hose configuration?

[paintsnow]

hokay
im going to try to answer all of you
if i miss someone im sorry and let me know so i can get back to you on that
im using the Ponease which allows you to pull the pin yourself.
the reason i wanted to put the ponys reg on my neck was that i figured it would always be close but i guess so is the intergrated inflator, and yes you can control it even while breathing off of it.

and ben_ca- whats the difference from a normal rig?
forget the pony for a min. its a normal rig with a long hose and intergrated inflator.
are you saying you wouldnt dive with me because i have an extra bottle of gas just in case?
im sure you would think quite differently if you were entangled at 100 feet and couldnt get free and i had to get help and more gas? i sure wouldnt want to hold my breath down there or go up without any air either...

the reason i posted this was to get feedback on the setup. and because of the feedback i have decided to either clip the pony reg to a d ring or bungee it to the bottle itself.

not trying to be rude but make a point. 2 regs for the main rig plus the pony
that seems pretty standard to me.

if there are any more questions or comments i would be glad to answer/read them
thank you guys for all the help

 

[bergersau]

hokay
im going to try to answer all of you
if i miss someone im sorry and let me know so i can get back to you on that
im using the Ponease which allows you to pull the pin yourself.
the reason i wanted to put the ponys reg on my neck was that i figured it would always be close but i guess so is the intergrated inflator, and yes you can control it even while breathing off of it.

A standard 2nd stage bungied and a standard inflator is widely considered superior.

and ben_ca- whats the difference from a normal rig?
forget the pony for a min. its a normal rig with a long hose and intergrated inflator.
are you saying you wouldnt dive with me because i have an extra bottle of gas just in case?
im sure you would think quite differently if you were entangled at 100 feet and couldnt get free and i had to get help and more gas? i sure wouldnt want to hold my breath down there or go up without any air either...

It's not the extra gas thats the problem, its the screwed up way your trying to manage it that'll cause problems.

the reason i posted this was to get feedback on the setup. and because of the feedback i have decided to either clip the pony reg to a d ring or bungee it to the bottle itself.

Better than bungee on the pony 2'nd stage but still problematic.

not trying to be rude but make a point. 2 regs for the main rig plus the pony
that seems pretty standard to me.

The way you're trying to rig the stage is quite non standard. Also the air2 style inflator whilst not uncommon is still in the minority of setups.

If there are any more questions or comments i would be glad to answer/read them
thank you guys for all the help

If you rig as my initial post suggested.
In a buddy out of air you would
1 - Donate your primary reg. You know it's working and the gass is OK for your depth (If you're using mixed gasses this is important!)

2 - Switch to your backup (either normal 2nd stage or air2 type setup is workable though I'd prefer a normal reg bungeed).

3 - Stop and assess the situation.

4 - If appropriate you can then hand off your staged bottle in a relaxed and controlled (Ie not rushed) manner.

5 - Swap back to your primary reg once your buddy is comforable on the stage bottle and it's clipped off appropriately.

6 - If you route the 5 or 7 foot hose as suggested, stowing the long hose should be straightforward.

I just see problems waiting to happen with your gear configured as you describe.

The nice thing with staged bottles is that you can handle them properly.
1 - you can see the cylinder markings to note the MOD. This should be clearly marked.

2 - You can pressurise the regs and then turn the valve off so you won't have an uncontrolled freeflow.

3 - You can see the pressure guage (You do have one on you pony don't you? It's no good if you need it and it's almost empty and you havent noticed.)

4 - It's straightforward to hand off the staged bottle.

5 - You can't make the mistake of starting the dive on your pony regulator. Don't dicount this - it's killed several divers over the years.

6 - When you don't need the stage just leave it in the boat or on the shore.

Again, I recommend the Hogarthian gear layout as the issues have all been thought out. The problem you're having is that you've not thought out all the issues confuguring your gear this way.

Oh one other thing, if you're using a long hose setup as reccomended . DON'T have a snorkel hanging from your mask strap, it'll just get in the way of the long hose if you need to donate it. If you feel the need for a snorkel then maybe a foldup one in a pocket would be suitable.

Safe Diving.

 

[Captain12Pk]

Paintsnow,
I completely see what you're trying to accomplish here, and I understand. I once tried to accomplish a similar rig. However I quickly learned that the easiest (and probably the only successful) way to donate an air source in an ooa situation is to stage it. The rig / situation bergersau desscribed is clean. He's right. It sounds like you're trying to re-engineer the wheel and you will probably run into issues that you had not thought out.
BTW I didn't like staged bottles either, but I'm getting used to them.

Good Luck

 

[paintsnow]

i have already decided NOT to stage it but am curious as to why bergersau thinks clipping off the pony reg to a chest d- ring is problematic?
i know about staged bottles being used for deco and different gasses but honestly im not going to be doing that all too soon so the MOD isnt important to me cause there isnt one(well rec limits of course but not a true MOD)
if (when) i start doing deco dives i can then sling the pony but for now it will do best on my back.

what would the difference between clipping the reg to a chest d-ring and using bungees to hold it down flush with the bottle be?
i dont see any huge differences or problems
but if you do please point them out

 

[Dive-aholic]

Could you reach the release by yourself or did a buddy have to detach it?

Jon

I didn't dive it so I'm not positive, but I believe it's a self release. You push up and pull out to get the tank off.

im sure you would think quite differently if you were entangled at 100 feet and couldnt get free and i had to get help and more gas? i sure wouldnt want to hold my breath down there or go up without any air either...

That's what a z-knife is for. I dive a lot in limited visibility lakes with lots of fishing line. I dive in wrecks. I dive in caves. I do about 130 dives a year. I haven't once been entangled to the point that I couldn't get loose. You're trying to plan for something that's not very likely to happen. A pony is there as a redundant air source if you should have a catastrophic air loss. About the only time you might need to hand off a bottle is in a PSD situation in black water (you can't see your gauges), and even that's not very likely. Keep it simple.

 

[Gil57usa]

Why not mount the pony with the valve up. If you use an integrated reg on the inflator for back-up, why not just bungee the entire hose and reg to the pony so it is a single unit ready to hand off?

 

[paintsnow]

Dive-aholic
it might not be very likely but i was just using it as an example
that is the main purpose of the pony(redundant air source)
but it could be handed off easyly IF necessary
thanx all seems like im actually going to bungee the hose and the reg to the pony afterall so that i can either grab the reg or hand it off.

i am also planning on rigging a handle onto the bottle similar to the slung setup so that its not dropped as easily

 

[jeckyll]

Told you guys he wouldn't listen.

Paintsnow: You've gotten some advice from people that 1) have a fair bit of experience and 2) actually are bothering to point out what's wrong with your idea.

The smart thing would be to heed that advice.

 

[SeanQ]

I agree with jeckyll.

As a further point of advice I would suggest you do not put the primary UNDER your left shoulder. Put it OVER the shoulder instead.

Think about it. An OOA diver approaches you and pulls the primary out of your mouth. Once you manage to give them the slack that is around the back of your neck, the hose will be trapped under your left arm. A 5' hose is pretty snug across the chest, so if the other diver is pulling on the reg hose it will be difficult to free other 4' that's wrapped under your arms. Now you've got an upsidedown reg with about 1 foot of slack hose in both divers faces. As it's your primary, it's probably pretty sensitive and might freeflow. When it does, it will be flapping around your BC inflator, which also happens to be your backup. Do you see where this is going?

 

[rjack321]

The way you are going about this is almost guaranted to cross hoses. So when you go to donate your long hose it mucks with the pony hose.

I suggest getting a few more dives in (your profile states 0-24) before you buy a ton of custom hoses and convoluted gear. I dive with some strokey buddies sometimes, but your proposed rig is beyond what I'm comfortable trying to figure out on the fly.