Ideas for ultralight solo rig for petite diver gal?

[aquacat8]

Appreciate any help! I was going to be a good girl, I bought me a pony, but this summer I sold my 13 cu ft pony and unserviced reg for way less than I paid, because I kept driving it down to Florida and leaving it baking in the car. It was too heavy, a PTA to rig next to my big tank, spun me in the water like a hot dog on a rolling rack (even though I tried shifting weights), and didn't fit in the crowded tank racks on dive boats. I feel I'm solo diving on drift dives in west palm with pickup buddies that swim off, and the lightweight functional redundancy thing (and the solo shore diving) is still only a dream. Has anyone figured out an ultralight solo setup?

 

[Nemrod]

The 13 cf tank just never works for anybody, too short and fat. But I imagine you are not open to the 19 which slings and balances much better? Slinging has always worked much better for me than mounting the pony to my back tank and has much less tendency to roll me.

Frankly, for shore diving solo, most of the SE Coast of Florida, the shore diving is less than 30 feet deep unless you have a mind to swim nearly a mile offshore (which I have done). My point is, ditch the pony, the surface is your redundancy in such shallow water shore diving. Sacrilege it may be, ditch the pony for shallow shore diving, it is not needed.

I spent week and a half on the Gold Coast before moving on down into the Keys just this summer and nobody really bothered me about having or not having a pony bottle when solo. When drifting with most ops I team up with the DM and just keep them on the edge of my vision and if I loose them, oh well.

I tell you another thing, for shore diving and kayak diving, especially in very shallow water (30 feet or less-ish) I also ditch the spg (may use a J valve) and also the power inflator and BC hose. And, truth be told, I have also ditched the entire BC and done without, even during the aforementioned mile out and back swim. I did tow a surface float/inner tube or dive board (usually).

Ultralight solo rig for shore diving:

Equipment

65 cf aluminum tank (or steel 72)
VDH Universal plate (very light and minimal with or without a wing)
No BC! (which also eliminates the BC hose and all that puffery)
Conshelf XIV regulator rigged without an octopus
B&G spg or no spg (J valve instead)
Titanium knife and line cutter
Dive float with flag

Attire

Rash guard long sleeve shirt
Swim shorts (board shorts etc.)

If you are concerned about your swimming endurance, instead of a BC or wing/BP, get a lightweight snorkel vest.

Getting rid of the SCUBA Steve uniform (wetsuit) eliminates all the lead to sink it. See how that works!!!!!! When you start thinking minimalist, the layers of junk melt away and you are FREE!!!!!!

Skill and fitness replace equipment dependency. Oh, and a dose of common sense.

N <---Minimalist Diver

 

[aquacat8]

Wow Nemrod, Thanks! That is a great answer and gives me a lot to think about! It is a perfect answer for me because I swim in the ocean alone a lot and I've been thinking of taking a freediving class and ditching almost all my gear, but this gives me a scuba lite alternative! Thanks so much for sharing your experience!

 

[divad]

No BC! (which also eliminates the BC hose and all that puffery)

Is that Puffery with a long "u" or Puffery with a short "u"?
I prefer "Poofery".

 

[Ghetto Diver]

I live in and dive the WPB area and enjoy the de facto solo aspect of it and use a 13 as my bailout...slung though. Yes, it is a PITA to use a primary tank mounted bailout on a charter boat. Slinging it for me doesn't through me off balance and when gear is prepped in the tank rack, its clipped to my bc.
Too bad you got rid of it before experimenting.
Nemrod pointed out some good tips on shore diving here.
Shore diving here is shallow. You have to go a looooong way to get some depth, so no alt air source needed. Air is just 20' up.

 

[RyanT]

Indeed, attaching a pony to your main tank will tend to roll you. Slinging a pony lowers the center of gravity and helps to maintain your trim. I just don't notice my 40 cf stage bottles when slung. I wear a single stage bottle slung on one side and it doesn't affect my trim at all. Also, I agree with Nemrod that the 13 cf is terrible. A 19 cf will be about a half pound more buoyant in the water. I think you'd find slinging a 19 works great.

The wetsuit issue is one of personal comfort. If you don't have a lot of "natural insulation" you may find that even in the warm south florida waters, you get cold without thermal protection. Indeed, the more rubber you can shed, the lighter you can go on your overall rig. If you need some thermal protection, maybe a 3 mm shorty with a backplate and wing would make a good relatively lightweight rig. Also consider a HP 80 cf steel tank. These tanks remain negative when empty and will allow you shed about 5 lbs of weight compared to an AL 80 (they are also a couple of pounds lighter out of the water than aluminum). Depending on how much weight you need, you might be able to get by diving an aluminum backplate/wing set up (super light and streamlined), a slung 19 cf pony, and steel 80 with no extra weight.

 

[uncfnp]

Aquacat8. I am 5'2 and I dive out of WPB and hunt solo at least 2 to 3 vacation trips a year. I just finished 9 days of diving for a total of 22 dives and 20 hours underwater. And everyone of them with a slung tank except the shore dives at the Blue Heron Bridge.

Properly slung a 13 to 19 cf pony should all but disappear after you splash. I have dove both and they work just fine for me. I started with a 13 and still have that but just recently switched to a 19 for convenience. You can pair it with a lightweight travel regulator like the Mikron and a button SPG to save even more bulk and weight.

On the boat a slung tank is much easier to deal with. The dive boat we use will leave an empty space beside me if they are not fully booked and on the rare occasion that a spare slot isn't available I just wedge it under the seat until I am ready to use it. Once I am completely set I will reach over (or under), pull up the tank, clip it on the shoulder d-ring, then the hip or waist ring.

Interestingly just this past week I met another female diver with the same tank mounted pony issue as you. After seeing my set up and talking a bit she plans to switch to slung.

I hesitate to suggest too many changes but you may also want to consider a BPW if you aren't already using one. It can make a huge difference in comfort and feel with a slung tank, especially over a jacket style BCD.

Here is my current typical Florida rig...

Custom steel BPW but obviously a standard plate will do. (If you want some ditchable weight use an aluminum.)
Steel HP80 or 100. (Again, for ditchable weight use Al 80)
Pony bottle, Al 13, 19 or occasionally 30.

With this rig I don't need any additional weight. I love the idea of minimalist but I can't ditch the exposure protection.

 

[northernone]

I'll second the freedom Nemrod describes. With proper ability it is a wonderful way to dive.

Thank you for the excellent write up.

Alternatively, a 19ft3 isn't bad.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

You have two options, I think. One is to buy ANOTHER 13 pony and rig it slung like a stage bottle. It is safer, won't cause problems for the cattle boat tank racks and should be somewhat less disruptive to your trim.

Another option is to buy a 6 cu-ft pony and tank mount it. This is what i use often in WPB in the typical wreck and reef depths. If you are petite, and your air consumption is commensurate with your size, then you may find this has enough capacity to get yourself to the surface with no time to play around. This tank is so small and streamlined that it should provide no problems - I had my kids using them at 9 yrs old without trim issues. But you need to do the math and determine if it will give you enough time to "not die". In all honesty, I am more comfortable with, my son (who is 18 yrs old now) wearing a 13 and me wearing the 6 cu-ft, than vice versa. Do the math, balance convenience, weight, drag, safety and make a selection you can live with.

WPB drift diving with insta-buddies is pretty ridiculous because when the current is running, a 2 second separation in the wrong direction can COMPLETELY eliminate the possibility of a buddy rendering help - so some redundancy makes sense for me.

In other words, if you find yourself upstream from a buddy, in 2 knots and sand separates you, the buddy may be incapable of traversing the sand in an upcurrent direction. If you are stuck or entangled on the bottom, you better be able to handle it on your own.

Lastly, a back mounted 13 shouldn't really be that big of a deal, it should be mounted on the side and as far forward as possible and up against the backpack or BC, this will reduce the tendency to roll you sideways. If it doesn't work for you, find something that does.

 

[aquacat8]

Thanks... yeah I wish I'd kept it now. I agree about west palm drift dives. I was mad at it when I sold it LOL