Steel vs AL for rentals?

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edoralive

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Messages
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Location
Minneapolis
# of dives
100 - 199
I'm heading to Jupiter in September for two days of diving with Jupiter Dive Center, and see that they offer Nitrox AL80s and Steel 100 and 120s. I've only ever gone with the AL80s, but am curious if it would be worthwhile to check out the larger steel cylinders for this trip.

The 100s are a $10 premium over the AL80s.
The 120s are a $16 premium over the AL80s.
I am not a gas hog.

I'm usually carrying 8lbs in addition to my BPW and an AL80 when I dive without a wetsuit, if that is meaningful.

Thanks!
 
with both steel bottles you'll be able to drop about 6lbs from your weight belt, and the 100 will give you 30% more gas than an 80, and the 120 almost double since an al80 is only actually about 77cf*

Depending on your depth and what your buddy is doing for tanks, I would be hard pressed to pay that much of a premium per tank because it is likely that you'll be hitting NDLs before you run out of gas
 
I recall typically renting a steel 100 with whatever Nitrox percentage they were recommending, usually 28 or 32. I think they typically rent the 100s. Depths vary on whether you drift along the top of the reef, or down nearer the bottom, so maybe 60-65' down to 90 or so.

Biggest factor for me would be what buddy (typically an instabuddy) is using. Which I don't always know in advance. Usually it's Nitrox. And usually it's drift-diving, so whatever you're breathing last longer than in still water. And you will make a free ascent, since you, the gang, and the boat, are all drifting northward more or less together.

Enjoy Jupiter, it's a great dive destination.
 
Jupiter dives are all 60-95’. Run the math using your air consumption, the gas you plan to use & those depths. If you’ll typically run low on air before NDL than get steel 100s. Otherwise get AL80s. Unless your air consumption is really high or you’re really tall you don’t need the 120s.

Personally I use HP100s and dive 36% in Jupiter. I’m always NDL limited with a small safety margin on air. I typically surface with 700-900 psi. My RMV is .45-.50.
 
One of the things that occasionally gets mentioned is if the steels are filled to rated capacity. The AL80 is 3,000 psi when full, the full steels are 3442 psi if "HP" (agreed, true HP is above that, but just the nomenclature used these days). Depending on the fill system, they may just be offering a 100 or 120 to 3,000 psi.
 
Its your wallet. Some of those Jupiter dives are square profile at 100 feet-ish, so little extra air is never a bad thing. Weight wise, you will either need it on your belt or on your tank. Steels dive better (to me)...but I don't know if they dive $40 better.

I dive a steel 120 on vacation and love it...not to mention I have air for days.

If you don't NEED the extra air, I'd just stick a few pounds in my pockets and go with it. If the majority of your dives have been 40 foot, pretty fish, dives and these will be substantially deeper, in current, or anything froggy, extra air is always good. If the dive op lets you dive your tank and says be on the line with your buddy 1 hour after splashing, it might be worth it the first day so you don't cut a dive short.

If these dives will be identical to what you are used to and can get an hour or so out of an 80....there really isn't a need to spend the money.

I'll be diving in a drysuit (or call it a sweatsuit) in 80 degree, zero visibility, water with the temps 100+ this weekend....I'm jealous. sooooooooooooooooo jealous.......

Safe dives!!
Jay
 
One of the things that occasionally gets mentioned is if the steels are filled to rated capacity. The AL80 is 3,000 psi when full, the full steels are 3442 psi if "HP" (agreed, true HP is above that, but just the nomenclature used these days). Depending on the fill system, they may just be offering a 100 or 120 to 3,000 psi.

JDC fills to the rated pressure. If they are HP100s you can expect 3442 at least, maybe a tad more.
 
Depending on your depth and what your buddy is doing for tanks, I would be hard pressed to pay that much of a premium per tank because it is likely that you'll be hitting NDLs before you run out of gas

Appreciate this. Yeah, looking at the website it looks like 90' is the deepest of the dives I would be doing. My computer says 27 minutes at 90' for NDL on EAN32. When diving deep in Key Largo, NDL was always the gate, not air supply, so it seems that unless I want more of a gas buffer, the larger steel wouldn't lead to longer dives, per se.
 
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Biggest factor for me would be what buddy (typically an instabuddy) is using. Which I don't always know in advance. Usually it's Nitrox. And usually it's drift-diving, so whatever you're breathing last longer than in still water. And you will make a free ascent, since you, the gang, and the boat, are all drifting northward more or less together.

Enjoy Jupiter, it's a great dive destination.

Solid point about instabuddy. Looks like 2 of the dives I'm booked for are nitrox-required dives, the rest are just nitrox-encouraged. I'll be arriving to boat alone, so instabuddy it is.

Based off my dive long and my computer, it looks like NDL will be the gate, not air consumption.

Really looking forward to the Jupiter trip. The folks in Key Largo were raving about Jupiter... seems the seagrass is always greener somewhere else.
 

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