Zeagle pony system. Advice anyone?

[charlesml3]

Well, it looks as though this discussion is going exactly where all discussions of Pony systems do. "My method is the only way to go and anything else will KILL you."

Whatever. I actually OWN this system and use it so here are my experiences:

- I went with a 13 cubic foot tank. The 6 is too small to be useful and the 20 is too big to travel comfortably.

- I have it mounted on the right side of my Stiletto behind the wing. The hose is looped up inside the flap just as it is in the photo a few posts above. The 2nd stage is clipped to my bottom right D-Ring.

- I added a "bolt" style pressure guage.

- I bought the whip filler and the transfiller. Most places I can get a fill from a whip. Cozumel is the exception so I have to transfill there. Works like a champ.

With everything rigged up and ready I may or may not be able to use the boat's tank racks. It just depends on how they're made. If they're the holes you drop the base of the tank into they have to be fairly shallow. The clip style racks work fine but I have to be the tank on the end.

YES, the tank will sit upright on the dock or something with the pony attached. It just hangs right on the Zeagle straps. NO, it does not move around or anything. I don't even know it's there.

The only change I made was to take 2lbs off my weight belt. I also have two more pounds on the left side than the right side to keep balanced.

What else is there to say? It breathes just fine. I'm quite confident that it'll get me up from 100 feet with a safety stop and all that.

Personally I think all of this talk about being "streamlined" is a bunch of nonsense. A diver is about as streamlined as a bag of cinder blocks. One pony or another isn't going to change that.

-Charles

 

[Ursus]

Charles has some solid points...more air is better. I should have caveated my comment on the H2Odyssey as my primary concern for an additional air was that it needed to be readily portable for travel. I spoke with everyone I could get my hands on (obviously this Board would have been a great help) and most had no experience. My LDS obviously pushed for the Air Buddy since it is the only system that most shops carry. Several LDS in my area kept commenting on concerns about traveling with a true pony (13cf or greater) to any location. A common concern that was repeated by several LDS' was that I might have issues at destination dive shop requiring an inspection before I can fill.

That said I didn't think a 3cf bottle would give me enough volume for a modest paced ascent. I went with the 6cf configuration. One thing has to be taken into account is what is the dive environments and profiles for the typical dives. I really looked at this purchase as a last option to get me to the surface while on a simple Rec...not a cave, penetration, or deep dive. At the moment I get to swim in shallow lakes in Texas or board a plane for tropical destinations. Got to fit in a suitcase or carry-on, make the weight restriction, and still have room for other gear.

My outlook would have been different if I were diving locally and transporting equipment wasn't a concern....I would go with the larger tank configuration. After another +100 dives I plan to take Tech Deep Diving and/or the Solo diving course. At that point I will need to double all my gear for redundancy and change my confirguration, which will result in moving into doubles or at least a true pony bottle setup.

THe H2Odessey was a compromise between air volume (more than some less than others) and ease of travel (small enough to carry on plane and no issues with dive shop mandated tank inspections)... It breaths at least as well as Air Buddy, but not as well as my XTX200. That said, there is no problem drawing the air.

My purchase decision might have been different with some additional experience with traveling with a larger tank and dealing with foreign dive shops for filling the tank...

 

[charlesml3]

Gang,

I've never had a bit of trouble getting the Zeagle Envoy/Razor combo filled abroad. Palau, Yap, Roatan, Cozumel, Belize...

Interestingly enough, mostly what I get is the crew from the dive shop hanging around looking at it. They're all fascinated with the Razor first stage/tank valve design. It is very compact. Mostly why I chose it. I do pretty much 100% of my diving abroad.

I just drain the tank on my last dive, take the valve out and put the blue plastic plug back in. Sometimes TSA will look at it pretty closely when I go through security. That's about the height of it.

-Charles

 

[DoctorDiver]

I agree with the posts regarding the use of larger pony bottles. I dive the Zeagle Tech BC and have the pony straps attached to the mounting plate. I wasn't impressed with the usability of the smaller bottles in a true out of air situation or with the mounting system for the smaller bottles. My usual set-up, then, is to side-mount a 30 foot bottle to the right of my usual 104 cf steel and counter-balance this with a canister light on the left in one of the Zeagle weight pockets. Both the pony second stage hose and the light cord come over my right shoulder.