Anyone Considered XS Scuba's HP 40 cf Pony Bottle?

[FishTaco]

I think the point you may have missed or overlooked is that to be properly weighted in order to pass off the bottle safely without sending yourself to the surface. you would be grossley over weighting yourself in order to carry a few extra cu ft of gas.
If you are not afraid of the extra weight and trim issues or the idea that steel pony bottles are as stated before a bit more work to o2 clean and maintain, oh and I almost forgot cost about 2-3 times the cash of an equal al cylinder. Then by all means buck the system and go your own way.Remember things are done a certain way until something better comes along. But I would venture to say that this is not it.
just my .02 cents

 

[dumpsterDiver]

if you do no deco dives why would you want to carry that much gas in a pony? A 19 should be ok in an ascent from 130 feet, and a 30 is more than enough. A steel pony makes no sense to me at all, primarily because of weight, bouyancy, cost and rust, all of which were mentioned before.

 

[jim T.]

FishTaco and dumpsterDiver,
Thank you. That's the education I was looking for and appreciate your points.
The potential 30-40 CF available in a bottle the size (roughly) of a 19CF bottle was the attraction. It was the other info. and specifics you guys and Doc and everyone pointed out that I needed to know to make an informed decision. I figured having that much more air available to me in a catastrophic failure emergency at 100 ft. depth or so, would be an easy choice but as usual, there is no free lunch. Everything has its' pros and cons and now I know what they would be.

I often get more specific info. here than from local shops so I appreciate your time and effort to help me out in the learning process.

 

[XS Scuba]

FYI: so far, the majority of the new steel pony cylinders we have sold are being used as a primary cylinder with our PonyPac. It's popular with lifeguards departments, PSD, yacht owners, etc... A link to the PonyPac is here: http://xsscuba.com/ponypac.html Just a small, compact package for a quick, shallow dive. The X5-40 is well suited for this use.

 

[Hoosier]

Jim,
But, you might want to note that its buttloads easier to O2 clean an aluminum tank than it is to O2 clean a steel tank. You'll need to VIP it and O2 clean it annually. Steel flash-rusts. Steel is a PITA to O2 clean. You can O2 clean an aluminum tank at your kitchen sink. To O2 clean a steel tank requires special chemicals to avoid rusting, stands to hold the tank inverted, tumbler, media, hoses, hot air driers, and other assorted logistics.


Doc

I also read the Oxyhacker's book though...

For the steel tank, the rust prohibitor should be used? (I know it is another debate here) And, the tumbling process is always required?

I did AL 02 clean many times, but I don't try the steel tank yet...

So~~~
Thanks in advance,
Hoosier