AL 80 as a pony

[mick allein III]

I regularly dive a 40 cf pony. I'm told that 40cfs can be hard to rent. I am considering taking a sling kit and slinging an 80 AL as a pony. I'd like information on those who have done the same. I'm interested in information on how it can be done safely, concerns related to dangers I may not be considering, etc. I want information, not debate or lecture. Thanks in advance.

 

[TheTrickster]

I use an AL80 as bailout for my CCR - to be honest, once its clipped on, you forget its there and in the water they are pretty neutral.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

People sling 80s all the time, generally as stage or deco or BO bottles, but it's just a big slung tank not really any different from a 40. Take its rather floaty potential buoyancy, should you have to use it, into account…you don't want to find yourself floating up from 10'-15' after some emergency caused you to burn both your main tank and a full 80 pony down to fumes. It's also 40+lbs hanging off your shoulder d-ring, so it will not feel particularly pleasant and you should take care when moving about or climbing a ladder with it.

 

[jeangadbois]

I do it as well and like said before once your in the water you dont notice it, but waiting on the boat with it hanging sucks tho.

 

[PsyWulf]

I do it as well and like said before once your in the water you dont notice it, but waiting on the boat with it hanging sucks tho.

This is definitely true,I have marks some days from the extra pressure standing around
Can be a bit floaty at the butt when empty but other than that,fairly unnoticeable,it's not that much bigger than the 40 imo

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

I too use Aluminum 80's as bailout bottles for my rEvo while cave diving. I frequently use an Aluminum 80 as a buddy bottle when diving OC cave diving.

Twice the volume of gas but also more weight & more bulk to deal with. As far as I know no one ever died from carrying to much gas.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Dive Al 80s in sidemount?

 

[Searcaigh]

I usually sling a 30,40 or 50 but had to use an 80 recently for deco gas as I had used my own bottle on a previous dive, not an issue once you are in the water.

We never climb the ladder with these bottles ... hand them up to the boat crew.

My buddy had two AL80s on a recent dive as he was on a rebreather and needed bail out with bottom gas for 72M and deco gas (EAN50),

 

[flots am]

I regularly dive a 40 cf pony. I'm told that 40cfs can be hard to rent. I am considering taking a sling kit and slinging an 80 AL as a pony. I'd like information on those who have done the same. I'm interested in information on how it can be done safely, concerns related to dangers I may not be considering, etc. I want information, not debate or lecture. Thanks in advance.

It works fine. In fact it's pretty awesome if you're not trying to make headway against a lot of current.

The only bad part is the looks you get from other divers, who think you're on crack. I did it on Bonaire, since it's hard to travel with a pony, but 80's are everywhere.

You can put together a really nice stage bottle strap with a tank cam-band band (I like SCUBAPro's), some 1/4" nylon line and a couple of stainless steel clips..

flots.

 

[tbone1004]

they work fine. If I'm in single backmount *oh the shame* I would take a bungee with me and sidemount the bottle so it doesn't look like post #5. As a sidemount diver seeing bottles like that makes me cringe. Big thing to remember is you need an extra 2lbs of lead for an AL80 over an AL40 to counteract the positive buoyancy if you use it, so make sure that you keep ahead of that. Making a stage rig is quite easy, so is buying one.
Travel Stage Straps - Dive Right in Scuba
These aren't cheap but they are very nice. They add just under 1lb of ballast to the tank due to the SS cam band so that helps some with your buoyancy, and it is a set it and forget it system, only thing you'd have to do swapping back and forth from 40 to 80 is adjust the cam band.

DIR Stage Rigging in Detail
you can also take that and adapt it. Instead of the worm gear going over both pieces of the line, the cam band would go through the middle and you could tie a knot on the top and bottom of the cam band so you would be able to have a fixed height. You can also do the same thing with the hose retainers to keep them in place. That's the same way the DiveRite system works but it uses webbing instead of line. 6 is one, half dozen the other. Important thing is 316 marine stainless hardware if you're ocean diving.

Nix Dog Collars
cheapest place for those right there though Dive Gear Express has good prices on them if you only need a couple.