Pony bottles

[LKunze]

Pony's are a viable option.  Here's my take on the pony.  For dives within recreational depth limits, a pony isn't absolutely necessary if a.) you're diving with a good buddy and b.) you're diving with a high end regulator that's rated for cold water and is properly tuned for cold water conditions.  I've never had a free flow with my Apeks even when it once had the I.P. set way too high.  Now I keep my I.P. set at about 120 but I once had it set as high as 150 and it still didn't free flow in 36 degree water down to 125 feet so I've accumulated some trust in my regulator's performance.  I consider my buddy and our dive plan to be my real back-up for deeper dives.  If I don't have a buddy that I trust and have dove with on deeper dives then I don't do the dive period.  Now if one were to be diving below recreational limits then a doubles rig would be the best option and a pony or two regs with H-valve would be the second best options in my opinion.  Sharing air (two divers huffing of off one 1st stage in a single tank rig) past recreational limits is gonna push even the best regulator into a likely freeflow.  Maybe even within recreational limits. I will say though that I have had a chance to dive Matt's 30cf pony rig a couple times.  It's setup slung like a deco bottle on the left side and it actually trimmed out and swam pretty nicely.