84CJ7
Contributor
I have a pair of OMS(Faber) lp85's that I picked up dirt cheap ($250 as I recall) in really good shape as a doubles set with the bands and thermo manifold. He gave me the original single tank valves and I split the set to use as my regular tanks for the typical two tank day which works well for me. I kept all the doubles parts though.
My main dive buddy is my wife who would prefer to be a tropical shallow diver if given the choice and uses a pair of single al80's so we are pretty matched for air. We do get to 50ish feet already and potentially 100 foot dives are possible if she gets more comfortable.
With her being somewhat timid a single regulator single 85 tank is all I have ever really needed.
But I love to acquire and fiddle with gear and I picked up an al19 and stuck a Mares MR12 on it that I rebuilt myself to use as a pony bottle just because it makes me feel safe and more comfortable (never have gear issues). It has been back mounted and slung and I am still fiddling with different setups.
I always want to try new things but I had to rule out the twin 50 mini doubles setup I have always wanted to try as economically impossible since I would need two sets of twins for a dive day which is like $1400 new and impossible to find used. I do already have 3 identical older style aqualung titan din supreme (dry kit) with late style conshelf 14 seconds to use if I did though (I custom put them all together myself).
I just found a pair of OMS LP112 (basically the identical big brother of mine) single tanks for sale used that are current on inspection and cleaned for nitrox. The asking price was $400 for the pair but considering the season and the fact that they have been for sale for a good while I would try to haggle.
Now I am asking myself if more air at the cost of a bigger tank is a bad thing since its identical to my 85's length and just a slightly larger diameter tank (7" vs 8") and 10lbs heavier on land and a pound or two more in the water.
Technically I have all the air I need for my current diving with an 85 but eventually I might dive with other people on deeper and more challenging dives if my wife doesn't want to since i can drive to both lake Superior and Michigan for a weekend dive.
That would mean I should buy now as these things don't come up as often as you would think because people seem to either sit on their extra tanks or sell them to someone they know before they even get listed so I don't see big lp steels come up much at all. (almost all old al80's for sale actually)
I would probably sell off the 85's and related parts if I did that to help offset the cost and dive the 112's single with the pony rather than ever going to doubles though its a possibility I would keep the 85's and put them back as doubles to play with (need a new wing for that).
I'm also in the process of switching to a back plate and wing with likely an OMS performance mono 32lb though its not ordered yet (waiting to see about black friday) if that's relevant.
So back to the title question, is it silly to like the extra air and the often unnecessary redundancy of the pony bottle?
My main dive buddy is my wife who would prefer to be a tropical shallow diver if given the choice and uses a pair of single al80's so we are pretty matched for air. We do get to 50ish feet already and potentially 100 foot dives are possible if she gets more comfortable.
With her being somewhat timid a single regulator single 85 tank is all I have ever really needed.
But I love to acquire and fiddle with gear and I picked up an al19 and stuck a Mares MR12 on it that I rebuilt myself to use as a pony bottle just because it makes me feel safe and more comfortable (never have gear issues). It has been back mounted and slung and I am still fiddling with different setups.
I always want to try new things but I had to rule out the twin 50 mini doubles setup I have always wanted to try as economically impossible since I would need two sets of twins for a dive day which is like $1400 new and impossible to find used. I do already have 3 identical older style aqualung titan din supreme (dry kit) with late style conshelf 14 seconds to use if I did though (I custom put them all together myself).
I just found a pair of OMS LP112 (basically the identical big brother of mine) single tanks for sale used that are current on inspection and cleaned for nitrox. The asking price was $400 for the pair but considering the season and the fact that they have been for sale for a good while I would try to haggle.
Now I am asking myself if more air at the cost of a bigger tank is a bad thing since its identical to my 85's length and just a slightly larger diameter tank (7" vs 8") and 10lbs heavier on land and a pound or two more in the water.
Technically I have all the air I need for my current diving with an 85 but eventually I might dive with other people on deeper and more challenging dives if my wife doesn't want to since i can drive to both lake Superior and Michigan for a weekend dive.
That would mean I should buy now as these things don't come up as often as you would think because people seem to either sit on their extra tanks or sell them to someone they know before they even get listed so I don't see big lp steels come up much at all. (almost all old al80's for sale actually)
I would probably sell off the 85's and related parts if I did that to help offset the cost and dive the 112's single with the pony rather than ever going to doubles though its a possibility I would keep the 85's and put them back as doubles to play with (need a new wing for that).
I'm also in the process of switching to a back plate and wing with likely an OMS performance mono 32lb though its not ordered yet (waiting to see about black friday) if that's relevant.
So back to the title question, is it silly to like the extra air and the often unnecessary redundancy of the pony bottle?
