Pony Setup

[José Teles Reis]

hello there guys!
I'm an AOWD diving since april 2016.
Today i tried out a pony setup for the first time and let me tell ya i LOVED it!!!
My SCR is a bit high... so I usually use a 15 L tank for a 1 hour dive at 18 meters average..
But after every time I use a 15 L tank my back hurts a lot the next day :/ so... today i used this setup 12 L backmount and 7 L (?) pony. At 50 bar / 50 minutes i switched regulators.

Let me know your favourite setup for a non-decompressive dive!

 

[tbone1004]

that's not a pony bottle, that's a bottom stage. I would also highly recommend looking at where and how you attach the top of that bottle so you don't knock it into something or get caught on something. It will also help in streamlining and kicking efficiency which will help to lower your sac rate

also, please make sure that you are running your rock bottom calculations to make sure that you have enough gas to get up in an emergency.

If you are planning your diving this way, you can also get rid of the secondary on your primary regulator set since there is no point in having 3 second stages

 

[DMDavid]

Are you walking a great distance with your gear on? I only ask because the gear weight shouldn't be an issue below the surface.

 

[BoltSnap]

I would also highly recommend looking at where and how you attach the top of that bottle so you don't knock it into something or get caught on something.

Is this in general or is there something specific from seeing the picture of his setup?

 

[DevonDiver]

In the photo, the pony is hanging well below the torso. There'll be a pendulum effect. This would continually stress the spine muscles as you compensate for that movement.

It's much more efficient... and gentler on your body... to keep the pony more snug against your body.

That's usually a matter of adjustment.

One big problem with jacket BCDs is that the fixed D-rings give little scope for such adjustment. You can only adjust the pony rigging. I suspect you could make some improvements doing just that.. but ultimately, jacket BCDs aren't usually great for hanging cylinders from.

 

[BoltSnap]

In the photo, the pony is hanging well below the torso. There'll be a pendulum effect. This would continually stress the spine muscles as you compensate for that movement.

You think that it would work if there is a D'ring at or close to the bottom of the BM main tank and the pony bottom snap is attached there?

 

[DevonDiver]

Yes. It'd be possible. You could use a clamp like this:

D-Ring Stage Bands

This would increase the distance between top (harness shoulder D-ring) and bott attachment point....keeping the cylinder more snug to the torso.

You could also modify the cylinder rigging, shortening the distance between bolt snaps.

There's also a bunch of options that sidemount divers use, both for primary tanks (using bungees) and deco/stage rigging approaches.

 

[José Teles Reis]

Are you walking a great distance with your gear on? I only ask because the gear weight shouldn't be an issue below the surface.

Nop I am not, but the 15 L tank is stainless steal, so i think it makes a difference from using other tanks

 

[simcoediver]

I have never heard of or seen a stainless steel tank. you must mean galvanized steel right? It would not make any difference in the water,
, only on land.

 

[tbone1004]

Is this in general or is there something specific from seeing the picture of his setup?

From the picture. It looked like the tank is hanging from the d-ring on the end of a cinch strap for the shoulder but that's something else dangling. It appears clipped off to a very low d-ring, and that is causing it to ride very low. Unfortunately, most bcd's don't have a d-ring high enough up on the shoulders to work with a stage/deco/pony bottle properly. Best situation I can see here is to clip it off like it is, and figure out how to put some sort of sidemount loop bungee on the bc to get the neck up. Adjusting the position of the bottom may slow the pendulum effect in terms of forward and backwards, but the neck is at least 6" too low for a DIR style deco/stage bottle, and about a foot too low for sidemount.

@José Teles Reis what was said above is accurate. No one is making stainless steel tanks, the white tank in the picture you posted is made by Faber and is standard "steel" that has been painted with a bunch of stuff to attempt to keep it from rusting.
What I would advise is looking to find a tank with a smaller diameter and higher working pressure. The tank in the picture is an 8" diameter tank, and if it is filled to anything less than ~240 bar, is heavier for the same air capacity vs. a higher pressure 7.25" diameter tank. That may help some of your issues with the weight