regulator for pony rig ?

[Ozwald]

Personally I use quality regs on my ponies and stage bottles, sealed and able to withstand and perform in the nastiest environment that I am diving.

 

[Paladin]

If I were to decide to use a pony bottle, I think I would just use one of my US Divers Aquarius regs from the 1970s. It is a simple, bulletproof piston regulator that has only one moving part in the first stage. They last forever and service usually only involves replacing a few O-rings. Bryan at vintagedoublehose.com sells complete service kits and they're so simple, a trained chimp can do a complete rebuild on an Aquarius in about an hour or so.

Aquarius regs are going real cheap and they're easy to pick up. I have several and they all work perfectly. One of mine I bought new back in 1976 and it works like new. I was out of diving for over a decade 1993-2009) and, upon returning to diving, my first dive was with that reg. It sat in my closet for all those years and I just grabbed it, took it apart for a quick once-over, threw it on a tank and went diving. Even after just sitting there, unused, for about sixteen years, it worked perfectly. There really isn't anything in the Aquarius to fail unless an O-ring lets go.

The Aquarius is also a terrific first regulator for anyone who wants to get into DIY regulator service.

 

[jaycanwk]

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.

Not to hijack.. but i just wanted to point out, as I have Sherwood regs., is the dry bleed system only bleeds like less than a half a breath over the dive, so not really significant.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

For most dives yes. I agree.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I personally will feather my pony a couple times to make sure the reg is "chared" just in case the fit hits the shan. Not likely necessary but easy enough so I'm ok doing it.

 

[tdtaylor]

Being a rec diver, I keep my pony setup simple. But first, I have to say, several weeks ago my buddy's reg froze (his was a cold water reg), and I gave him my pony reg- I did not have to worry about the increase flow freezing up my primary reg. If I didn't before, I now believe in a pony setup.

I have a 19cf, which I always use except when going by air travel, mounted on the band of my main tank (I weight one side 2 pounds heavier than the other to compensate, which has worked well). I have regs that match my main tank regs, with a button SPG. Since I always have it in place, I am in the habit of always checking it before each dive. I do have a longer hose bungied to the pony tank to keep it tight and out of the way. The secondary is in a holder on the front of my BCD.

I have to say, since I try to keep my setup similar, when the emergency hit at 90 feet and low visibility, I didn't have to think about what I needed to do- just did it. Don't think it would have mattered if he grabbed my main reg out of my mouth- I would have just reached down and grabbed my pony reg.

But I do have one question for those more knowledgeable: Does air go bad in the pony? Every several months, I use my pony reg at a safety stop at the end of the day to drain part of it off so I can put new air in it. Am I just wasting perfectly good air, or is it good to refresh it? I've asked experienced a number divers, and have basically stumped everyone.

 

[Mitchell Teeters]

FWIW I have used tanks with three year old air before. Just saying.

Sent from my DROID X2

 

[NickPhillips]

I use OMS Workhorse for all deco/stage/pony bottles. Never had an issue.

 

[bj139]

FWIW I have used tanks with three year old air before. Just saying.

Sent from my DROID X2

I just used an AL80 with 21 year old air. It was a fine vintage.