7L Pony?

[Daz217]

Right possibly a daft question but i'm unsure so thought i would ask the massed ranks.
Is it feasable to clamp a 7L steel to yor cam band a la Pony bottle. Yes i know it's a bastardised twin set but they are the cylinders i have without forking out on new ones. So i thought i'd try 15L single and replace the 3L pony with a 7.
Will the clamp/cam band be strong enough to hold it? or am i asking for trouble.
Thoughts?(diving a wing)

[Dave Crampton]

Originally Posted by Daz217

Right possibly a daft question but i'm unsure so thought i would ask the massed ranks.
Is it feasable to clamp a 7L steel to yor cam band a la Pony bottle. Yes i know it's a bastardised twin set but they are the cylinders i have without forking out on new ones. So i thought i'd try 15L single and replace the 3L pony with a 7.
Will the clamp/cam band be strong enough to hold it? or am i asking for trouble.
Thoughts?(diving a wing)

You could just stage rig it?

[Garf]

If you're trying to create a twinset this was then yes, you are just asking for trouble

1. It's going to totally unbalance you in the water
2. The clamp "might" hold the cylinder or it might not (or it might fall off at some point)
3. Gas planning and management is going to be a NIGHTMARE

If this is a cheap way to a twinset, I'd avoid it like the plague. If it's just that you want a bigger pony bottle, then stage rig it like the previous poster suggests.

[Richard Mason]

Originally Posted by Daz217

Right possibly a daft question but i'm unsure so thought i would ask the massed ranks.
Is it feasable to clamp a 7L steel to yor cam band a la Pony bottle. Yes i know it's a bastardised twin set but they are the cylinders i have without forking out on new ones. So i thought i'd try 15L single and replace the 3L pony with a 7.
Will the clamp/cam band be strong enough to hold it? or am i asking for trouble.
Thoughts?(diving a wing)

It should hold it no problem. (I'm assuming here you have the big stainless stell hose-type clamps around the pony, on a pony tamer type thing, like this:



It's going to be heavy and clumsy though. Why not side sling it like a stage? I have a 4 litre pony and find it very comfortable that way, also, if it's a 10M bimble, it's just as easy to leave it behind and on a two dive trip, I don't have the faff of fitting the pony to the new cylinder for the second dive.

[al kennedy]

side-slung would make more sense to me.

1. on the back your rig is going to be very unbalanced when kitting up and moving around.
2. with side-slung you can kit up with the 15l then clip the 7l on, will make kitting up much more pleasant. same for dekitting, especially into a RHIB. you can carry the tanks to the boat separately too.
3. 7l's are lovely side-mounted, and they don't get in the way at all as you might expect. you can pretty much forget you are wearing one. (sorry, only applies to ali ones i suppose! my mistake)
4. you can easily route the hose to a necklaced reg if you want quick access to bailout gas.
5. cheaper to rig up a stage-mounting than to buy a strong pony clamp! (make sure the bolt snaps have huge eyes to get your thumb through.)

[ardhill]

I would have thought a steel 7l would have been a bit heavy to side sling with a single tank?

Would it not unbalance you?

[Noel Johnson]

A chap I know has dived with a 7 alongside his 15 for years without a problem using a metalsub clamp so it should hold OK if you have a similar bracket.

[Daz217]

Thanks for the replies. Yep was just thinking of it as a larger pony really i.e. more bailout gas(No intention of inc it in my air calcs)
I have a Kent tooling clamp. Tried side slung didn't really like it but could manage oK with it. Might give it a whirl and see what it's like

[Twinsetmad]

If you want more gas for a bailout.. then borrow an Ali 40 ... its 5.7ltr and will sling really well they are almost neutral, you won't know its there.

[ardhill]

Originally Posted by Daz217

I have a Kent tooling clamp.

Picture off Kent Tooling's site:


So, it should hold the 7L no problem.