Do you actually see people diving with pony bottles?

[Lorenzoid]

I would like gills--no tanks and regs at all. But alas .... You can't always get what you want. Every diver has a different idea about the balance between convenience and safety.

 

[Colliam7]

When I suggested that carrying a pony could lead to complacency, I was referring to complacency with the pony--rusty deployment skills, lax maintenance, etc.--not monitoring the backgas. Of course, no one on SB would be complacent--I mean, among those OTHER divers. Your last sentence above is what I had in mind.

Well, if there is one certainty in this life, it is that I am not infallible, and have a remarkable ability to misunderstand.

The comments about standardization are well worth noting. I had not been thinking along those lines in several of my posts, but they make sense. Often, we spend time discussing the size of the pony bottle, without adding sufficient emphasis to basic procedures.

 

[Hatul]

Locally in S Cal if I dive solo take my pony tank (13 or 19 depending on depth). You can’t fault anyone for having a redundant air source, as gas failure can become a life or death issue. I get that and I’ve taken a pony tank twice to Cozumel but never filled it and never used it. I just like the simplicity and freedom of diving without it. Also I have the feeling that other divers are close by or are easily visible and I could swim to them if needed.

 

[Ayisha]

It ain't rocket science.

Rig pony with stage bottle kit. Have some way of holding second stage so it doesn't go dragging. I use a loop of bungee around valve. Some people use a snorkel holder.

You clip it to chest and hip D rings on either left or right side.

Dive with it. Practice in pool or quarry before going on "big" dives with it.

Done.

If you don't dive a BP/W, your BC may not have appropriate attachment points for a pony.

All good except clipping the bottle onto the left side is I believe more standard than on the right. My pony bottle is clipped onto the left chest D-ring and the left hip D-ring, as deco and stage bottles often are.

The reason for clipping bottles on the left side being standard for DIR-type agencies is so that it doesn't trap the long hose (if you use one) or a light cord (if you use one) or the bottle doesn't hit the light switch by accident, which would all be on the right side. If you use or will eventually use a DPV, it's typically used by the right hand and stowed on the right chest D-ring, along with the stowed long hose and back-up light. A light canister, if you use one, is typically on the right hip, so DIR type bp/w's don't even have a D-ring on the right hip. If you don't have any of these but are considering moving to them in the future, it's a good idea to start with the same protocols you will use later.

When deploying the pony/stage/deco bottle which is slung on the left side, the hose routes behind the neck and the reg comes from the right side and is deployed with the right hand, which is consistent with S-drill protocols.

As you can see, there are many valid reasons to have a bottle clipped on the left side.

For keeping the hose in place, many people cut slices of tire inner tubes that have the same circumference as the bottle. I have found that a thinner slice is easier than a thicker slice with thick gloves, since it is easier to pull up and re-stow, at least for my weaker hand. I was told during my stage bottle workshop that bungies are not appropriate, but they sure were easy with thick gloves. A thinner inner tube slice though, is fairly easy, especially with the standard tubing that holds it slightly away from the tank for easy grabbing.

 

[lowviz]

Excellent and terse summary of your agency's take on this. I don't think that I have ever read a better one.

I deviate from the above due to how I dive. Two oversize clips on the pony with cuttable attachments to the pony. Unclip/cut those two clips and the pony falls away as a self-contained unit.

Bungee on top, inner tube strap on the bottom of the pony. None of those stupid plastic balls on the two bungee tails, balls catch on everything. The two tails are cut to the width of your hand and flame sealed. Should you need to re-stow the secondary reg, that bungee tail is priceless (to me). Forget the bottom strap on re-stow, unnecessary.

But you guys/gals re-stow the secondary around your neck, no? In which case, I can't complain about the procedure you offered.

 

[george_austin]

Doesn't PADI have a Solo diver certification that recommends solo divers carry redundant air supply with dedicated 1st and second stage regulator attached? and either slung or attached to your cam strap with a Highland type mount?

 

[boulderjohn]

Doesn't PADI have a Solo diver certification that recommends solo divers carry redundant air supply with dedicated 1st and second stage regulator attached? and either slung or attached to your cam strap with a Highland type mount?

3. Redundant gas source – pony cylinder, twin cylinders with
isolation valve or sidemount configuration. Redundant gas
supply must be configured so that the diver can access it
with one hand.

 

[Ayisha]

Excellent and terse summary of your agency's take on this. I don't think that I have ever read a better one.

I deviate from the above due to how I dive. Two oversize clips on the pony with cuttable attachments to the pony. Unclip/cut those two clips and the pony falls away as a self-contained unit.

Bungee on top, inner tube strap on the bottom of the pony. None of those stupid plastic balls on the two bungee tails, balls catch on everything. The two tails are cut to the width of your hand and flame sealed. Should you need to re-stow the secondary reg, that bungee tail is priceless (to me). Forget the bottom strap on re-stow, unnecessary.

But you guys/gals re-stow the secondary around your neck, no? In which case, I can't complain about the procedure you offered.

I wish re-stowing were that simple. No, I was taught to actually re-stow the reg back on the bottle. I haven't taken Tech 1 though, just a stage bottle workshop this spring and Fundies a few years ago. I suspect the procedure is the same though, as consistency is important. For re-stowing, we were taught to run a finger down the thick tube that runs along the length of the bottle, which is there to create a gap between the inner tube and bottle. Pull the inner tube up at the gap and push the reg back in. They asked if they could remove the bungie that I had on there and it was replaced with a thick slice of tight inner tubing, which was of course way harder to pull up and re-stow with thick gloves.

I originally had it the way you have it, with a bungie on top, and inner tube on the bottom. Perhaps the protocol changed at some point, because the person who made it for me a few years ago is Tech 2, Cave 2, and I'm certain that he would have made it compliant with the way he was trained. Maybe someone currently trained and more versed than me can enlighten us... Like @PfcAJ?

 

[lowviz]

Just do it. It works best.

I know you guys 'overlook' things. (like sidemount )

I would be so totally DIR if it weren't for that damn buddy thing....

 

[2airishuman]

I ditched the inner tube and got an elastic band with a little loop handle on it from dgx. Works great. I use bungee around the cylinder neck to hold the 2nd stage in place.