Calling all ponies

[Jim Lapenta]

I too have been debating this question.

Where I was certified (New Jersey), it was/is local policy to carry a pony. Since my class (along with just about any other I would guess) used cheap rental jacket BCs, our pony was mounted to the AL 80 tank on the back, with the pony second stage serving as our octopus/backup clipped to our BC chest area. So, four regs total (two first stages, each with one second stage).

Now that I bought my first BC setup (BP/W; horray for researching and trying first!), I am a bit confused on what is best.

Now that I have a real setup, do I dive with my main tank having two second stages (primary long hose, octopus around a bungee on my neck like I have seen) AND a pony? Keep in mind I must carry a pony to satisfy local dive boat / quarry / etc requirements.
Since I have a BP/W, everyone is telling me to sling an AL40. Do I now have to have a primary and backup on that tank as well, bringing the total regs to six (two first stages, four second stages)?
Or does the slung bottle only have one second stage?

Do I dive without an octopus on my main (just the long hose primary in my mouth), and route the slung AL40 regulator up to my bungee necklace?

I am really at a loss here.
From my training, the many people I have talked to locally, and local policy, I need to find some way of carrying a completely independent source of air...

Yes, I have searched. I have learned a ton but also became even more unsure the more I have read.


Oh, and merry Christmas to the other half of the world!
Wish I could be home; but alas I am stuck on base. The holidays alone can be quite depressing.

You do need a separate reg for the slung bottle. But you do not need two second stages on it. Only one and an SPG. I would also advise you to get with an instructor or mentor who will teach you to properly rig the bottle and sling it. As well as taking you on a couple dives with it where you actually deploy and use it. I teach this in my AOW class. A redundant air source is worthless if you have not been shown how to use it and also requires regular practice. You still need your long hose and back up on a bungee. The pony reg will have a 40 inch hose on the second stage and a 6 inch on the SPG. You secure the 40inch with bungee or inner tube and when it is deployed you clip off the long hose and bring the pony around the neck and into your mouth just like the long hose reg.

And the holidays do suck when you are alone. My wife is in ICU and I can;t stay at the hospital with her. My son is somewhere in the Mideast and my daughter is with her mom 150 miles away. Spent a few hours this evening with the inlaws but with my wife not there it was not very festive for me. Thank you for your service and God Bless.

 

[gcbryan]

I too have been debating this question.

Where I was certified (New Jersey), it was/is local policy to carry a pony. Since my class (along with just about any other I would guess) used cheap rental jacket BCs, our pony was mounted to the AL 80 tank on the back, with the pony second stage serving as our octopus/backup clipped to our BC chest area. So, four regs total (two first stages, each with one second stage).

Now that I bought my first BC setup (BP/W; horray for researching and trying first!), I am a bit confused on what is best.

Now that I have a real setup, do I dive with my main tank having two second stages (primary long hose, octopus around a bungee on my neck like I have seen) AND a pony? Keep in mind I must carry a pony to satisfy local dive boat / quarry / etc requirements.
Since I have a BP/W, everyone is telling me to sling an AL40. Do I now have to have a primary and backup on that tank as well, bringing the total regs to six (two first stages, four second stages)?
Or does the slung bottle only have one second stage?

Do I dive without an octopus on my main (just the long hose primary in my mouth), and route the slung AL40 regulator up to my bungee necklace?

I am really at a loss here.
From my training, the many people I have talked to locally, and local policy, I need to find some way of carrying a completely independent source of air...

Yes, I have searched. I have learned a ton but also became even more unsure the more I have read.


Oh, and merry Christmas to the other half of the world!
Wish I could be home; but alas I am stuck on base. The holidays alone can be quite depressing.

You only need one second stage for the pony. That's bailout for you.

You still probably want two second stages on your main tank. It just gives you more options and if you are slinging the bailout bottle (pony) then hoses are bungeed to the bottle and everything is streamlined.

When I mounted mine to my main tank I only used two second stages. One to donate (primary) and the bungeed second stage was attached to my pony.

That was just so that I didn't have three second stages strapped to my body. After slinging it I bought another second stage for the bottle and kept the two on the main tank.

Now the pony is self contained and can even be handed off if you choose to.

I find it easier to use a full sized spg on the pony as well (just use a short 6" hose).

Edit: I see Jim beat me to the punch!

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

....Now that I bought my first BC setup (BP/W; horray for researching and trying first!), I am a bit confused on what is best.

Now that I have a real setup, do I dive with my main tank having two second stages (primary long hose, octopus around a bungee on my neck like I have seen) AND a pony? Keep in mind I must carry a pony to satisfy local dive boat / quarry / etc requirements.
Since I have a BP/W, everyone is telling me to sling an AL40. Do I now have to have a primary and backup on that tank as well, bringing the total regs to six (two first stages, four second stages)?
Or does the slung bottle only have one second stage?

Do I dive without an octopus on my main (just the long hose primary in my mouth), and route the slung AL40 regulator up to my bungee necklace?.....

Hi Eff,

You have a primary and backup on your main tank, just a single 1st and 2nd on the pony or stage.

A typical "long hose" setup:

You main tank (tank on your back, "back gas", etc., ) has a 1st stage with a primary 2nd stage on a long hose (5' or 7' hose) that goes to your mouth, a "backup" 2nd stage on a shorter hose (24-28" or so) that you wear around your neck on a bungie;

Your pony has it's own 1st stage with a single 2nd stage, and some sort of pressure gauge (either a button-style gauge or a regular pressure gauge). The hose on the pony is typically a 40" hose, and is secured in a streamlined fashion to the pony bottle using bungie or inner-tube wraps.

Here is a link that shows how to do the rigging for a stage bottle, the same rigging will work for a 19, 30 or 40 cuft pony:

DIR-diver.com - Stagebottle rigging

This link also shows with a regulator attached, so you can see how to secure it:

Stage Bottle

And this link to a pdf file show more pics and info:

http://www.dirrebreather.com/articles/DIR stage tank configuration.pdf

Good luck and best wishes.

Edit: The way I rig my pony / stage is the method used in the 1st and 3rd links (I think the DIR way is the cleanest/simplest), but there are other ways, as you'll see the 2nd link is slightly different.

 

[paddler3d]

I too have been debating this question.

Where I was certified (New Jersey), it was/is local policy to carry a pony. Since my class (along with just about any other I would guess) used cheap rental jacket BCs, our pony was mounted to the AL 80 tank on the back, with the pony second stage serving as our octopus/backup clipped to our BC chest area. So, four regs total (two first stages, each with one second stage).

Now that I bought my first BC setup (BP/W; horray for researching and trying first!), I am a bit confused on what is best.

Now that I have a real setup, do I dive with my main tank having two second stages (primary long hose, octopus around a bungee on my neck like I have seen) AND a pony? Keep in mind I must carry a pony to satisfy local dive boat / quarry / etc requirements.
Since I have a BP/W, everyone is telling me to sling an AL40. Do I now have to have a primary and backup on that tank as well, bringing the total regs to six (two first stages, four second stages)?
Or does the slung bottle only have one second stage?

Do I dive without an octopus on my main (just the long hose primary in my mouth), and route the slung AL40 regulator up to my bungee necklace?

I am really at a loss here.
From my training, the many people I have talked to locally, and local policy, I need to find some way of carrying a completely independent source of air...

Yes, I have searched. I have learned a ton but also became even more unsure the more I have read.


Oh, and merry Christmas to the other half of the world!
Wish I could be home; but alas I am stuck on base. The holidays alone can be quite depressing.

Congrats on the BP/W set up!

You're questions have been answered, hopefully about the quantity of regs you would use.

If you haven't purchased your regs yet, I'm going to make a sugestion. I dive 'frankenregs'. ATX 100 on my right post and XTX 200 on my left. Before I doubled up my 100's, my main reg was my ATX 100 and my pony was my XTX 100.

I wish I would have purchased matching regs because now I look like a goof!

If your diving in NJ and you're already asking about pony bottles, doubles aren't too far away (and by the way they are redundant and don't really need the pony).

I wish I would have got the Apeks TX50 set. It is two DIN first stages with two TX50 2nd stages and all the hoses you need. In reality it is probably the XTX stuff, but hopefully you get the idea.

If you can buy some set like this now, you'll have a great pair of 1st stages and all you'll have to dig up is another second for the pony, assuming your diving singles.

Or just go to doubles right away.

Ask if this doesn't make sense.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

Oh, and merry Christmas to the other half of the world!
Wish I could be home; but alas I am stuck on base. The holidays alone can be quite depressing.

Merry Christmas, Eff :fruitcake: :42: :42:

We're thinking of you! Will raise a toast tonight :jazzband:

 

[RJP]

I did a search, but came up empty handed. was gonna buy a "Spare Air" tank,

SpareAir is a wonderfully unique piece of gear - it's the only piece of scuba equipment that can enable a diver to run out of air TWICE on the SAME DIVE!

 

[drdaddy]

I have both systems - pony attached to main tank and pony on a sling. If on the sling, I can easily reach down and turn on. If it's on my main tank, I can reach down and turn it on, but with some difficulty. Difficulty is not what I want in a emergency/out of air situation - so I leave the air on.

I have two sizes - 13 & 19 cu feet. For dives 50 ft and less I use the 13 cu ft, for deeper dives I use 19 cu feet. My tank attachment is configured with a tank strap that easily slides onto (and tightens with an regular tank fastener) my main tank and therefore can be readily exchanged between tanks. Obviously a sling can be slung and re-slung - however, I don't use the sling so often as I do a lot of hunting/crabbing and it gets in the way - especially when I crab a delicious dungeness crab from the Pacific Northwest ocean floor. By the way, doubles are more expensive and you have to have more equipment configurations and you will find that most dives can be accomplished with a single al 80, or get steel 100s or even 120s. You can sling an extra 80 if needed. Go doubles if you find yourself really needing them regularly.

 

[elan]

The best setup I has come to before moving to doubles was a sling stage/pony + the main tank with 5' long hose and bungee octo. If you dive shallow - say 70' and up you leave your bottle on the surface, if you dive deep you sling it. I used 30 cuf bottle but I would have rather used 40cuf. As I would not have to sell it. All those main tank attached bottles give too many headaches while changing the tanks, especially on the charter. Id you have the bottle slang you can always unclip it and pass it to the other diver. The same skills will work if you later switch to tech diving.

 

[elan]

SpareAir is a wonderfully unique piece of gear - it's the only piece of scuba equipment that can enable a diver to run out of air TWICE on the SAME DIVE!

Unless you dive doubled spare air when you can run out thrice if you forget to open the manifold

 

[katdiver]

My setup is a 2L 300 bar steel pony back mounted on my single main. The pony SPG is routed next to the pony second stage on opposite side to my main console. No mix up this way. Love it.