You are the adult here and assume all of the responsibility for your own childrens safety. If you are a certified diver, you know the risks, if you are not, take a course, get certified before you hurt yourself and or someone else. Remember, you are probably not qualified to modify or build your own diving gear.

The problem was that the gear was just too large for him. I remember why I do not like golf. Dad dragged me around the golf course with all of that heavy stuff. It was more than my little body could take. Kids are smarter than adults. They know when they are having fun. You can't fool them. When the fun stops, they want to quit. Bet it causes much lower blood pressure.

My first consideration was the tank. Even a 50 was too large. I found a 30 cubic foot aluminum tank that was usually part of a US Divers Triple Rig. You can see it in the lead picture. It was just perfect for Patrick. There was little I could do about the regulator except to get a small mouthpiece. They were available in in '88 so that problem was solved. The real problem was the BC. I took one of our snorkle vests and replaced the mouthpiece with a Scubapro Air Two Regulator. That completed the rig. Patrick was set until he was twelve and certified.

By then he was starting to become a big boy and could handle the tanks, but even a small BC was a little big. Today he is over six feet tall and we have the other problem of getting things to fit.