Newsgroups: bit.listserv.scuba-l
Date:         Fri, 8 Jan 1993 13:51:00 EST
From:         "Tony.Kuhlman" <ADP64@MSU.BITNET>
Subject:      Pony bottle advice needed

  Let me first preface my remarks by saying that I don't (yet) have a pony
bottle, nor have I dove with one before.  These comments are based on comments
by and observations of friends, etc. that dive with ponies.  It's not that I
don't believe in them or trust them, it's just that I have never yet gone out
and actually purchased one - yet.  I waited on responding to Peter to see if
anyone else with first-hand experience came forward.  Since nobody has, I'll
throw this out for what it's worth.

BTW, in case the phrase 'pony bottle' confuses those of you not in North
America, it refers to a small supplemental cylinder of compressed air carried
by the diver as a redundant source of air.  I don't know where the term came
from. I have also heard it called a 'bailout bottle', which seems to make more
sense - i.e., it may help bail you out of a tight situation.

> From:         Peter Brueggeman <brueggep%sandnet.UCSD.EDU@SDSC.BITNET>
>
>           I recently obtained a 13cf pony bottle and ask for advice on
>           mounting it.  I will be carrying it on almost all dives and
>           I shuffle between using two main 80cf tanks.
>
>           1) What is your recommendation on how and where to mount the
>           pony bottle?

Most of the ponies I've seen mounted on a single tank were on the side.  It
seems to me that if you stacked it on top of the main tank, (with the main
tank between the pony and the diver) you could bang the pony into things.
Most of the diving I do is shipwreck diving, and that extra bit of clearance
you would lose can be precious.  Additionally, this style of mounting the pony
would seem to provide an extra place to catch seaweed, etc.  This is
speculation on my part - there's not much kelp in the great lakes.  Placing it
inside the angle formed by the main tank and the diver's back would eliminate
these problems.


>           2) If you mount it on the side of the main tank, do you
>           counterbalance its weight with a lead weight or something on
>           the other side of the main tank?

I've never heard anyone complain about the pony putting them off balance.
Assuming the pony is negative in the water, could you instead remove an
equivalent amount of weight from that side of you weightbelt?

>           3) I have heard of a male/female pin mount strapped onto
>           main and pony tanks with stainless bands; is this a good
>           setup and where do I get these mounts?

  I have not seen this sort of mount.  It might be worthwhile if you plan to
switch the pony back and forth from tank to tank.  Most of the mounts I have
seen on a single tank used a pair of hose clamp or similar mounts.  To move it
to another tank, you had to physically unclamp the tank and reclamp it on the
new one.  A quick release & attachment mechanism might be handy, if you can be
assured of a solid mount that won't allow the pony to slip off.

>           Thanks,
>
>           Peter Brueggeman, UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography
>           Library, pbrueggeman@ucsd.edu

You're welcome.

Tony Kuhlman
ADP64@MSU.BITNET
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU