Home-Made Third Lung Accumulator Tank

[Toothpick]

I looked back a few pages and didn't see any post pertaining to this, so pardon me if this is old news.

I just save about $200 and built my own Third Lung Accumulator Tank.

In 15 years I never had my Brownie (Honda) die on me while diving, but I figured since now I am pushing 60, why tempt fate.

I see kits going for $250+ on the web. This is one I cobbled together and costs about $50.

I bought a new U.S. surplus aluminum air tank for $32 shipped from this guy. 12 x 7 Aluminum Air Pressure Tank 150PSI Max Single 1 4" 3 3 8" Mrap Air Bag | eBay , A couple brass plugs for a few bucks and a couple air line fittings.

I plan on having some guards, similar to the one on propane tanks, welded on to protect the fragile air line connectors.

A quick test showed that 1 diver would get about 15 extra breaths using this set up. Way more then enough for the depths I detect at.

 

[CASPER-2]

glad youre being safe - I carry a spare air tank on my chest
my old Keene hookah came with a safety tank
wish my Honda had one

 

[certman68]

Is the advantage of hookahs longer dive time vs. a tank?

How deep are you both diving?

I'm assuming diving makes more sense if you're up north as the beach slopes far more drastically than here in Florida.

I'm on the Gulf Coast and at times feel like I could walk to Texas. Good in some ways but it also expands the ground where swimmers can drop goodies.

 

[CASPER-2]

I thought I sent you link to articles I wrote??
theres one on hookahs in there

Is the advantage of hookahs longer dive time vs. a tank?

How deep are you both diving?

I'm assuming diving makes more sense if you're up north as the beach slopes far more drastically than here in Florida.

I'm on the Gulf Coast and at times feel like I could walk to Texas. Good in some ways but it also expands the ground where swimmers can drop goodies.

 

[ARC]

Heh.

 

[TheRingFinder]

Certman - In my experience, a human body can only take so much dive time. I usually go 3+ hours on a Steel 130 tank. After I get home and clean my gear and check out my finds; I am wiped out. I have had 2 tank days, though it feels like your walking around in a fog the rest a the day..............

 

[TheRingFinder]

Heh.

ARC1 - What is Heh?

 

[Toothpick]

Is the advantage of hookahs longer dive time vs. a tank?

How deep are you both diving?

I'm assuming diving makes more sense if you're up north as the beach slopes far more drastically than here in Florida.

I'm on the Gulf Coast and at times feel like I could walk to Texas. Good in some ways but it also expands the ground where swimmers can drop goodies.

Like the Ringfinder said, I usually only go 2-3 hours at a time then take a break and often less depending on the size of the search area. A full tank of gas gets me 4 hours or so of run time. Another advantage is if I am "upnorth" for multiple days I can always find gas for the hookah.

My hookah is supposedly good for three guys to 45' and two to 80', although I don't think I ever went deeper then 20' or so. When detecting I spend the majority of my time between 3' and 8', unless there is a dive raft in deeper water.

As far as slopes go, on inland lakes here, it can vary from 100's of feet of beach area to only 10-15' and it's too deep or muck.

Went out this morning and we tested the reserve tank and it worked great. I wish I could say our hunt was great but we found nothing to brag about.

Here's my hunting buddy and the little boat that I use to scoot from beach to beach.

 

[CASPER-2]

Certman - In my experience, a human body can only take so much dive time. I usually go 3+ hours on a Steel 130 tank. After I get home and clean my gear and check out my finds; I am wiped out. I have had 2 tank days, though it feels like your walking around in a fog the rest a the day..............

getting into water with whatever -hookah - snuba - scuba - is hardwork in itself
getting back to vehicle even worse
but the time down under is so nice - even if I don't find much