RICHARD M great for wreck and with students

EDWARD M I chose it as a pony cylinder for my dive kit. Back mounted on my zeagle ranger with zeagle straps and works great.

ROMUARDO P What a deal with out the hassle.

ANDREW Z I use this 13 cu ft. to hang on the back of my sidemount harness to inflate my wing or drysuit

MARC D Needed a lighter pony tank and LP had the best price.

DON H Can't answer question, I know longer have tank, sea gods got tank. The replacement tank was almost a year old dated 5-11 bought in 6-12.

EUGENE H Dont know its at my brothers house but evey tank has a manufacture date stamped on it by the valve

Frank L Five years from the date stamped on the cylinder.

KEITH C If you plan on working holes with a BCD, wet suit, tank etc I have no ideal why you are thinking about a 40. 40s are cleaning boat bottoms and really nothing self. If you need a short tank get an HP 80. Bugging burns energy. If you want to get into holes with out a bulky BCD and tank on your back get a long hose for you primary. Leave your full size regular tank on the bottom so it's just you and the regulator in the hole. 40s are no man's tanks too big for spare air too small for anything else

KARL B This truly is dependant on the diver, air consumption varies greatly by the day, the activity and the diver. For me this is more than adequet for a 20ft dive, but that is me

KEVIN M About half as long as you would with an 80 cu. ft. tank. :-) For a normal working individual (0.8 scf/min/atm) at 20 ft, this would be about 25-30 minutes with a 500-psi reserve at the end of the dive. Note you will also need to decide how you are going to mount this tank since your normal BC tank straps will likely not allow this tank to be mounted on your back.

GARY S All depends on your SAC equivalent. You should have learned how to calculate that in your certification classes.If you know how long an 80 lasts you at an equivalent depth, the 40 will last you half that. Bugging normally involves a fair amount of swimming activity and that uses more air than just lazing around the reef structure sightseeing. So keep the activity level in mind. Why chintz out for a 40. Alum 80's aren't bad in price and you will be getting a full size tank. The 40 is a nice tank with real purposes - deco gas, bail out, redundant air supply, etc. I just don't think a primary tank for bugging is one of them.

FRED G It depends upon your individual surface air consumption rate (SAC-Rate). The deeper you go, the more you will consume (and the higher the sac-rate; the faster this consumption goes up with depth.....exponentially so to speak). Most adult men for example; who are in relatively decent fitness and weigh between say 185 lb and 200lb; consume about 0.75 cubic feet per min at the surface. This would then be around 1.6 cu-ft/min at 20 feet of depth (seawater). As such, at 20 feet, your 40 cf tank would last approximately 33 minutes, assuming you have this average - good sac rate. If you're bigger....say 210 pounds or more, and are in only so-so shape; I would count on only being able to dive with about a 1.0 cf/min best SAC-Rate. In this case, it would last about 25 minutes.

LES V We kept them as an emergency tank when working underships, so never emptied them. they seemed to remailn pretty neutral for us, 12 lbs sounds like a lot.

GEORGE W C Hey Leroy, Your 19cf Catalina pony bottle tank will not allow you to drop 12 pounds of wt,,,, when empty, that tank is positive buoyancy (floats), its not negative buoyancy, so add 1 to 2 pds should work. . May I suggest trying to re-position your pony. I love that tank; I also have a 30cf pony that I use. When diving in fresh water, I use 4 pds with a 3mm suit, I do not add more wt when I use the pony, in salt water, I may add a pound or two. Don?t know if this helps,,, Happy Diving

STEPHEN S I think 12lbs might be a bit much try about half that and see how that works, also, try different ways of rigging your pony bottle because it will effect your trim. When you get things right you will not even notice it being there, it will be worth the effort.

JOHN T Aluminum tanls are negative full and positive when empty (with one exception discussed below). I dive a pony for reasions of filling my dry suit independantly of my back gas. My bouyancy is only slightly affected and I make sure that I can decend freely to 10 ft. with no air in my BC ; at the end of my dive I can ascend freely with very little air in my BC from 10 ft. It may take you some time to get your rig right but it is worth the time to do so. The 19 cf tank full or empty will not affect your buoyancy that much. For example: Al 80 cf full is only 1.6 negative. See discussion below, I hope this helps. Buoyancy Characteristics of Steel and Aluminum Tanks: Steel tanks are generally more negatively buoyant than aluminum tanks. As a diver empties his tank by breathing from it, the tank becomes lighter. One difference between steel and aluminum tanks is that aluminum tanks become positively buoyant (float) as they are emptied while steel tanks only become less negatively buoyant (don't sink so much) as they are emptied. Whether he dives with a steel or an aluminum tank, a diver must compensate for the increased buoyancy of his tanks near the end of a dive. However, a diver using a steel tank will need significantly less weight than a diver using an aluminum tank, because steel tanks are more negatively buoyant overall. The exception to this rule is the "Compact Neutral" Al 80, which is designed with thick tank walls and a higher working pressure. The Sherwood Compact Neutral Al 80 is smaller than the average aluminum tank, and remains slightly negatively buoyant when empty. The following list assumes all tanks are in salt water. ? Catalina Al 80 - 1.6 lbs negative full and 4.1 lbs positive empty ? Sherwood Compact Neutral HP Al 80 - 5.9 lbs negative full and 1.4 lbs negative empty ? Worthington Steel LP 85 - 7.1 lbs negative full and 0.7 lbs negative empty ? Worthington Steel HP 80 - 9 lbs negative full and 3 lbs negative empty

LEONARD H Yes you can drop some weight but only 4 to 6 lbs try it in the pool with all your gear first to obtain your netural bouyancy Leonard

FRED G Hi I"m sorry if this is a "non-answer"; but it is impossible to recommend to you whether to "drop weight", or especially how much to drop; without being able to observe what you are doing to try and achieve neutral buoyancy. First of all, if you were neutral without the pony; then there is no way you will suddenly be 12 pounds negative with it. In fact; the 19 cu ft's full buoyancy characteristics with respect to its size shoud have little or negligible enough effect on your buoyancy that you should be able to compensate for it simply with your breathing. It sounds to me like your poblem is more with "trim"; than it is with actual weight; but it's impossible to advise you without seeing the effect on you first hand. I suggest you practice the configuration in a swimming pool until you figure it out; or ask a local experienced instructor to help you out by observing your in-water performance and then making the appropriate recommendations. Why don't you email me directly at : Doriadiver11 aol com, so we can exchange info properly. Then perhaps I can advise you better. I've been an instructor for 35 years, so perhaps I can help you.

THOMAS P A 19 cf tank is less than 1 lb negative when full. Empty, it might be 2 lbs positive. The valve night be 1 or 2 lbs negative, at most. If you are weighted properly w/o the pony, adding the pony should have NO effect on your buoyancy. I suspect you are too light w/o the pony. Pony bottles are intended for use during an emergency, so your buoyancy shouldn't change from beginning to end of a dive. As for dropping 12 lbs, if you are properly weighted, this conversation should be about a 1-2 lb change. (BTW, I sling an 80 cf tank and it only takes 2 lbs off my weight belt).

CATHERINE G I have found that the weight of the pony bottle does not affect my buoyancy. However, the weight of my regulator set up does. My reg weighs about 6lbs so I remove 6 lbs of lead and my buoyancy is fine. I hope this helps.

STEVE M These will work fine. A 20 cubic foot would do...

ROMAN C Not sure. Don't have paintball. I'm using it for diving. Sorry.

JAMES G I suppose it depends on what plumbing/regulator connections are made to it. I bought mine for diving.

David R Yes, they would have a current hydro date on them.

RICHARD M All pony bottles must go as luggage. you cannot carry on as the valve must be removed for travel, also you will have to purchase another first and second stage if using a pony as there is not a breath reg attached . thus having said that for shallow dives go with spare air its cheaper and easy to carry on board in carry on. however if you get a pony . do not op for smaller than 13 as then you can use it for your redundant when becoming wreck cert. or diving to a total feet of 130 both vert and horiz total , they make a bracket that makes ponies attachable to the tank strap making it real secure. I am a instructor and never dive without my ponies when with students. However you will find you can do a cesa from 60 feet if you have to , personally have practiced it , its hard but not as hard as one might think. besides ou should always have a buddy. hope that was not to much info rich keep diving

KEVIN M If you looking for convenience and ease of travel, the Spare Air will definitely win. However, realize that at 60 feet of depth, it will only have about one minute's worth of air. In comparison, the 6 cu ft. cylinder will give you about 2 minutes, and the 13 cu. ft will give you 4+ minutes. However, these cylinders will require you to carry an extra regulator and a yoke-to-yoke filling adapter when you travel. In the end you may find the extra margin of safety that any of these solutions provide is not really worth the hassle and cost. Most people shelve such systems after only a little bit of use. A buddy provides a much better level of security - plus more fun and enjoyment - than these small systems provide. True solo divers usually carry 30 or 40 cu. ft. systems as the bare minumum necessary to deal with emergencies and unexpected gas loss.

GLENN M i too do not dive over 60 ... i dive the great lakes ... anything that is deeper than 60 is only colder, more murky, and buried in a silty muck. i went with a 6 cu and a simple regulator. i can tuck it under my bc. i can even just toss it on my boat when just going fishing with no intent of diving ... never know when i may need to quickly dive down to free a stuck anchor or fishing pole.... or favorite lure.

TERESA T Definately go with the larger pony. It's a bit more expensive but well worth it. To start, 3 cu of air at any kind of depth is only going to give you a couple of breaths. With a 13 cu pony you'll have time for a proper ascent an safety stop. Also, I owned a Spare Air for a while. I had a lot of trouble with it. I returned the first two and then sold the 3rd to buy a pony. Hope this helps. Jay

TANJA P Hi Chris, I am a technical diver, so perhaps my opinion is not valued in this community. Here's my take. Calculate how many breaths a 6 cu ft tank gives you. Most divers have a SAC of about 0.5 cu. ft./min, newer divers or physically unfit more. For argument's sake, let's stick with this number. At 60 ft this means you have about 4 extra min worth of air. Hardly worth it. If you breathe down your tank so low that you need this, you are in trouble and should not dive or consider taking more training. In my opinion, "Spare Air" or pony bottles are a business gimmick. It's much better to monitor your gauges, depth and dive time and enforce a conservative turn-around. If you don't trust your ability to do that, don't dive. If you want to stay down longer, carry an Al-40 and know how to handle it. Determine your SAC, think about the depths that you are diving to (do you and can you (buoyancy?) maintain 60 ft?), think about dive time, diving conditions such as current, cold etc that may affect your physical exertion and thus air consumption, then PLAN your DIVE and DIVE the PLAN - With plenty of air in your tanks when you come up for emergencies! In cave diving, you assume the worst possible scenario and you come up with at least 1/3 your tank volume. This may be overly conservative for open water/recreational diving, but you should never come up with less than 500 psi in a regular 80 cu. ft tank. That corresponds to 16 cu ft of spare gas. Forget the "Spare Air".

JAMES G I had an out-of-air situation this past weekend and had to use my dive buddy's bail-out bottle. It TRULY made the difference in getting back to the boat...alive. So, yes...in my opinion it IS worth it. The bottle I actually bought (a 30CF Catalina) is for TEC diving deco stops, so I did not have it with me on this weekend's dives, as we were spearfishing, not TEC diving. My dive buddy indicated he bought the 6CF Catalina rescue bottle with pro valve and separate regulator because the SpareAir parts are sometimes difficult to come by.

Frank L No, just a visual inspection. The cylinder will have a current Hydro.

KEVIN M If the tank is completely empty, the tank is buoyant by 1 to 2 lbs. If it is full, it is negative by 2-3 pounds. Note in all cases, the tank will float with the valve end down and the rear end up slightly.

GEORGE M YES, THE DATE IS ON THERE.

JAMES A. G The tanks will have the hydro informartion stamped after manufacture.

DOUGLAS F Yes they are stamped for hydro

MICHAEL V I cannot remember it was so long ago.

STEPHEN S Hello Eric, Fortunately they do NOT come with thoes "silly stickers"

JILL M The only sticker on mine is a square about 3 by 4 inches that says Aluminum Scuba Cylinder.

ROBERT C The tank I bought a few months ago didn't have the stickers.

KEITH C I bought the 19cf and it did not have stickers.

GLENN B No silly sticker on the one I got

BRUCE W Funny question...but, I agree...silly stickers. Mine did not, but I bought them a couple of years ago. Still have 'em. They are the best prices I could find, and the tank valves were yoke and DIN.

DANIEL L I bought mine in September of '09, and it had a simple rectangular sticker on it with text (DOD approved, already hydro tested and VIP, etc.). They may have added that label since then. A hot hair dryer and some denatured alcohol would probably remove that big ugly sticker.

THOMAS M Not the one in the picture, Thats a Genisis sticker. It does however come with a square sticker from catilina that specifies the tank/valve are factory O2 clean for nitrox and also contains handling and safety information on that sticker. Tom

GARY S He will need a regulator (1st & 2nd stages) and a pressure gage and a means attach it to his kit. What size, and what regulator and hardware to attach it to his kit is all going to depend on the kind of diving he does and how his gear is set up. for the most part a 19cf would be my minimum size for heavy duty recreational diving.

ORRIS S Leisure Pro asked me to help answer your question. Really it all depends on what your husband is going to use the tank for. If it is only for back up air then a " Akona Pony Bottle Bags for Aluminum Tanks" may work ... which Leisure Pro carries. Now if he is plans to use it for Dry Suit inflation or "Tech" applications you might need to chaeck out some place like "Dive Gear Express" (Sorry LeisurePro). Some one who specializes in "Tech" gear. Plus if it's for dry suit inflation, usually that's a 6cuft tank. Tech Deco bottles are usually 40 cuft. So the tank, type of regulator & how it's carried all depends on how your husband plans on using the tank. Hope this helps. OJ

KARL B I reduced the amount of weight I carry when I carry the pony bottle down on a wreck. Sometimes I leave the bottle hanging at the tie in to avoid getting hung up or to spearfish, in this case I keep the same weight knowing I will be more buoyant with my air consumption. You need to find the best for you, if you decrease your weight remember as your pony it will increase you buoyancy just like your tank.

STEVE C Yes - will have to find a dive shop with that ability and certified person to do it. I usually have this done when I have it VIPed. It will be more expensive than usual VIP. SC

LES V It seems to be a standard valve same as on a larger tank, I can't tell you more than that.

AIJI G I don't see why not; however, I'd ask your local dive shop.

FRED G Yes....any tank and valve can be O2 cleaned. You should have it done by a qualified technician at your local dive shop. They have to follow a strict DOT guideline on cleaning procedure; and replace certain components (o-rings mainly) with those made of pure-O2 compatible materials.

KEVIN M I have never heard of this issue, and I would assume it would not be any more likely than any other scuba tank the diver is carrying.

ALAN B I and dive buddies have been diving with a yellow tank for years and have never heard of a shark come near us.

BEVERLY B It does not attract sharks, and we dive with sharks all the time.

VIATCHESLAV K Yes it does. Fill it as any other normal aluminum tank.

DAVID P yes it will fill to 3000 psi

ALBERT A yes it will

JAMES A. G Yes... I usually over fill top 3500psi. The tank will cool down to around 3000 psi.

BRANDON F yes that is what it is rated

Bill P If purchased in the Store on 18th, we will inspect it here

CAROL M No they do not come with a Built in Regulator,

VIATCHESLAV K NO, you can not breath from just this tank alone. You will need a regulator. This tank is a pony tank, its like normal scuba tank just less volume.

JARED W No, you need to have a first and second stage regulator in order to use these tanks or any tank for that matter. If you intend on scuba diving with any tank get proper training(from your question it seems as though you haven't received any training yet). Scuba diving at any depth and in any environment can be dangerous.

JOE H No. You have to add a regulator. Zeagle has a pony with regulator you can buy here though.

JAMES A. G The tank will arrive with only a valve. You will need to supply your own regulator along with any mounting hardware. I used mine on my rebreather so I had to get it O2 cleaned as well.

GREGORY L No, You must have a 1st stage to put on the valve, with a gauge recommended for actual PSI. The regulator and PSI gauge are not included with the Pony Bottle.

LeisurePro S Yes, you will have to have the tanks inspected; they are guaranteed to pass or are eligible for an exchange/refund.

LeisurePro S Yes, the Genesis Pro Valves have burst discs.

JAMES A. G Some airlines require that the valves be completely removed. I find that it is much more convenient to rent tanks and weights once I reach my destination. As the airlines will charge you for the extra weight.

LeisurePro S Most airlines will allow you to pack tanks in your checked luggage as long as they are not pressurized. You would have to empty the tank and then get a fill at your destination. Each airline has their own specific policies about SCUBA cylinders, so I would double check with the particular one you are flying.

LeisurePro S The 40cu tank is actually only around 6 liters. For 9 liters, the closest sizes would be Catalina's 3000psi s63 tank with 9 liters or their 3300psi c80 with 10 liters.

LeisurePro S 1.62ltr for the 13 and 2.37ltr for the 19

LeisurePro S Yes, they are aluminum.

LeisurePro S No.

LeisurePro S Yes, the Genesis Pro valve comes with a screw in, screw out 200bar din/yoke converter.

LeisurePro S The valve is included in the measurments, and it easily removed

LeisurePro S All individuals are different. Approximately 3 - 6 minutes

LeisurePro S Yes on all

LeisurePro S The K valve is the INt valve