XS Scuba Xtra Air System, user reviews?

[BORG]

I was thinking of adding a pony for some of my deeper dives(100-110ft) and came on the XS Scuba Xtra Air Redundant System.
Anyone have one of these and how do you like it? Or if you don't, what is your favorite set-up in this area? Bottle, size, reg, etc.


Thanks!

 

[Mitchell Teeters]

Borg, have you had any responses? I ended up with a 19cf system that I rig like a stage bottle.

 

[KD8NPB]

My shop is having a sale on AL40s.

I might pick one up and top it with another Conshelf XIV.

 

[BORG]

No other responses other than yours and another person. I like the looks of the XS Scuba system and thought surely someone might have one and tell me how they like it.
I'm glad more folks are going to back-up systems. It's the old skydiving analogy to me. Why would you dive with just one air system, when you wouldn't jump out of an airplane skydiving without a reserve chute to save your life.

Sure, regs are mostly doing their job when you need them, but when they crap out (and they can and do) and you're deep and your buddy is no where near, it ain't pretty!

 

[gurnie]

I have not used the XS Scuba setup, but have been a user of pony bottles for rec dives for many years. My favorite setup is a 40cf bottle with tiger bracket. It is easy to install, and you quickly deploy it for yourself or your buddy if needed. Zeagle made a streamline setup called Razor that was a valve / first stage unit, but I didn't like the fact you needed a fill adapter..

 

[doctormike]

FWIW, I prefer a slung pony to one on the tank back. Here are what I see as the disadvantages of tank mounted ponies:

1) harder to stow on a boat (especially with certain types of tank racks)

2) seems harder in terms of trim by having this thing sticking out of your back (admittedly, I haven't used one in a while, so maybe I'm wrong about that)

3) Is in a vulnerable position, especially if you are using a yoke valve - that looks like something waiting to be smacked into a reef or part of a wreck, and possibly unseating the first stage.

4) Has the potential for losing your pony regulator - assuming that you won't be bungeeing both it and your secondary reg, it will be clipped off somewhere (that's what the website says). Once that is knocked loose you may have a very difficult time recovering it, especially when things have gone bad...

5) No easy access to the valve in case of a freeflow (I usually kept my pony reg charged but with the valve off for this reason).

6) You can't hand the whole thing off to another out of air diver


The argument against the slung pony is that there is a perception of it being in the way, but I will tell you that it basically disappears in the water, I have had no issues with that. It's also nice to look down and see the whole thing there, ready to deploy, shut down, or pass off as needed. AND, it gets you used to slinging a bottle if/when you start with accelerated deco.

M

 

[gurnie]

Sorry can't agree with DoctorMike above..

1) I dive and crew a boat in Lake Michigan and a bottle on a bracket only takes 15 seconds max to attach. I dive that rig and and am the first in the water anytime I want to be..
2) Trim is not an issue, you don't notice it is there, I use 1lb in the opposite trim pocket. I also do light zone penatration into wrecks and have never hit a bulkhead or hatch with it..
3) My setup is DIN, so it is not a hazzard.
4) I use a jelly and attach the second stage to point on my chest with a nice yellow hose.. You can recover by the "tilt and sweep" you learned in open water training..
5) With a 40cf bottle, if you can reach your tank valve, you can reach the valve of a tank on a bracket if mounted properly.
6) A diver can deploy the bottle and hand it off to another diver.. I have done it several times. I keep an extra snapbolt on my so I can attach it to them so it does not get away from them.

Why make this into a tech conversation, this is a pretty good rec setup... Later on if you want to redeploy the bottle, it is the matter of just adding a sling..

 

[halocline]

I'm glad more folks are going to back-up systems. It's the old skydiving analogy to me. Why would you dive with just one air system, when you wouldn't jump out of an airplane skydiving without a reserve chute to save your life.

Because unlike skydiving, if your reg fails, you just swim to the surface or get air from your buddy. If you're not in a position to do either, that's edging into the technical diving realm and there are other risks associated, none of which a bailout bottle is going to solve.

But, a bailout bottle can be a convenience and allow an un-hurried trip to the surface if your reg fails or you get mugged for air. I'm not trying to sound anti-pony, but I do read a lot of shaky reasoning for carrying one. I occasionally use one (13cft) on days with multiple deep dives, where I want to do an extended safety stop on every dive.

You might consider a 19cft pony, slung, those seem to be a decent compromise between size and capacity for recreational diving. I would just definitely consider it a convenience, not a life saver.

 

[doctormike]

Sorry can't agree with DoctorMike above..

1) I dive and crew a boat in Lake Michigan and a bottle on a bracket only takes 15 seconds max to attach. I dive that rig and and am the first in the water anytime I want to be..
2) Trim is not an issue, you don't notice it is there, I use 1lb in the opposite trim pocket. I also do light zone penatration into wrecks and have never hit a bulkhead or hatch with it..
3) My setup is DIN, so it is not a hazzard.
4) I use a jelly and attach the second stage to point on my chest with a nice yellow hose.. You can recover by the "tilt and sweep" you learned in open water training..
5) With a 40cf bottle, if you can reach your tank valve, you can reach the valve of a tank on a bracket if mounted properly.
6) A diver can deploy the bottle and hand it off to another diver.. I have done it several times. I keep an extra snapbolt on my so I can attach it to them so it does not get away from them.

Why make this into a tech conversation, this is a pretty good rec setup... Later on if you want to redeploy the bottle, it is the matter of just adding a sling..

Hey, Gurnie...I defer to your experience as an instructor, and those are all good points. I just wanted to add my 2 PSI. Like most things, there are often more than one good solution.

Didn't mean to make it a tech conversation, that was just one other advantage of the slung pony (not having to learn new equipment reconfiguration).

But it still seem to me that in a panicked, out of air situation, having the reg, valve and bottle right there in plain view is an advantage over having it mounted on your back. While I'm sure that with practice you can do all the things that you mentioned with a back mounted tank (tilt and sweep, find the valve behind you, hand off the bottle, etc..), I still believe that it's good to have one less thing to worry about in an emergency.

M

 

[decompression]

Explore the term rock bottom, you will soon find out how much air you will require to safely perform the dives you do, from there you can deduct what size of pony you'll need. The debate of pony vs doubles is far too time consuming to get into right now.