deco but that wasn't the OP's question
For the OP I would say just practice getting comfortable wearing it more on the surface than under. I clip the top then the bottom and the reverse when taking off as to me it seems easier and more controllable. Also get used to finding all your stowed gear in the water. Does the cylinder impede access to anything do you need to re think where your DSMB is for instance?
I don't feel any off balance in the water from a 40 or 50CF If I do carry any weight its equally spread. Again everyone is different.
Diving cylinder on or off makes no difference if you need it in a hurry you can easily turn the gas on while changing regs. If you are not confident then dive with the cylinder on. All the hose rigging above seems acceptable you may refine it to your desires as long as you can deploy your reg, and it doesn't dangle durign the dive then go with whatever works for you and the type of diving you do
The side mount for me gives greater flexibility as I can attach it maybe just before I jump (or not), take it off in the water if the surface conditions have changed - hand it off to another diver in an emergency etc. But these are my personal choices which suit me.
By choice I prefer my cylinder to the right. I use a modified set up for mixed gas Deco but that wasn't the OP's question
For the OP I would say just practice getting comfortable wearing it more on the surface than under. I clip the top then the bottom and the reverse when taking off as to me it seems easier and more controllable. Also get used to finding all your stowed gear in the water. Does the cylinder impede access to anything do you need to re think where your DSMB is for instance?
I don't feel any off balance in the water from a 40 or 50CF If I do carry any weight its equally spread. Again everyone is different.
Diving cylinder on or off makes no difference if you need it in a hurry you can easily turn the gas on while changing regs. If you are not confident then dive with the cylinder on. All the hose rigging above seems acceptable you may refine it to your desires as long as you can deploy your reg, and it doesn't dangle durign the dive then go with whatever works for you and the type of diving you do
OP
2airishuman
Contributor
The readiness of any emergency equipment can only be assured through frequent testing and maintenance. The readiness of any emergency skills can only be maintained through training or practice. In that light, I expect to use mine on a test basis for an ascent from time to time, so I doubt the question will ever come up.
I have had butterfly clips to jam shut. Then it is a suicide clip. N
dumpsterDiver
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I think the issue of a free flow, a leaking reg, the ability to actually see the second stage, monitor air pressure while diving and also an entanglement around that second stage would be harder to resolve from behind your back compared to slung. Do you keep your tank on or off? I would assume it is off, if upside down.. so in that case, there is more to do than tug on a hose behind your back. If you leave it on, then why do you want it upside down? So you can feather the valve in a free flow?
I actually have it on all the time. In addition, I am trying something new that I picked up from another diver in having the hose for an SPG ziptied to the hose, so that the SPG sits close to the regulator, not blocking my vision, but I can see it. Now I haven't played with it yet, as I have been meaning to, but I've been busy teaching and when I dive for fun, I'm usually diving doubles. But I am able to close/open the valve in that configuration, which is nice if I ever forget to do so when I enter the water (and I've never done that! <wink>). But primarily I have it upside for the following reason. Let's say I have a failure at my primary tank. In the confusion, my dive buddy won't accidentally turn off my pony bottle, because then I'm in a bit of trouble.
With regards to slow leaks from the reg, I'll admit I can't see that, but I like to do bubble checks with my buddies on every dive. I teach that to my students as well.
dumpsterDiver
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If you had been trained 30 years ago, you would immediately realize that two divers can easily share a single second stage if they are trained, calm and practice buddy breathing. Of course that is old fashioned now, but something I like to practice with my kids. If you get a few good buddies (without cold sores) you might do the same.
On a more practical (and modern) train of thought... You should always keep enough air in your primary tank to get you and a buddy to the surface in an emergency. Also, your pony should be able to get YOU to the surface in an emergency. So if your buddy comes needing air, you should be able to just come up on the back gas and if you become nervous about the remaining supply, then you should be able to easily switch to the pony and keep your buddy on the back gas.
Of course, there are many scenarios you can dream up with entanglements and gear failures, but for recreational diving, you normally don't plan for a bunch of independent things failing simultaneously.
dumpsterDiver
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I have a buddy who normally dives deco gases in a back mounted configuration. In the past when i have borrowed his oxygen deco bottle (and reg), (I sling it) and have to deal with the spg in my face and attached to the second stage. It is somewhat of a PITA, but hey I am borrowing it.
This video at around 11:30 shows me using it on a selfie, solo video dive.
I sort of expected that, but I'm doing this in the case of emergency/OOA. So not a big deal for the time that I never have to do it and the times where I just practice.
When I dive doubles and do accelerated deco, then I sling those bottles and have SPG's on a 6 inch hose.
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2airishuman
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That is a skill I do plan to cultivate at some point when I am working with the right people. There seem to be widely divergent facts out there about buddy breathing and the reasons for it being dropped from the training curriculum. I don't know who to believe, but the value of being able to do it, in a buddy pair who train together and have the right mindset, is clear.
I agree with all that. I think that the question of exactly how much air must be shareable in an emergency is an interesting one that lacks an obvious bright-line answer.
For example, in a typical sidemount setup, there's only one regulator per tank, and there is always some imbalance between tank pressures. In an air-sharing emergency, one tank is going to run out first. This is widely considered to be an acceptable configuration.
As a thought exercise we could consider a pony tank the same size as the back gas tank. Surely that would be an acceptable configuration to anyone, because there's more air in an air-sharing emergency than wtih either a typical sidemount or a typical backmount setup. One way to look at the question is, how small can the pony become before the logic we use with sidemount or independent doubles no longer applies? I think the answer depends on the dive and on the divers, and is something each buddy pair has to decide for themselves. If both divers in the buddy team have ponies of adequate size and the skills to use them, for example, chances are neither of them need a secondary on back gas for a dive within traditional rec limits.
But that conversation is beyond the understanding of 90% of the divers who are out there, so until such time as I'm limiting my diving buddies to the other 10%, I feel like the best course of action is just to leave the secondary (on the back gas) in place.
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