Triple dive tank

Question
Hi,

We were lucky to meet Cousteau and his team on French Polynesia some years ago were they were shooting a movie about sharks.
The Cousteau team used a special triple tank air system covered with a plastic shell for aquadynamic purposes.
The regulator mounted was a Oceanic with only one second stage and a hoseless air integrated computer.
The triple tank had about an 11 liter capacity and had simple inflatable "pillow" as a BCD. This pillow was situated between the tank and the back of the diver and could be operated by two small in/deflator bottons.

I have been looking all over the world finding this tank/BCD combination but can't find it anywhere.

Could you please state the brand and type of this device.

Regards,

Paul Vos


Answer
Paul,

It is highly likely that you saw the divers using the Advanced Breathing System (ABS).  This unit was developed specifically for the Cousteaus, and was marketed for a short time to the public by Aqua Lung (US Divers).

It consists of three 30 cuft aluminum cylinders connected by a special triple K-Valve.

I was able to find two forum threads discussing the ABS:

http://tinyurl.com/phss3

http://tinyurl.com/mqjv3

Hope this helps,

Henry Babcock
AllExperts SCUBA Expert