Underslung pony

[Clare Gledhill]

Originally Posted by Chris Chapman

(Side slung cylinders are really for stages or bailout, not ponys)

What is a pony if it is not a stage or bailout?

(and yes I know it ia s amall animal with four legs that goes neigh Woz... )

[JJ44]

I did my first dives with my pony side-slung at St. Abbs on Sunday. First impressions were good, it meant I could kit up and then attach it at the last moment and the hoses were bungied to the pony, so less clutter.

The only downside was it made it slightly more difficult to get to my spg, which is clipped off on my hip D ring - probably need to adjust length of the top clip to get it to sit correctly. But that was all, no noticeable off balance feeling etc.

HTH

Jeff

[Chris Chapman]

For your no-stop air dives a pony can certainly provide a bailout and get you to the surface, no argument there. Even for a small amount of deco you will get by, but when you are looking at long decompression and gas changes then we are not in pony territory.

Rememember that its ponys we are talking about not stages or Deco mixes.

Chris

[Lou]

Originally Posted by Chris Chapman

For your no-stop air dives a pony can certainly provide a bailout and get you to the surface, no argument there. Even for a small amount of deco you will get by, but when you are looking at long decompression and gas changes then we are not in pony territory.

Rememember that its ponys we are talking about not stages or Deco mixes.

Chris

Well, yes, precisely. So, the point of a pony is entirely for bailout, as per the OP.

I still don't understand why you are against side-slinging it.

[Chris Chapman]

i normally look upon bailout as being what you do if your CCR fails.

Originally Posted by Lou

Well, yes, precisely. So, the point of a pony is entirely for bailout, as per the OP.

I still don't understand why you are against side-slinging it.

A side slung pony makes boat diving more of a problem.
often requiring separate removal when rib diving to enable a diver to pass up kit.

it usually takes up more space when kitting up and can obstruct pockets and SMB reels.

really if you don't need to further clutter up your access triangle (space in front) then why do it?

If you want to look tekky fair enough but a simple rig is usually best where you can do it.

Chris

[Lou]

Originally Posted by Chris Chapman

i normally look upon bailout as being what you do if your CCR fails.

Whereas I look at it as something that you bail out to when your main rig fails.

Originally Posted by Chris Chapman

A side slung pony makes boat diving more of a problem.
often requiring separate removal when rib diving to enable a diver to pass up kit.

it usually takes up more space when kitting up and can obstruct pockets and SMB reels.

really if you don't need to further clutter up your access triangle (space in front) then why do it?

If you want to look tekky fair enough but a simple rig is usually best where you can do it.

Chris

OK - it might require seperate removal to pass up if you are rib diving, but then it is hardly very onerous to do so. Two piston clips and you are done. It also stops folk having to haul all the weight into the rib in one go.

It doesn't obstruct an SMB reel - either kit up with the reel over the top or wear the reel on the other side. Pockets on most jacket BCs are a waste of time - I never used to use mine. Better off with a decent leg pocket on a drysuit.

It certainly doesn't take up more space when kitting up than a pony sticking out the side of someones main cylinder, in my opinion. It only takes the room that you are taking up by sitting there. Ponies on the side of tanks stop you putting cylinders close together in racks

It doesn't clutter up your "access triangle" if you rig it correctly. How can something that goes from shoulder to hip on one side do that when your triangle runs from just above solar plexus to the edges of your cummerbund in real life?

As for saying folk just do it to look "tekkie" - that is absurd. There are very many good reasons to do it that way. Looking techie is not one of them. The main one is that it is far more simple than any option you have put forward! All of the backmounted ones then have the issue of reaching the valve, mounting the reg, recognising the reg and not breathing off it accidently and dying as has happened and been reported by the Plymouth coroner recently. You need to think about mounting options onto your main tank, and how to swap between tanks and dives. None of this applies to a side-slung pony.

Lou

[MartinW]

OK. Differences of opinion but that is why I asked the question and why I like YD so much.

Gonna go for a dip this weekend and will try all 3 ways. See if I can immediately rule any of them out.

Now...I've seen the pics that Woz posted for setting up a sideslung pony but I must admit I have no real idea how to connect it. Anyone got a picture?? The picture in my mind that I have is like a large stage cylinder but reading some of the posts I get the impression that it can be rigged much more neatly. Lou suggested under the arm in the slipstream.

(I appreciate that this may be fundamentals stuff....but nobody showed me!!)

[Lou]

It is like a stage, but you need the clips tighter into the body of the cylinder, especially the bottom one, to keep it snug.

So, just look at any of the "how to rig a stage" threads, and have a play. Attach reg with hose pointing down the body of the cylinder and tuck it into snoopy loops or bungee tied around the tank.

[David Tombs]

I have to say that I have converted to side slung pony this year. For me in the water there is excellent balance and access to both the regs pony and main contents guages.There is the advantage of being able to put it on at the ''last '' moment ,which is easier for me,and reduces ''hose clutter''.It removes the risk of breathing off the wrong reg,which should not happen but does. The main problem,if it is one is getting back on a rib,but with a couple of goes its easy to take off and pass up.I am a convert to side slung cylinders after I was shown how controleable they are in free flow situations.

[Scuby]

Kitting up would be the main problem with it I guess... and hose routing. I just can't imagine how you'd put your kit down unless it was in a very strong stainless box underneath your main cylinder (to put the pony in and still be able to sit down). Seems like a lot of effort though.

Until last week i've only ever used back-mounted cylinders, and it seemed a nice way of doing it. Less cluttered was my theory, since its all already stuck together, you just throw the whole set on and jump in and you've automatically got your pony with you.

Last week I used a 7l stage cylinder though, hanging on my left. Putting it on was surprisingly easy, and once on I could still happily sit on the boat without the weight making all that much difference. Really didn't get in the way of anything (could still get my SPG just be reaching down and grabbing) and didn't notice any effects on underwater balance at all. Its nice to just be able to grab it when I want it, and leave it when I don't. My stage just stays permanently rigged, if i'm not sure what i'm diving i'll take it and if the dive requires it i'll clip it on, if its a 10m pootle I won't bother. Means I can take it on a morning deep wreck and leave it for the shallower afternoon drift, for example.

David