Tips on slinging a tank please

[AfterDark]

JAJAWarrior, Believe me when I tell you I haven't lost one iota of sleep over this.

I thought I described how I had it slung pretty well, but here goes.

I have one D ring on each side of my weight that go largely unused but are handy for clipping to a line for easy entry back on board a boat. I have them located approximately on my hips one on each side. My BC (the BC is a VERY old Seaquest bought in the early 90's 91 maybe 92) it has a D ring on the shoulder straps again one on each side. The tank was rigged with a nylon strap with a clip on each end clamped to the tank at the top and at the bottom. No on the fly adjustment of the strap is possible, I just guessed rather well if I do say so myself at the right length.

With the tank inverted I clipped one end to the D ring on the weight belt right hand side the other end to the D ring on the right hand shoulder strap. About 1/3 of the tank hangs under my right arm the remaining 2/3's forward. It was bouncing against my torso and my camera lanyard kept getting tangled around the hose. The surface swim on the way back became a chore as now I had this tank to drag thru the water as well as my own fat a$$. The experience was not ideal.

I've been diving a long time and I do understand the concept of trial and error when it comes to trying something different with dive gear. I'm going to try it again next time I go diving and rig it a little differently. Thanks for your input.

 

[txapacheguy]

I had a 19cf pony once:

• rigged upside down with a bracket
• attached to my main tank
• custom ~14" HP hose to a SPG near my waist
• I forget the length of the LP hose but the 2nd stage was in the "triangle"

Reality was... I was a mess. I ended up scrapping all this junk hanging off me for a simpler long hose and a rock bottom calculation. Once I did the rock bottom I got bigger tanks, AL80s were too small. I started with lp95s since HP tanks were pretty rare at my LDS even just 5-6 yrs ago.

Thanks for the warning about keeping the pony on a bracket. I was thinking more about setting mine up with stage rigging, slinging it, and eliminating the SPG in favor of a small pressure gauge that screws directly into the first stage HP port.

The plan was to secure the 2nd stage and LP hose to the bottle with bungees or innertube to keep the entire pony in one nice, compact unit and eliminate a birds nest of hoses routed all over. I have a Poseidon DIN first stage with two Jetstream 2nd stages and a crappy SPG in my garage I have been eying for this.

I do not currently mind limiting my diving to the contents of one AL80 for recreational diving, and the pony is not something I intend to add to increase my bottom time. I basically want a bit of redundancy in the event of a serious malfunction (or two) in the 80' to 100' range to have the breathing gas required to ascend and do a safety stop, or have the extra air to deal with a few minutes worth of other issues at depth if required. Larger tank(s) are on the horizon for me if I can make it down to cave country for some schooling, but not right now.

 

[rjack321]

An Al80 is really too small for anything more than a 5min bounce in the 80-100ft range. And as a new diver with less than 24 dives I'm guessing that your consumption is pretty high and so an 80 is pretty small for you too. For the cost of a 2nd reg and al19 you could for sure get a used lp95 and probably an hp100 or hp119. The hp119 would be the same gas as an al80 plus 2 al19 ponies - all in one compact package.

 

[Buoyant1]

WEIRD?!?! I've been slinging a AL40 for a few years now and forget it's even there half the time?!?

Play with the straps and position, I guess..it only took me 2 or 3 dives before I got it where I liked it, and as I said, I forget it's even there.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Flip the tank around, and put attachment points on it like the DIR rigging site suggests. That will keep it from sticking out in front of you.

Move your D ring up so it is parallel with your back. The further back, the better, to keep the bottle riding alongside you, not below you.