First of all have you read through
this?
Everyone has their own system, personally I sling mine like a stage using D rings on my BCD/Wing, I also use DIN valves/regs.
Do you know what your SAC rate is? Will a 19 cuft pony be sufficient to get you from 90ft to the surface?
Why would you not use it regularly? The whole point of carrying one is for redundancy, but you should carry it on every dive and practice using it frequently so that if needed it becomes second nature to use it.
I have not seen that but I will look over it and see if I can pick out some more information. I have read a fair amount into air consumption from various depths on various websites. The majority of my diving will be at 60' and I feel a 19cf would suit me well. For anything significantly deeper, developing a solid dive buddy would of course be key.
I guess I could agree with the regular use!
Edit to add - After reading over a few pages of that thread, I may consider a 30cf as they apparently sling similarly although I feel a 19cf is sufficient in most cases. Having more air isn't necessarily a bad thing. Having more weight however is a minor concern.
---------- Post added June 16th, 2014 at 10:55 AM ----------
The regulator that you bail out to should be of equal quality as the one you got off. Under stress and breathing off a lesser quality regulator will really spike your sac rate.
Eric
Thank you for the input. I currently dive an Atomic B2 DIN with Atomic SS1 inflator and unfortunately $700 for a reg is a little out of my price range right now when there are many other competitive regs out there in the lower range. As much as I would love to purchase another Atomic, it's just not feasible right now but maybe later on down the line I can work something and get an identical setup. I can certainly see your argument, however.
I could consider a used Atomic, maybe even a Z2 model but I still prefer to purchased an unused reg.
---------- Post added June 16th, 2014 at 10:58 AM ----------
My personal preference is to sling my 19cuft pony. I use a DIN 1st stage and an inline shut off valve so I can keep the valve on throughout the dive without losing any air by accidentally purging. The valve slides on and off and can be locked open. When deploying the 2nd stage I grab the shut off valve to pull the hose out from the bungee that action opens the valve. I store the bottle upright and full. The bottle is due for it's 1st post sale hydro in sept. I haven't used it except for a drill or two since I bought it. All the regulators I use are the same.
Would you mind providing a little more information on the inline valve? I was considering a reg with a manual flow control on the side similar to my B2 but how well do you think something like that actually works? I don't recall having any freeflow issues with my B2 but at the same time the thing is opened fully and in my mouth by the time I'm under water.
I see many people arguing about the amount of second stages one should carry. I'm actually a big fan of the SS1 inflator in this case, that way each second stage is unique. The one in my mouth, the one on my inflator hose, and the one slung as a stage. In the event of a buddy issue, he gets my primary and I switch to my SS1 on my inflator.
In the event of an issue myself, I simply grab the stage bottle in front of me.