Any do's or donts? when getting tanks or rigging the bottles.
Do's and Dont's:
1. Use an AL40 cylinder. If you're going to carry a Stage/Pony/Deco (SPD) bottle, the AL40 will serve you well. You'll grow with it. Don't use anything less than a 40.
2. Use a BPW if you're going to carry a SPD. Clip it on the right way. Left shoulder and left waist D-rings. Don't use a jacket.
3. Rig it the same way it's done for Tec diving. Proper rigging ensures easy don/doff, SPG monitoring and stowing of the second stage. There are kits available. I use a Halcyon kit. Don't clamp it on to your rig.
4. Carry the SPD bottle on your left side. Don't carry it on the right side.
5. A non-turret first stage is good -- low cost, light weight, easy to maintain. But use a 42" hose. I find the 40" hose too short. If you use a turret style first stage such as the Apeks DST on the cylinder, a 40" hose works fine. I use an Apeks US4 or DS4 first stage for my deco AL40. A 6" Miflex HP hose for the SPG. Don't try to use recreational hose lengths for your second stage and SPG.
6. Get trained on doing proper gas switches between your back gas and slung SPD cylinder. This is particularly important if you're going to use different gas mixes eg Air for Backgas and Nitrox 36 on the deco cylinder. I include gas switch training in my Deep Diver Specialty course for non my Tec divers. My students get to learn how to extend their dive time using mixed gas while staying within NDL limits through the dive. Until you're Tec trained, stay within NDL.
7. Use a Mixed Gas Computer and get trained on how to use your SPD with mixed gas. The mixed gas computer should be a Buhlmann ZHL16c with user configurable GF. Don't get one with a proprietary algorithm. The PZ+ and its cousins is proprietary even if their marketing says it's Buhlmann based. You don't know what kind of GF modifications they've done to it.