Diving with a pony

1691 Views 27 Replies 16 Participants Last post by chrisch, Apr 23, 2010

Jennifer

Discussion Starter · Apr 22, 2010 (Edited)

Ok so here's the question: Do you have to prime pony regs before jumping in?

I am not asking this for me as I no longer dive with one (yes I know, I survived and didn't die!) preferring my big bad twins instead (now with a matching set of two boots so I no longer look like DIR or a confused diver! - cheers LeighG u r a star)

Anyway I have just given some advice to a diver who has just bought a pony (yeah yeah I know the advice should have been don't buy one but hey ho their choice

) and they disagreed with the advice so I thought I would ask the masses.

My advice was to turn on the air at the surface, take a few test breaths as with a normal cylinder, turn off the air but do not purge the reg, jump in descend to your lowest depth, turn air on again in the pony to ensure a full breath of air is in the hose then turn air off again. That way when you need it you have at least one full breath of air in the hose whilst turning on the pony's air supply.

PS This advice was given to me when I borrowed a pony from a techie and he found out I'd been jumping in without priming the regs and said something to do with avoiding water to enter the stage and rusting and also that it would limit the chances of a free flow.

Your thoughts on this would be gratefully recieved.

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

Woz

· #2 · Apr 22, 2010

Yes is the sort answer.

Reactions: 1

bubbleless

· #3 · Apr 22, 2010

yes you have to turn them on and breathe from them to make sure they work.

If you don't do this when you dive water will get into the 1st stage as there is nothing stopping it, thats not good!!

Once you have turned them on and checked then then you can turn them off if you want.... but why as in an emergency you would need to turn them back on before you could use them again not good!! and usually not easy quite often due to the position of the pony valve.

Reactions: 1

chrisch

· #4 · Apr 22, 2010

A bailout tank is for emergency use and to my mind should be on and ready to breathe for the emergency that might happen. Turning it off like a deco stage might just drown you as the second breath doesn't come as expected. The issue of a freeflowing bailout is mainly due to the mounting of it on the back where you cannot get at the valve which is (AFAIK) where the American term "pony" comes from. Inverting the tank so the valve is accessible seems to me the obvious answer if you back mount the bailout. If you cannot reach the valve then by definition it must be on all the time.

PS an experienced techie would not have a pony

Reactions: 1

Woz

· #5 · Apr 22, 2010

First one to say "you will d*e if you dive with a pony" gets a red. You have been warned.

Jennifer

Discussion Starter · #6 · Apr 22, 2010

Woz said:
First one to say "you will d*e if you dive with a pony" gets a red. You have been warned.

does my op count and does that mean I have to edit it?

Jennifer

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 22, 2010

bubbleless said:
Once you have turned them on and checked then then you can turn them off if you want.... but why as in an emergency you would need to turn them back on before you could use them again not good!! and usually not easy quite often due to the position of the pony valve.

Mine was front mounted and easy to get to the pony valve but yes I see your point

Jennifer

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 22, 2010

chrisch said:
PS an experienced techie would not have a pony

Have ammended the op

AndyA

· #9 · Apr 22, 2010

I suppose it depends on where you have the pony. I used to side sling mine so turning the valve wasnt a problem (I dived with mine turned on at all times though). I would think that manipulating the valve may be a problem if you back mount so having it turned on at all times may be best.

Reactions: 1

chrisch

· #10 · Apr 22, 2010

Jennifer said:
Have ammended the op

tom

· #11 · Apr 22, 2010

Leave it turned on at all times, but in a position where you can easily shut down the valve in the event of a freeflow. The easiest options for this are sideslung, or inverted backmount.

chrisch

· #12 · Apr 22, 2010

AndyA said:
I suppose it depends on where you have the pony. .....

Most ponys are backmounted...

See less See more

nigelH

· #13 · Apr 22, 2010

I quite like the old pony but I'd at minimum pressurise the reg and I used to leave it on.

A reg that didn't get pressurised was the reg on the O2 side of my Inspo. After a few years it got a bit stiff so I sent it back to Apeks.
This virtually resulted in hate mail from the guy that reworked it accusing me of regulator abuse as it was full of crud but he had fixed it up like new.

outlaw13

· #14 · Apr 22, 2010

My thinking is to leave it on during the dive. There's a chance that your buddy has an out of air and approaches you from the side, grabbing the pony reg as it's the first thing he sees.

Reactions: 1

Richard Mason

· #15 · Apr 22, 2010 (Edited)

Woz said:
First one to say "you will d*e if you dive with a pony" gets a red. You have been warned.

OK, I'll bite................... you might die if you dive with a pony.

Getting back to the point, I always turn mine on and I leave it on - and why not - I don't feel a need to turn my occie off (even if I could).

Reactions: 2

Justin Owen

· #16 · Apr 22, 2010 (Edited)

Talk about taking a simple bailout method and trying to turn it into something complicated!?

When you're in trouble and need a breath you want it to hand, switched on and ready to breath - no messing about!

I'd consider myself a fairly experienced UK diver with 600 odd dives, but i still got a pretty good shock when my rebreather flooded and i had to bail out with no breath in my lungs - I'm very glad my bailout wasn't switched off!

Two Hats

· #17 · Apr 22, 2010

When I dived a pony for emergency gas it was slung under my arm, and turned on.
It's emergency gas, you need it in a hurry.

And I never died while diving it either

Reactions: 1

Iain3

· #18 · Apr 22, 2010

I've had a few occaisions where my charged stages have drained to read 0 bar, air leaking out when the stage is knocked or bumped. If the stage was left open the whole time a slow dribble, such as something gently pressing on the purge of the first stage, could drain the tank. With a pony this will not necessarily take long. I always dive with the valves closed so if I see that I open the valve to re-charge it, then close it again.

I'd rather breathe from a closed pony, get a breath and a half and a reminder to open the valve, than try to breath from an open pony and find it's drained when I needed it.

Reactions: 1

Two Hats

· #19 · Apr 22, 2010

Iain3 said:
I've had a few occaisions where my charged stages have drained to read 0 bar, air leaking out when the stage is knocked or bumped.
<snip>
I'd rather breathe from a closed pony, get a breath and a half and a reminder to open the valve, than try to breath from an open pony and find it's drained when I needed it.

All perfectly valid points.
Which is why, a pony, nowadays, for me, wouldn't be an ideal solution.

Some love em, some hate em, I'm not fussed, but also don't now really do the diving that would require them anymore.

stevechesh

· #20 · Apr 22, 2010

spare air is the way to go

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.