If you can swim up a 15 you can swim up an 18. I used twin 12ltr steel diving wet for years and never had a problem swimming them up. If you have to drop the belt your going to become buoyant at 20 feet. You won’t hold a stop.
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D7x300 is?doubles because (a) more gas than 18l
I want the best option given my limitations.
Sorry but I am losing track of what you want to know @David Novo. Folks gave you their opinions and so did I. Why not try it and see how it goes? You did say that you want to rent it so there is no obligation to own. Make sure your wing can handle it.
If you can swim up a 15 you can swim up an 18. I used twin 12ltr steel diving wet for years and never had a problem swimming them up. If you have to drop the belt your going to become buoyant at 20 feet. You won’t hold a stop.
Seams I'm in the minority here but I love 18L tanks, especially the long ones, wide ones feel dumpy on my back. I use them for 50 meter dives with air deco. I'm a bit shorter than you, 183 and they trim out nicely with valves in my reach. Faber ones float more than a 15L once you go bellow 100 bars so you will need some more weights but any normal sized wing should be more than enough to carry you up during the first few minutes of the dive (are you diving wet or dry?)
@David Novo
The only reason you want a 18l is (a) more gas (b) you don't want to go to twins yet.
@David Novo
Re: Twins for recreational dives
Are you SURE a twinset wouldn’t cover two recreational dives? I know plenty of people who get two recreational dives out of one twinset. I’ve done it myself plenty of times.
I'm so happy , I have rid of Faber 18 lit boiler , I can't tell you
I am considering renting a 18L Steel Tank for a liveaboard and would like to know the general consensus on this. I am going with a 13L wing, a steel backplate and a 7/8 mm semi-drysuit.
18 lit are super buoyant ( cca +3kg ) and neck heavy . Big difference between empty and full , special with 7-8 mm neoprene drysuit . You will struggle always between two extrems : too heavy and cork floating in that combination period.