Cost of pony setup?

[lowviz]

Yes. A 40 makes a great stage bottle for when you go serious tech.
A 30 is large for a pony (you'll end up leaving it on the boat) and small for deco.

-go with a 19.

 

[runsongas]

depends on if you pick stuff up used, but you can get by pretty cheap if you are patient. i picked up an al27 for 40 on CL, paid 30 for hydro and vis, did the mounting hardware for 10 from dgx, and a 40 dollar din beuchat reg off ebay.

 

[Marie13]

I wasn't planning on mounting a pony on my back. Seems like it would be harder to reach when you needed it.

Hmmm, maybe I will end up getting one sooner than planned. I'll be watching Craigslist over the winter.

 

[ripman3]

30 cf pony bottle $140
I picked up a used mk 17 with a g260. $265
$40 to side mount
I take it on every dive

 

[Ghetto Diver]

Finances. I'd rather put my money into more training (which includes some private sessions) and diving to get more experience. I know a number of Great Lakes divers who use a pony on dives about 80 ft and deeper. I don't plan on the deeper wrecks until 2018.

As posted by Dumpster, I use one for anything deeper than 50',
If you are going to do more training, why not get one now and incorporate the bailout into it?
In before the 13cf isn't big enough crowd....I use a 13cf slung. I take with me on all local boat dives [50-85]. It was a cracklist special for $30. DIY'ed a harness from stuff I had and Lowes. Use a MK2 with older Sherwood second and button gauge.

 

[RyanT]

If you buy your tanks new, there is not much difference in price between an AL19, 30, or 40. 40s are great for deco, but will indeed be big to schlep around for a pony. At recreational depths, a 19 will provide a decent amount of air and still be nice and compact. Obviously a 30 is going to give you more time than a 19, but it starts to get a little bulky for slinging on recreational dives.

 

[uncfnp]

Hi Marie.

As you can already see ponies on SB are a hotly debated issue. I know cost is a factor but I enourage you to buy the right size for your current use and not something that you think you might need in the future. There are tons of threads and lots of good but also confusing information.

As a fellow female that actually dives with a pony and has a fair amount of experience with a variety of sizes, I would be happy to help in any way I can.

 

[scubadada]

The size of one's pony has been discussed many times on SB. Personally, I think the best thing to do is to calculate the amount of gas you would need to ascend from the deepest dive you expect to make with the pony. A conservative calculation often includes a minute at depth, an ascent at 30 ft/min, and a safety stop, all at twice your normal RMV. Under actual emergency circumstances, for a NDL dive, one could make a somewhat quicker ascent and skip the safety stop if necessary.

 

[redacted]

The size of one's pony has been discussed many times on SB. Personally, I think the best thing to do is to calculate the amount of gas you would need to ascend from the deepest dive you expect to make with the pony. A conservative calculation often includes a minute at depth, an ascent at 30 ft/min, and a safety stop, all at twice your normal RMV. Under actual emergency circumstances, for a NDL dive, one could make a somewhat quicker ascent and skip the safety stop if necessary.

I guess, if you are the nervous type and tend to panic, one could double your normal breathing rate, But, with a properly sized pony, you are not OOA or even LOA. You have enough gas to make a normal ascent including a safety stop. So why does your breathing rate change?

 

[Steve_C]

Fellow I dove with once in the Keys told me he had only really needed a pony once. But his pony was not with him because it was a larger size and so he often did not bring it.

I have a slung 19. Small enough that I will to take it with me most of the time. Large enough to get me to the surface alive. Note that I do not dive serious wreck penetration nor caves and have no interest in tech. My goal in diving is to keep it simple with as little to worry about as possible.