Pony Questions

[stick_slinger]

Hiya,
I'm planning on getting a pony to add into my set up.

My question is should I go for a steel or aluminium? My own thinking is to go for aluminium because of it being more bouyant than the steel and i'm thinking that the steel one tip me to one side because of the added weight.

Also what would be the best way to carry them during a dive - strapped to the cylinder or side-slung?

Thanks in advance for your answers

J

[Ian B]

I use a 3l pony strapped to the right of my 15l cylinder. That way the hose for my octopus is on my left (for my buddy) and the hose for my pony (for me) is on my right like my second stage.

I've not noticed any weight problems when finning, although some people do. I like a contents gauge for my pony on a hose, instead on the gauges on the cylinder where you can't see them.

I know someone who has his pony cylinder inverted, with an extra long hose. He turns it on to fill the hose, then turns it off during the dive. He has a longer knob on his pony to make it easier to reach. I understand the reasoning behind this, but prefer my setup.

Experiment with your pony until you're comfortable with it, and never dive without it once you've got it.

[Sakara Drinker]

Steel and side or front slung I would say.

[G man]

Originally Posted by Sakara Drinker

Steel and side or front slung I would say.

I agree with front slung, you dont really norice it.
This is the best way as you can hand it off if you require.
You will be able to see it.
you can pressurise the hose and turn the valve off till you need it so you cant get a free flow and waste your gas.
You know exactly where the reg is if you need it not fishing round the back hoping its still there.

[gwilson]

Originally Posted by Ian B

He has a longer knob on his pony to make it easier to reach

Good choice of words.

I have mine strapped on the right and just move weight to the left to counter balance it, when i remember to do its fine.

[Druid]

Originally Posted by Ian B

I know someone who has his pony cylinder inverted, with an extra long hose. He turns it on to fill the hose, then turns it off during the dive. He has a longer knob on his pony to make it easier to reach.

That's what I do as well, but my knob is long enough without modification

It's a 3l steel cylinder, I don't feel unbalanced and have not needed to adjust my weights.

[Jonathan64]

Originally Posted by G man

You know exactly where the reg is if you need it not fishing round the back hoping its still there.

When I used to dive with a single 15 and a pony I strapped my 3ltr steel pony to the right of my tank as others have said. I had the pony valve on a necklace so there was no need to go "fishing" for it if required. The pony was for my use and I had an octopus for buddy use should it be required.

Try different ways and see what works for you though.

Jonathan

[ardhill]

Personal choice really. Have a go at different methods and see what you like.

I have steel and side slung. The 'in water' weight doesn't make a difference to my trim and it is right in front of me, easy to get if needed. As it is slung, I have the reg bungied to the tank ready to pull out and I don't get it mixed up with my main reg.

If I don't want to take the pony on a particular dive, I leave it off - no hassle.

Side slung is slightly unconventional for a pony and I have taken some flack for doing that. Then again I have taken flack for various bit of my configuration at times. But, I don't care personally - I have my kit the way I want it for reasons that I have thought out and am happy with. You may not want the grief if no-one else dives like this within the people you dive with.

[tom]

I find side-slung works very well and I know a lot of people who dive that way. Most people use steel 3l cylinders - I don't think I've ever actually seen an ally pony. Having said that though, if you did want ally I'd look at an AL40 rather than a 3l as it gives you a better gas reserve.

Some people have mentioned having the reg pressurised but the valve switched off. I'd think very seriously about that - in an emergency, when you need gas, do you really want to be screwing around with the valve to get your second breath? When I dive with a pony I leave the valve on at all times. If you do get a free-flow, having it side-slung means the valve is easily accessible and can be shut down quickly.

[Mark Chase]

I like side slung for a pony. You can get to the valve immediately so if you forgot to switch it on its less of an issue but more importantly if its leaking you will notice it straight away and can switch it off.

You can also hand the whole thing off to another diver or up to the boat to reduce weight getting back into a RHIB. Its good practice for future use of decompression stages as well.

The standard pony is the 3ltr steel which is small and compact. I haven't used an Ali3 but I am told they don't have the positive buoyancy normally expected of the bigger ali tanks. However give consideration to an Ali40. 5ltrs of gas instead of 3. Yes its much bigger but it is so incredibly light in the water you really will not notice it at all.

If you back mount your pony you should do so in a way that allowed you to reach the valve. Inverted on a longer hose is a nice way of doing this. I however decided on a slightly different approach and rigged my one on a necklaced reg and used a single long hose (no octo) on the main tank.

This way I handed off my long hose to the OOG diver and i went up on my pony. I balanced the pony on the side of my tank with a 2kg lead block on the cam band on the opposite side of the main tank and later with a canister torch.

What ever you decide is best for you please remember to practice ascending on your pony on a regular basis especially from you maximum normal Single and Pony depth.

Once you have total faith in its ability to get you up you will have a really useful safety feature. If you have no experience / faith with it, its just more dead weight to carry around.

ATB

Mark Chase