How to rig a pony bottle?

[Peter69_56]

I used to only dive one tank and then started diving tech, and when I dive recreationally I still take a sling tank of some sort. One is redundancy for myself. The second is redundancy for my buddies. Now everyone is keen to ask why I dont use my occy for them? Well when you dive with people you dont know, and often of mixed skills, you might be surprised as to how often people get low on air (and not me), and given I often dive in mixed groups, currents and poor vis, I have found the easiest way to be able to care for a group is to have a 5 litre sling tank or 3 litre pony bottle. I pass this onto the first person with low air, and this then allows me to be available for the next emergency, rather than tying myself to the low on air diver and then cannot easily respond to the next issue which I have had to do on a number of occasions. If the OP has been shown how to charge and deploy a sling tank or pony, the O ring failure on that item is much less (and given I use only DIN, near impossible for me).

I would have no issue with the OP taking a pony, and would try and ensure he is familiar with it before the dive. It gives him redundancy and I would stress that its for an EMERGENCY and not just a bit more air to use on the dive. I dont use my "emergency" air unless its an emergency!

I would prefer my buddy to have spare air, than not give a damn about their air and assume I am there as their ascent air supply! I give the OP points for thinking redundancy with only 25 dives under his belt.

 

[barth]

That's a bunch of BS. Again with your blanket condemnations. I know guys who are great divers, 1,000+ dives, that have skills many would only hope to achieve in a lifetime of diving and they sometimes solo dive and often carry a redundant gas supply. Know why they carry it? Because they've dove enough (and posted less) to have experienced the real life gas loss failures, not just speculate or talk about them. Are they bad or unsafe divers? Hell no!.

The same for divers who don't use a pony tank. There are also divers who did 1000+ dives withoud a pony tank who experienced real life gas loss failures. I just say "most of the divers", that is not the same as everybody.

To steal an acronym from NetDoc, You are FIGJAM'ing this thread. And apparently you didn't read @grf88's post. Your posts are the perfect example of what he wrote, I'll quote it again in case you missed it..

I did read it, I think deeper dives are more demanding. Actually he is telling that tech diving is demanding. And that rec diving is not demanding. I think there is a group divers between openwater and tech diving. If you are a beginner or dive just one week a year I think you shouldn't exceed 60 feet.

The same for the topic starter. He has not done dives deeper than 35 feet, there is no reason to do a dive deeper than 60 feet. Why not build some experience? Instead of building experience he is just buying gear. I think that is nog a good choice. I also think he should first go the the max depth of his openwater (60 feet/18 meter). When he did reach the limit and he wants deeper than the max depth of openwater it would be good to do advanced openwater.

 

[savsuds]

I think these pony threads always gets off topic because we forget to help our fellow diver. That is the only reason I come to online forums like this, is to gain knowledge I may not be able to get locally.
The OP said he intended to use a pony and wanted input into how to go about it. He already made his mind about the pony. Let's help him use it safely instead of second guessing whether his decision.

 

[Macan]

I replied to another thread on Do's and Dont's of using a stage/pony/deco bottles. OP, you may find this useful:

Do's and Dont's:

1. Use an AL40 cylinder. If you're going to carry a Stage/Pony/Deco (SPD) bottle, the AL40 will serve you well. You'll grow with it. Don't use anything less than a 40 cf.

2. Use a BPW if you're going to carry a SPD. Sling it. Clip it on the right way. Left shoulder and left waist D-rings.

3. Rig it the same way it's done for Tec diving. Proper rigging ensures easy don/doff, SPG monitoring and stowing of the second stage. There are kits available. I use a Halcyon kit. Don't clamp it on to your rig. Sling it.

4. Carry the SPD bottle on your left side. Don't carry it on the right side.

5. A non-turret first stage is good -- low cost, light weight, easy to maintain. But use a 42" hose. I find the 40" hose too short. If you use a turret style first stage such as the Apeks DST on the cylinder, a 40" hose works fine. I use an Apeks US4 (DS4) first stage for my deco AL40. A 6" Miflex HP hose for the SPG. Don't try to use recreational hose lengths for your second stage and SPG.

6. Get trained on doing proper gas switches between your back gas and slung SPD cylinder. This is particularly important if you're going to use different gas mixes eg Air for Backgas and Nitrox 36 on the deco cylinder. I include gas switch training in my Deep Diver Specialty course for non my Tec divers. My students get to learn how to extend their dive time using mixed gas while staying within NDL limits through the dive. Until you're Tec trained, stay within NDL.

7. Use a Mixed Gas Computer and get trained on how to use your SPD with mixed gas. The mixed gas computer should be a Buhlmann ZHL16c with user configurable GF. Don't get one with a proprietary algorithm. The PZ+ and its cousins is proprietary even if their marketing says it's Buhlmann based. You don't know what kind of GF modifications they've done to it.

 

[grf88]

I think these pony threads always gets off topic because we forget to help our fellow diver. That is the only reason I come to online forums like this, is to gain knowledge I may not be able to get locally.
The OP said he intended to use a pony and wanted input into how to go about it. He already made his mind about the pony. Let's help him use it safely instead of second guessing whether his decision.

My objective was to prevent him being dissuaded from that decision. On a previous board that I frequented the anti pony voice was so strong that people were afraid to use one in case they were seen as bad divers.

 

[Doby45]

Use an AL40 cylinder. If you're going to carry a Stage/Pony/Deco (SPD) bottle, the AL40 will serve you well. You'll grow with it. Don't use anything less than a 40 cf.

While I agree with you 100% if I am going out and buying a pony tank, the OP already has a 30cf which is sufficient. Don't worry I did the same thing and when I read the original post I glossed over the fact he already has the 30cf tank.

 

[Searcaigh]

30cu ft pony is fine, I use mine with 50% and at 210 bar there is more than enough gas to go from 21m to 6m for the switch to 100% as I barely use 50 bar of gas during that part of the ascent.

They are also great tanks for small kids to learn with too, and I taught my daughter how to dive in a pool using a 30cu ft tank many years ago

 

[Nemrod]

If I carry a pony for solo I size it to be equal to approximately 1/3 of my back gas, usually to the lower approximate. Therefore for an 80 I would run a 19cf which is enough to make an ascent plus stops for no deco dives from sport diving depths and yes I have done it. A 30 is also a good match for back gas volumes of 80 to 100cf. The 1/3 value comes from the tried and true Rule of Thirds.

I do not use pony bottles when buddy diving.

N

 

[Dnaber]

Some great advice and if the OP doesn't mind I'll share some too. First I would get a few more dives under your belt. Next as you already have a 30cf (which I also use) PADI has a course called "Self Reliant" other agencies call it "Solo". Really it's there to teach you to be prepared for emergencies and as the name says to be self reliant. In this course they will help you with the rigging and proper ways to deploy/use your redundant air source. And don't get caught up with all this crap as to which side to mount your tank. I sling mine on the right side because I have my Oceanic ProPlus computer on the left and if I had my tank on the left side it would be tough to read my computer.

Just remember to get some more dives in and that will help you feel more comfortable in the water. And then get some additional training on the use of your tank. Good luck and I hope you enjoy diving as much as I do.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Well, for me I have an anxiety about equipment failure so it helps me to relax and feel safer knowing that I can swap regs with another supply ready to go. I do dive in very poor visibility water so many times I lose my buddy and even though he may only be 3 feet away I cant see which direction he is. My intent with the pony tank is that when I work my way down to 130ft I have the redundant air source that so many people recommend.

A few years ago I was at a point in my diving where I started having anxiety about equipment failure and/or inability to reach my buddy. I was about to buy a pony. I read all that stuff about how to sling a pony and was almost about to pull the trigger (or is that Trigger?) on the purchase. But after getting advice here about my anxieties and reading all those contentious pony threads someone mentioned above, I ultimately opted for a different solution. The bottom line is that whatever one's solution, for maximum effectiveness I believe it should be employed consistently, so the answer to "what do I do now?" becomes reflexive--ingrained in so-called muscle memory. I suggest that if you carry a pony, practice whatever drills you need to do to utilize the pony should you or someone else need the gas. Carry it on essentially all dives. Practice the drills often, perhaps every dive. Switching among different gear configurations and thereby having two or more different procedures depending on what gear configuration you're in at the time is more challenging to ingrain in muscle memory than diving in the same configuration and learning to do one thing consistently, reflexively, etc.