Aluminum 80s versus larger steel tanks

[chillyinCanada]

Isn't it impossible to change Scubaboarders and their love to post in this thread and others?

 

[Christi]

Holy crap. :shocked2:

Somebodies got a case of the mondays.

Actually, no - I'm having a fabulous day actually! And usually I don't like the 15th of ANY month because I hemorrhage money every 15th and 30th/31st when I pay my very well deserving staff These days I am grateful for that and grateful that they are the same ones I have been paying for 10+ years - and grateful for my weekly AL 80cf tank fill bill - because I'm so cheap

:banana: ​

 

[cvchief]

Been there. Not for the reason of anxiety, but just getting a bit bored.

One thing this is cool that becomes maybe more apparent the longer you dive is seeing a different version of the same old dive site. High pressure tanks are not just about longer bottom times, they also come with an increased freedom. Aldora will take you on them on dives you won't see typically on an 80. Devils throat is a good example because it is a completely different dive/dive site when you dive with them on the big tanks. It's not just in and out and over with, you've got more freedom to extend the dive and see more parts of the reef on that dive with them. They will do dive sites differently, starting on one reef, jumping over to another part, running from one reef to the next because you've got a totally different bottom time and can do things differently. For people like me who are always looking over the next hill to see what's there, that's a lot of fun.

Ah, so it isn't all about the dive site, it is also the way the op with them dives? So all this time it has been partly about the way you op operates and only partly about the tank.

Makes more sense.... We occasionally go in at a different starting point on divers and see a different dive.

By the by, did Caves and Delilah today. More than 70 minutes each on 80s of 36.

---------- Post added May 15th, 2014 at 08:19 PM ----------

Oh and money bar for lunch. Small margarita glasses got me me further than most.

 

[gopbroek]

.

By the by, did Caves and Delilah today. More than 70 minutes each on 80s of 36.

Cool, I love Delilah, did you do the underside with all its passageways? I love the swim throughs. With a guide that knows the the entry points it can be a 20-30 minute swim / crawl through.

 

[Midge907]

Exactly. This was the 2nd point I made long ago as to the generic question for the real reason 'why wouldn't you want more air? As I said, if you had the choice between the two tanks with no additional costs the Al 80 would go extinct. Almost 200 posts later everybody is slowly coming around and saying exactly what I said a week ago.

Given the choice while diving in Cozumel I would take a AL80 over a HP120. Put me in my drysuit in cold water then hell yeah I would take that HP120, or my own HP100's. My biggest concern with the HP120 is being way overweighted while diving warm water, so I would rather have the AL80. If you could magically have 120cf of air in a AL80 without changing characteristics of the tank, then of course I would take it instead for safety reasons. However that is not the case, and except for diving the areas around Devils throat its easy to do over :60 minutes and even if you had more air you would have to deal with NDL while hovering around 100+ feet.

---------- Post added May 15th, 2014 at 11:31 PM ----------

This thread started, if I recall, with a poke at people that dive big tanks. A completely undeserved, uninformed poke, in my opinion, but that doesn't mean that more is always better or that bigger is always better, even if we're talking about air in a scuba tank. Saying that something isn't necessary isn't the same thing as saying "it's bad".


-Blair

Not exactly, the thread started after I mentioned in another thread that I didn't understand why every time someone is looking for a recommendation on dive shops a large portion of this sub-forum jumps on to say if you want to dive 120's you should go with this shop. Not saying don't go with them, or you don't need, etc. but for someone to explain why??? After others jumped in the thread got divided, and not by my choice. It must of been a good topic as its been a 23 page bickering fest, so maybe it was about time for the subject to be brought up. Again I don't have a problem with big tanks, I have a pretty new set of HP100 tanks, and dive with a 19cu ft pony bottle in my local diving. The biggest reason is that for me and others I know a HP120 makes me WAY over weighted in theory while diving warm water in my usual 2/3mm full suit. Just wanted to make sure I got that cleared up, and yes I did say that I think it is a crutch for some and I do stand by that, that is some, not all. Go slow (stay down longer), lower your exertion and movements (stay down longer), stay in trim (stay down longer). You know this, sometimes others don't so they rather just have MORE AIR.

 

[cvchief]

Cool, I love Delilah, did you do the underside with all its passageways? I love the swim throughs. With a guide that knows the the entry points it can be a 20-30 minute swim / crawl through.

We were on tops with a ton of turtles. And the I dont give a crap with you take a bunch of closeups of me kind of turtle too! Seahorse was hiding though.

 

[drrich2]

Not exactly, the thread started after I mentioned in another thread that I didn't understand why every time someone is looking for a recommendation on dive shops a large portion of this sub-forum jumps on to say if you want to dive 120's you should go with this shop. Not saying don't go with them, or you don't need, etc. but for someone to explain why??? After others jumped in the thread got divided, and not by my choice. It must of been a good topic as its been a 23 page bickering fest, so maybe it was about time for the subject to be brought up. Again I don't have a problem with big tanks, I have a pretty new set of HP100 tanks, and dive with a 19cu ft pony bottle in my local diving. The biggest reason is that for me and others I know a HP120 makes me WAY over weighted in theory while diving warm water in my usual 2/3mm full suit. Just wanted to make sure I got that cleared up, and yes I did say that I think it is a crutch for some and I do stand by that, that is some, not all. Go slow (stay down longer), lower your exertion and movements (stay down longer), stay in trim (stay down longer). You know this, sometimes others don't so they rather just have MORE AIR.

An 80 cf doesn't provide a maximum dive experience for a substantial portion of the diving public, and many newbies, big people, 'air hogs,' etc..., dive Cozumel. People get used to only AL 80 tanks being offered in the Caribbean and don't think to ask if they don't know they have a choice. A 120 cf tank is no more a 'crutch' for a big man than an 80 cf is a crutch for a petite woman, and if more air lets people dive in a way that's more natural and easy for them, not necessarily a bad thing. I understand that limiting their air with an 80 and shortened dive times might pressure people to be more efficient and abstain from hand skulling, for example, but the only people who seem to be dealt with this way are people who need or want tanks over 80 cf.

Have we made it this far in the thread without somebody claiming that 120 cf tanks are a 'gear solution to a skills problem?'

Richard.

 

[cvchief]

hand skulling,

I am going to fit that into a conversation or two today. Going to Prima since the port closed.

 

[Mike]

Ah, so it isn't all about the dive site, it is also the way the op with them dives? So all this time it has been partly about the way you op operates and only partly about the tank.

Makes more sense.... We occasionally go in at a different starting point on divers and see a different dive.

Nope. But if that's how you read it, who am I to argue?

 

[Ron Lee]

I am going to fit that into a conversation or two today. Going to Prima since the port closed.

I was wondering about a port closure. I was not seeing the usual parade of small boats on the el cid webcam. I wonder if Aldora is diving the east side with those 120 cu ft tanks.

Cozumel, Quintana Roo - Webcams de México