regulator for pony rig ?

[Scuba_Noob]

I have an older Aqualung model on mine. The suggestion is to have the first and second stages of your pony bottle to be simple (but quality) so that there's fewer chances for anything to break down. It NEEDS to work in emergencies, so it's worth spending the extra for a good reg - it doesn't have to be expensive. A pony bottle in rec cases should be used in emergencies only (or when practicing using it for emergencies), not as an extension to your dive time - if you want to extend your dive time, get a bigger tank.

At less than 24 dives, adding a pony bottle might make you too task-loaded and mess with your buoyancy (while you're still learning how to maintain proper buoyancy). You should probably not dive alone, even with a pony bottle. It might give you bad habits, like sucking your primary tank very low or not paying attention to your gauges, just because you have a back-up.

My suggestion is to wait until you have a lot more experience (100+ dives) before you get a pony bottle.

 

[DMDavid]

And not because they are not good regs, they are, I would not consider ScubaPro or Aqualung simply because I have ethical issues with the way they treat dealers and end users.

???? Care to elaborate?
I have never had any issues with either of these companies.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I do not care for the restrictive practices they use with their dealers, their pricing and service policies, and the way some products can not be sold in the US but can be overseas. Again not knocking the quality. Their business ethics are not in line with mine so I choose not to support them.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[abyss_scuba]

Not to hijack this thread, but what does how a company choses to do business have to do with whether a diver should use their product. The op asked for advice on which regulator would meet his needs. How ethical is it to recommend something because you sell it without asking the diver what their needs are. Anyone who says buy this without asking what your present and future needs are is merely selling you what they have in stock. Again to the op consider your needs in the future so that you don't have to buy twice.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Not to hijack this thread, but what does how a company choses to do business have to do with whether a diver should use their product. The op asked for advice on which regulator would meet his needs. How ethical is it to recommend something because you sell it without asking the diver what their needs are. Anyone who says buy this without asking what your present and future needs are is merely selling you what they have in stock. Again to the op consider your needs in the future so that you don't have to buy twice.

The OP at 0-24 dives probably does not know what is future needs are, I sure did not at that stage.

Since Jim disclosed up front that he did sell Edge (the others he used and service) its completely ethical IMO. Jim's not the type to play games.

 

[abyss_scuba]

When I started scuba diving I knew I wanted to be a NE cold water wreck diver. At least you should ask a diver what directon they want to go before assuming they don't know. Also to dismiss Aqualung's is kind of funny since the brand Mr Lapenta does sell is a copy of the Aqua Lung / Apex. But please lets not hijack this thread. I would love to hear from the op to see what their interest might be so that all the fine people on this board might help the op. nuff said

 

[Max Speed]

How does a Sherwood dry bleed regulator work as a pony bottle reg?

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[Bob DBF]

I use my old Sherwood Magnum from '80 because I picked up a new Sherwood Blizzard on a good deal, and the old reg still works flawlesly. My discretionary funds are limited so I have a tendancy to reuse and rebuld rather than replace.

Lets face it, it's a twofer, you get a new reg for your primary and you intimately know the reg on the pony. If you don't like the new reg then switch it to the pony. If you can't trust the reg your using now on a pony bottle, there are bigger issues.

Last, but not least, most of the difference in breathing on modern regs is because of how they are tuned not because of a spec sheet showing stats that [-]you[/-] I could not ever discern by breathing.



Bob
-----------------------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

---------- Post Merged at 08:28 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:12 AM ----------

How does a Sherwood dry bleed regulator work as a pony bottle reg?

Just keep it turned on, it looses very little air (the spec is 2 minutes to fill a 1 oz container) and I saw no noticable difference over a dive. Eventually there would be a noticable loss but I can top off when necessary.

I have used the pony with my double hose, where it also feeds the wing, on a 130' multilevel dive I used 200# from the pony for the dive on an AL80.



Bob
------------------------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

The only issue I ever had with the Sherwood as a pony reg was the constant (maybe imagined even) worry in the back of my head that the dry bleed would not give me the extra breath I needed if I had to go to it as others will using it as I was taught. The loss of gas from the tank is negligible but from the hose can make a difference.

I was taught to charge the reg at the surface then turn it off. Charge it again upon reaching depth to make sure it had not freeflowed on the way down, turn on again at the turn point then off, and once at the ascent point turn on and leave on til surfacing. The idea was that this will prevent a total loss of gas should the second get bumped and free flow and that the air in the hose will give me an extra breath as I'm turning on the valve.

I have done this ever since anytime I carry a pony or stage and it works. I never had an issue with the Sherwood this way but the times on many of those dives between chargings of it were relatively short. Now it is possible that those times could be enough to make a difference, so I just eliminated the cause of the anxiety and use a different reg.

 

[RonFrank]

What happened to your buddy? Why do you need a pony when you have less than 25 dives?

I would not worry about a pony unless diving solo. Solo diving is something not recommended until you reach 100 dives.

Being a good buddy is a skill you need to develop. I doubt you have fantastic buddy skills and those are important. Buoyancy skills and buddy skills are both valuable skills worth developing.

I have a pony that I use when diving deep or solo but I have never used it...... regs are very reliable and I have never run out of air.

Work on your skills first and buying a pony down the road. A pony is just extra stuff that you have to manage and not necessary with a good buddy. Most divers will never own a pony and they don't need one unless diving solo.