Question about pony tank

[MikeM_scuba]

Need an advise.
Thinking about buying pony bottle - 13 cubic feet. Don't want Spare air or H2O hoseless, just regular tank with first and second stage.
Now the question: what to buy H2O RAS regulator / k-valve combo (first stage also used as tank valve) or get regular 13 cubic feet with K-Valve, regular first stage and regular yellow second stage.
Pro H2O RAS argument - all in one package, less components, hopefully lighter than traditional system - I'm not springing for titanium.
Pro regular system argument - not all eggs in one bucket, can mix and match, can use my current octo (would save me $20 at best).
Please, want to see what people think, especially people who used the both.
And, BTW, I'm not looking for advise like "you don't need redundant air". I had my second stage flooded and rendered useless at 80 feet, can imagine what would happened if first stage would go too.
The best buddy is the one attached to your tank, you can always rely on it. Plus, I'm planning to go back to Bonaire and dive by myself.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I have not used both, but I would buy a standard pony, a standard first stage and then take the octopous from the primary and use it as a pony reg. Particularly if you are cost sensitive. That's what I did over 15 years ago and has worked well for me.

 

[skresch]

"...get regular 13 cubic feet with K-Valve, regular first stage and regular yellow second stage."

Much better route and you save $. You might also look at a 19cf though, use the search function their are a bunch of posts on this with some very good data tables.

 

[daniel f aleman]

Man, I nevers think that youse be from Philly.

 

[RICHinNC]

I would recommend no smaller than a 19 cuft. As far as reg goes...as good as you can afford.

 

[waterpirate]

Ditto Rich in nc
You need to have a reg that delivers air well at the depth you are diving, which usually excludes anything that is yellow, or attached to your bcd hose. 20 cu feet should be your minimum pony, stress at depth = air hog.
The ability to do a safe ascent and safety stop on back-up gas after an emergancy is priceless.
A good drill is to borrow a pony bottle before buying, dive to your average depth. At the end of the dive, switch to pony and do ascent including safety stop, now check your psi, this drill is quite educational!
Eric

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

there are tons of posts on this subject already so you way want to look into using the search function before posting next time. Although I will add that I went through this same deal only 6 months ago and got a 19 and then upgraded to a 40. A 40 will grow with you should you grow to deco or technical diving and a 40 is gonna support more than 1 diver if necessary and have plenty of air for safety stops and some deco. As far as regs go it is best advised to have the same first stage and second as on your primary breathing setup. it seems expensive at first but trust me owning 2 good regs is gonna be the least of your expenses in the long run. Sling the bottle its cheap, easy, and reliable. If you sling you can pass the bottle off to another diver if you believe in helping your fellow man (I do NOT anymore, they could kill you both, but thats another story). And if necessary a slung bottle can be removed easily for other reasons like to hand back into a boat or removed and placed on the line for some reason.

Get a 19 at least and get identical or better quality regs than you already own and sling the darn thing, got it. Good

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I think you do NOT want the same second stage on the pony and primary!

People have died by getting the two mixed up. The diver goes down with the back mounted pony reg in mouth but thinks it is his primary. It (the pony) runs out of air fast. He spits it out (thinking it is the primary) recovers the pony second stage (again) and now erroneously determines that his pony doesn't work. Now he is SURE both tanks don't work, If he doesn't immediately figure out that he has never REALLY tried the primary second stage he could easily die!

I like to keep the pony reg on a necklace, I like to have an old brass second stage that is heavy and rugged and less likely to be confused with the primary.

Just a week ago, I was very rushed and disctracted when preparing to do a solo dive, I checked if my pony was working (by breathing off the second stage) and then got distracted and forgot to spit it out and put in the primary. I THINK I would have entered the water like that if the boat operator did not point out my error. This occured even though I have a different mouth piece on the two regs.

Many people enter the water breathing off a SNORKEL while thinking it is a scuba reg. I think we need to make an effort to make the two second stages different as a basic safety precaution (at least for idiots, like me).

 

[NARCOSISOFTHERIVER]

I've got a 17cu. bracketed onto my primary tank with a Titan reg. that I have used as a previous primary setup. I do not want to be looking around for coloured hoses or regs. if disaster strikes. Hook that badboy around your neck so it's the closest thing you can jam in the old piehole. Cheers, Buzz.

I don't know if this picture came up but there's one in my gallery.

 

[SteveAD]

Another vote against the h2o all in one is that if you have a malfunction of your primary first stage before or between dives, a bit of hose swapping will allow you to still do the dive using your pony first stage(granted without the pony). the h20 unit is stuk on the pony tank only.