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I already have the Regs, all I need is the tank its self. If I wasn't confident in my skills I wouldn't be purchasing the pony. I think I am going to go with the 30 cuft for now and when I am ready to upgrade to a deco bottle I will just buy another tank and pass the 30 down to my wife.
Then it is a 40. No reason to consider something else.But seriously I am going to sling it, I plan to use it mainly as redundancy but in the future I might want to use it for a deco bottle. ...
Yes, you could use a 30 - but why? The acquisition cost for a new bottle is equivalent for a 30 vs a 40. You won't find a lot of difference in the buoyancy characteristics of a 30 vs a 40. Nor, will the effect on trim be discernible. But, the 40 will make a difference in deco planning on some dives, so why not go with it now? I have two 30s (bought used) and two 40s (1 new and 1 used). I prefer the 40s. Hmm. Maybe, I should sell you one of my 30s, so I can get another 40. BTW, you could also use an 80. As a pony it is a bit big, though.I think I am going to go with the 30 cuft for now and when I am ready to upgrade to a deco bottle I will just buy another tank and pass the 30 down to my wife.
I already have the Regs, all I need is the tank its self. If I wasn't confident in my skills I wouldn't be purchasing the pony. I think I am going to go with the 30 cuft for now and when I am ready to upgrade to a deco bottle I will just buy another tank and pass the 30 down to my wife.
I am currently diving to 80ft at least once a week. I live about 30 minutes from Lake Michigan so deep wreck diving isn't to far off... I am not planning on packing this tank for trips.
No kelp in Michigan but we have some nice deep wrecks! But seriously I am going to sling it, I plan to use it mainly as redundancy but in the future I might want to use it for a deco bottle.
Carrying around a 30 cft bottle as a bailout on single tank recreational dives is really overkill,no its not and IMO not such a good idea. This is especially true because your posts indicate you're already pushing the limits of recreational diving. Carrying an oversized bailout bottle could be an invitation to push them more, and that's riskier regardless of how big your bailout bottle is.
If you want to dive deep wrecks start training for it now; that would include deco training and using doubles. You won't regret it.
If you're stuck on getting a pony as opposed to a stage/deco bottle, keep it small and treat it for what it is; an emergency bailout in the event of regulator/tank valve failure while in no-deco, safe depth recreational diving ONLY. are you sugessting he carry a spare air?
There's a not-great-but-sort-of-relevant analogy to bottled O2 on high mountain climbs. It's thought that forbidding supplemental O2 bottles in places like Mt Everest will actually make climbing the mountain safer, simply because fewer climbers, especially less trained ones, will get as high on the mountain, thus placing themselves in greater danger. This is counter intuitive because at those altitudes bottled O2 can save someone's life who's in trouble.
I could be wrong, but the sound of your posts makes me think you're wanting this bottle because you feel it will increase your range of safe diving environments. It won't. Only more training and better dive skills, especially better team diving skills, will do that.
For the people saying they see no reason to carry a pony I disagree because I am not willing to just "chance" it.