Pony Travel - Advice Please - What do I need?

I will be diving in Israel/Red Sea this May 2009.

I always use a pony when diving. Reasons are - Murky waters, fishing line, old crabpots/ropes, and missing buddies. Never had a failure or freezing of primary system, but on deeper dives I really want a fully redundant air supply.

What I use in the USA Pacific Northwest is this. I have two sizes - 13 & 19 cu feet. For dives 50 ft and less I use the 13 cu ft, for deeper dives I use 19 cu feet. My tank attachment is configured with a tank strap that easily slides onto (and tightens with an regular tank fastener) my main tank and therefore can be readily exchanged between tanks. Obviously a sling can be slung and re-slung - however, I don't use the sling so often as I do a lot of hunting/crabbing and it gets in the way - especially when I crab a delicious dungeness crab from the Pacific Northwest ocean floor. Diving yesterday - got some crabs and almost a lingcod!

I would like to take a Pony setup with me to Israel. I will not take the cylinder because it would be impossible to get it there with security - besides I'm sure I can get what I need there. My concern is not the common 5 - 15 meter shore dives, it is the 30 to 40 meter wreck site dives. I am not wreck certified, so there will not be any entries/overheads. And if I did want a look around, I have instructor friends in the area - but I don't want to get away from my question.

I will take my redundant reg set with me. My present attachment setup has bands around my pony bottles and attaches to my main bottle with a clip - it works well, but I don't want to take it with me. I plan to dive with at least a 19 or 30 cf pony. I will probably have to dive with Aluminum 80s (instead of my HP 3442 steel 100s). You notice that I refer to "cf"/cubic feet. I need these answers in metric because I don't know what sizes to ask for (and a cubic feet conversion would be helpful to me). I need dimensions so I get the correct attachment/sling device.

So here are my questions. I will take my redundant regulator and plan to dive with at least 19 or 30 cf pony. What is the equivalent size of a cylinder in metric? What is the best setup I can get to take with me? I'd prefer something less bulky/clumsy than "slinging an 80" and dragging it around with me. Please be specific and tell me where to order/buy it.

Thank you,
drdaddy

A 30cf 3000psi (200bar) pony will supply about 849L of air, if my arithmetic is right. The nominal 1bar volume designation of that 200bar cylinder would be about 4.3Liter. A 232bar cylinder, with a 1bar volume of 3.7L, would provide about 849L of air, or about 30cf.

I'm not personally familiar with the following bracket, but it looks like it can adjust for the diameter of various pony bottles. It might meet your needs.

Dave C

EZ Bracket Pony Bracket (Tanks)

3l / 232 bar (so 696l) is a standard size pony seen just about everywhere.

Rather than bands which are very unstable and messy (as the above picture highlights nicely) just get 2 clips, some jubilee clips and some rope. Then you can side sling it easier without any problem. Its far more balanced, you can reach and see it, it doesnt wobble and costs all of $5 to make and weight just about nothing to take with you.

Just look up "sing sling" or whatever on here or the internet as a whole and the same techniques used for stage cylinders work exactly the same on a 3l pony.

** HOWEVER**, depending on depth a 3l pony may not contain enough gas to get you off the bottom and safely to the surface at a safe rate - calculate your air consumption and work out its limitations. For example my 3l pony will get me to the surface from 35m at a normal ascent rate and 3 min stop but nothing more. If im going into deco or deeper then i need twins.

FWIW, I don't see any reason why you can't take your own pony bottle. You just need to remove the valve. You can bring it on the plane, or put it in checked luggage as far as the TSA and most airlines are concerned. You might want to revisit your assumption that you can't take it to Israel with you, as it may be incorrect (I have no idea what their rules may be, but a lot of these airline rules and stuff are derived from international standards). Just within the last two weeks or so, I carried my pony on the plane to Mexico, and put it in checked luggage on the way back - no issues at all.

Also, FWIW, I have a Quickdraw Bracket for sale, suitable for a 13cf and/or 19cf pony. If you're interested, PM me.