Pony bottle mounting options?

[String]

The diver is confused why his main tank has stopped working (especially when his guage says full) but spits out the reg, fumbles a little, and attempts to switch over to his pony reg. Of course this is the same reg he has breathed down to nothing, and after the "switch" he gets no air, but by now the the diver is totally confused, can't figure it out and drowns or shoots for the surface.

One fatality here last year due to exactly that (drowned) and over last 3 years have been several evacuations due to rapid ascents from it as well. Sadly it seems no matter what precautions people take with hoses in the stress of the moment mistakes are being made. Colour coding is unreliable in lots of conditions, mouthpiece feel isn't great either. Routing is not always easy to trace especially when you need it rapidly and so on.

Also i really dislike people ditching an octopus and making the buddy use the pony instead thus limiting them to a much smaller volume of gas - at the time when their breathing rate is likely to be huge.

 

[Gilldiver]

OK, so you gear up, put in the wrong reg, ...
I shouldn't be surprised that this happens.

That's a fair argument for slinging your pony. I'd also see this as a reason to have clearly readable SPGs on all your air sources and monitor them regularly and, if you're going to carry a pony, make sure it's a reasonable size. Though, given the amount of OOA incidents that occur, maybe that's too much to ask!

Back in the day - Say 1988 on any Northeast wreck you would see divers with independent doubles and a pony. That puts 3 2nd stages around your neck. A number of divers did what is described, hitting the water on the pony by mistake, getting to the bottom, and running out. Most always they figured out what had happened, but a few of them paid the ultimate price.

The solution was to use a pony regulator that was completely different from the regs on the main tanks. What I usually saw was a Poseidon Cyclon (in my day it was the Thor or the "Hockey Puck") on the pony and any other style on the mains.

But since the development of the slung bottle technique, back mounting a pony is, in my opinion, 2nd best anyway you look at it.

 

[Aardvark]

I appreciate the rational comments. I've had a look at some of the older pony threads (so many...) and is often doesn't take long for them to degenerate into flame wars.

 

[DryGear]

OK, so now that I've got what seems to be reasonably comfortable sling setup I have yet another question; do most of you using a sling setup carry shears? ...or do you just stick with a knife? :support:

 

[hobodiver]

I carry both. Might add another set of shears too.

 

[DaleC]

Both as well.