Recommend Redundant Air Supply Tank Size & Setup for Solo
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happy-diver
Skindiver Just feelin it
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Salt dudes, it's salt!
I have a small spare air. I have a 6cf pony. I had a 19cf pony, but it was made from the bad alloy, so it has been retired. I have a few 30s, mostly the short fat ones, but also 1 long thin one. I have a 40.
The spare air is enough for shallow dives where a safety stop is not going to be needed, in areas where there is nothing on the bottom that might snag me & prevent me from surfacing.
The 6 is one step up from the spare air & pretty easy to carry. I can do a safety stop with the 6. I believe that you can now get a larger spare air, which seems easier to carry & a better value than a 6 + the cost of a second regulator.
The 19 was a good all around pony. If I was going to have only one, this might be the size I would want, depending on where I was planning to dive.
The 30 starts to get a little cumbersome, but can be managed. I still carry them on the front of my rig, so that I can see what is going on if I need it quickly. 30 cubes is a lot of spare air to carry. I sometimes use those tanks to extend dives, rather than use them as a traditional back up.
The 40 is cumbersome. I am more likely to use that as a stage bottle.
When buying a pony, I would also consider buoyancy of the different tanks.
The spare air is enough for shallow dives where a safety stop is not going to be needed, in areas where there is nothing on the bottom that might snag me & prevent me from surfacing.
The 6 is one step up from the spare air & pretty easy to carry. I can do a safety stop with the 6. I believe that you can now get a larger spare air, which seems easier to carry & a better value than a 6 + the cost of a second regulator.
The 19 was a good all around pony. If I was going to have only one, this might be the size I would want, depending on where I was planning to dive.
The 30 starts to get a little cumbersome, but can be managed. I still carry them on the front of my rig, so that I can see what is going on if I need it quickly. 30 cubes is a lot of spare air to carry. I sometimes use those tanks to extend dives, rather than use them as a traditional back up.
The 40 is cumbersome. I am more likely to use that as a stage bottle.
When buying a pony, I would also consider buoyancy of the different tanks.
Stoo
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I've used everything from 13 to 80s, but by far, a 40 is most used.
You mentioned that eventually you'll get into tec, so I suggest a 40 as this is most common. The tuck in nicely and are less cumbersome topside than an 80. A smaller bottle will eventually end up in a box in the garage.
You mentioned that eventually you'll get into tec, so I suggest a 40 as this is most common. The tuck in nicely and are less cumbersome topside than an 80. A smaller bottle will eventually end up in a box in the garage.
Those are two rigs that I haven't seen before. The first makes me wonder if the articulated joints were waterproof. I can't see how they would be.
The rig with the wetsuit is curious because he has a two stage regulator on his primary tank, but also has a double hose regulator hanging on the front of his chest. Is that tied into a second bottle that I can't see? Or is that a double hose second stage that is fed from the first stage on the primary tank?
The double-hose reg on his chest is probably being fed by the IP from the 1st stage mounted behind his head. My U.S. Divers DA Aquamaster (DAAM) double-hose reg has a built-in hookah port that allows the DAAM to be fed IP from the surface--sort of like this, except his 1st stage would compensate for changes in ambient pressure, but surface supply would not.
rx7diver
Gandalf-the-Diver
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I started out, slinging a 13cu pony; 1st on my left side, then diagonally across my chest. I then moved to a 30cu, which I sling across my chest. Carried a 13cu Catalina pony from my dive number 5, to around 70, then moved to a 30cu Catalina. 218 dives so far, slinging a pony; it is just a normal part of my dive gear, and it does not bother me at all.
I am not a Cousteau expert but he is known to have enjoyed the single stage Mistral. In which case he would be supplying it directly from tank pressure. The Mistal drops from tank pressure to ambient in a single stage with a big whoosh from it's powerful Venturi that is unmistakeable. I have a 1958 Mistral given me in 1966 by my uncle who bought it at the PX new when he was stationed in California and shipping out for duty in Japan. I still dive it. They are an upstream valve also. A very reliable and simple mechanism. They do not like tank pressure beyond 2,000 psi. The higher the pressure, the harder to breath.
James
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